Choose another map, showing:

• The World

Other entries in Apia

Samoa 1

Virgin Cove, Upolu, Samoa

Day 1

Coming on the plane via the Kingdom of Tonga, which was 24 degrees at 8.30 pm, we eventually landed in the islands of Samoa!!! When we were through arrivals we had visions of Fiji as we were jumped upon by hoards of taxi drivers telling us that our pick up wasn't at the airport and they  could take us there for 80 tala. We said no and eventually our bus picked us up along with two others, Rob and Sarah. It took about an hour to drive to Virgin Cove and on the way Rob and Sarah were telling us about the horrors of Tonga and how they didn't like it one bit. Once we got to the cove we were shown to our fales by the security guard, who's name I didn't catch but he did have Parkinson's, the whole place was lit up by the lights of kerosene lamps. I fell asleep to the sounds of the waves which were no more than ten feet away.

Day 2

Up and at them for breakfast and then before we could officially book in we jumped in the free shuttle bus to Apia, the main town. It took about an hour and as soon as we were there we had various men and children trying to sell us lava lavas, sarongs. Rob, Sarah, Neil and Sam (two aussies) were also on the bus. The first thing we did was grab some water as the bottles at virgin cove were slightly over priced. Then it was off for a wander down the back streets and markets. We got a top each and then went to the tourist info shop for info about the other islands and hire cars. Then we jumped back on the bus via a lava lava guy who was in the queue behind us at the super market. When we got back we checked in properly, we had missed lunch so we grabbed some crisps before going for a swim in the lagoon. Then it was cards and a few beers with Neil and Sam before tea and sleep.

Day 3

Not much sleep but I did see a skink in the fale about a foot long. We were going to go back into town but it is ANZAC day so nothing will be open. Sam told us how her granddad lived in a veterans home and really looked forward to ANZAC day as he got all dressed up a joined the parade. So instead of going to town we went on a walk through the mangrove reserve to the local village. It was a great trip full of forest, mangrove, bridges and wild pigs, one of which charged Neil and I. it was a tad bit scary as this pig was massive but Neil and I could run pretty fast. Ha ha ha. We also met some local children who showed us their way of catching mud crabs. After we got back we went for a snorkel the visibility was really bad but lots of small fish. The current was really strong so I chatted with Sarah before going to lunch with Mia. It was an awesome coleslaw roll with sausage on the top, I think it should have been a hot dog. Then we just chilled and talked to the other guests. There was a girl from New Zealand who had always wanted to go to Guernsey and her best friend lives there. There was a kid who's nickname is lucky, he had fallen of a 3 foot high bridge head first onto volcanic rock. Now I have seen a coconut husked on volcanic rock so his head must be pretty hard. The kid was unconscious for two hours. His parents took him to hospital and when they got there he woke up and the doctor sent him home. We also talked to neil and sam about hiring a car together.

Day 4

Today we had rice pudding for breakfast but it was mixed with the local koko drink which makes it taste like chocolate although it smells really bad...mmmm. Then Neil, Sam, rob, Sarah, mia and I wanted to go to town but the mini van was full of people leaving for the airport. So the staff said we could jump in the back of the truck that they have, which will take us the end of the road where we could get the bus. So we all jumped in with two guys and a girl from the Czech Republic. It took about ten minutes to get to the end of the road and the bus came soon after. I was quite happy about this arrangement as I had seen the buses on the TV and the programme had recommended a trip, so I was actually looking forward to thee experience.

And boy what an experience it was, there were not enough seats on the bus and in Samoan tradition people started sitting on peoples laps. Mia got a seat and as I stood in the isle  waiting a  very large Samoan (they are all big anyway) tapped me on the leg and then patted his lap, I told him I would sit on Mia. I got Mia to sit on my lap. The first thing you notice about the buses is that Samoan time goes out the window and the game is on to get to town before all the other buses (they are all owned privately). The sign on the wall said capacity 33+1 we had 45 people on our bus. It was great watching all the houses and churches flying by and all the people trying to cram onto the bus. There are no stops either so if someone dings the bell it means stop now and everyone goes flying forward. One big fellow got on the bus and got a seat and tried to grab anyone possible to sit on him, and most people he did get tried to get away as soon as possible. Soon enough we were in town and as we jumped off the bus we were passed by about 5 others all painted with bright colours, some with flames down the sides.

