Talofa from Samoa

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Sorry for the long wait between posts. We were on an island in Samoa with only dial up.

Samoa is like Hawaii but there's no dry side of the islands, only green everywhere with lots of waterfalls. The villages have nicely painted houses and fales in all shades of the rainbow. The grass is kept trimmed and bordered by decorative plants and flowers. There's very little trash around compared to Fiji. But... we just miss the big Fijian "Bula!" Don't get me wrong, Samoans are nice and if we hadn't been to Fiji first we probably would think that they were really friendly. We've just been spoiled.

Also, even though Samoan schools are all taught in English, we have a hard time communicating. Yeah, it's their country and our problem but again, we were spoiled in Fiji.

It is incredibly beautiful here though.

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Additional photos below

Photos: 12, Displayed: 12

Photos

Samoan harbor
We rented a car and drove on some back roads to discover beautiful vistas and villages backed by cliffs spilling over with waterfalls.

Blowhole
Isn't this just a lovely spot?

Open market
We love to buy Palusami, taro leaves filled with coconut cream. It's so tasty! And we tried some new fruit we've never seen before, sour sop and auli (I think.) They were just okay though. Faintly flavored.

Croweded bus
I have never been on a more crowded bus. Love the woodwork in this hand made coach though.

Church
Samoa is checkered with churches. Some villages have four different denominations. The Mormons are making a lot of inroads because they are only requiring people to pay a little bit each week.

Fale in Manase on island of Savaii
They call these fale. This one's not really traditional as it has walls. Most fale are completely open to allow the breeze to flow through. Cute though, ain't it?

View from our fale
Isn't the water a gorgeous pool blue?

Jane's bar in Manase
We drank the most delicious locally made coconut rum in this little bar on the tip of the peninsula. Mixed with Sprite it tastes like bubble gum (interesting but don't want to drink bubble gum) and mixed with pineapple juice it tastes like a pina colada. Mmmmmm

Sunrise
Toby was up for this beautiful sunrise. I slept in. :)

Drag queen
Samoans have a word for men trapped in womens bodies - fa'afafine. This is Lisa dancing with her but she only had eyes for Toby. He had to beat her off of him with a stick. I laughed and told him that he knows how chicks feel in a crowded bar now.

waterfall waterslide
We had fun sliding down these waterfall slides today.

Comments

[Eric Schmidt]

I love the palm trees and waterfalls. You guys must be having a blast! I guess the Samoans are the unlucky product of American education system unlike the Fijians.

[Lisa n Toby]

Hi Eric
Actually, we are not in American Samoa so we can't blame the US school system for this one. :-/