Once we had our bearings we walked to the tourist info shop and asked about the car, we were soon picked up by the hire car guy and were flying down the road in our own two door convertible Chevy. We were heading towards the dive shop in the bottom right hand corner of the island to see about Mia doing her PADI course and Neil going surfing. Samoa really is a beautiful country rolling mountains, dramatic cliffs, lakes and pastures like a James Bond island, and the main road takes you through all of it.  When we got to the dive shop it was a bit dodgy so we didn't book anything, and they had no surfing. So we jumped back into the car and headed towards the Togitogigia waterfall

When we got to the falls it was a small trek into the undergrowth then down some steps and down the 3 foot drop at the bottom. Then we were in front of the falls, they weren't massive but wide and had a deep cool pool at the bottom which we jumped in. it was really nice to have a swim in fresh water. Everything was so green, lush and fresh. This is what I thought all the islands were going to be like, I was pretty happy. Then we all walked up to the top waterfall where neil and I contemplated how to get into the pool at the bottom t of the top fall while the girls went and sat in one of the pools on the top of the falls. There was a big tree that had fallen down into the pool so I jumped on it and slide down into the pool. It wasn't as deep and the bottom pool and a bit tough getting out which was cool. When I got to the top the girls hadn't even realised I had diced with death. Ha ha ha. Then we headed back to the cove and spent the night talking to the other guests and looking at Savaii.

Day 5

Up early again as breakfast is at the same time every morning, then a shower. The shower is a tap behind a small volcanic rock wall which gives you a great sense of freedom. Then we were off at breakneck speed, as neil was driving, toward sliding rock. Again the size of the island was deceptive as it was quite far to the place. Neil seemed a little uncomfortable driving and I had to tell him to drive on the right side of the road. We had taken the roof off so the girls were taking it easy in the back and getting sunburnt. Then we found the worst road in Samoa and at the top a big sign for the sliding rock. The big sign told us that the steps were donated by New Zealand, the rail by Australia and the water tank by Canada or canadia if your Mia. 

We paid the two tala to get into the place and walked down the dozens of steps to the into the green tropical valley.  As we were part way down we could see the falls and three locals, two kids and an old guy in a bandana. The two kids were at the top of the water fall, then they slid down to the bottom into a deep pool. Neil and I said that cant be it but it was. We carried on down to the bottom of the valley and jumped into the pool at the bottom of the fall to check how deep it is., it was fresh and cool. Then one of the kids ran down the falls, which supprised everyone. Then the old guy surfed down it on his feet. So Neil and I walked to the top of the falls and posed for the customary photographs.  Neil sat down and asked the kids the best way to go, then he was off down the slide, I saw him lift his legs and hit the water like a bomb shell. So I sat down and saw it looked a lot more daunting when your up top, very steep and very slippery. So I pushed myself down, I knew the pool was deep so I kept my legs straight and hit the water first SPLASH!!!! What a rush, well cool. Lets do that again!!! I had a rush of adrenaline and almost couldn't get out the water. We all had congratulations from each other and the locals. So we went again.

There was a slide lower in the valley and when we were walking up the steps Neil and I saw the old guy do a summersault down it!!! NUTTER!!!  The next few slides were a lot easier but for my last one of the kids had climbed the falls and was splashing water onto my path so as I slid down I went really fast but hit the water sideways, and have a huge bruise to prove it. So we then looked at the lower slide it was a lot shallower than the top one and it looked like it had a rock under the water that you could land on. So we went down anyway. Neil was fine but I landed on the rock but slid staright of it so didn't hurt myself. The next challenge after getting down the lower slide was getting back up so it was a bit of rock climbing to get to the top again. We ended up chatting with the kids. The bigger one told us that the smaller kid was tongue tied and couldn't form words so he communicated through yelps. At one point we saw a skink and the big kid told us the name of it in Samoan nut by the way that the younger kid was laughing we didn't really believe him. The girls had gone up to the top pool so we went to meet them and sat around until we decided to go as it was getting cold in the shade.

We went to Apia for lunch then Neil asked Mia to drive the rest of the way. We were heading to a place were we could feed the turtles which are nurtured back to health before being released back into the wild. Unfortunately when we got into the area no one knew (even the locals) where it actually was so we ended up coming back to the cove. As we drove back we passed some huge churches and loads of pigs that just wander free. They just run in front of cars like they weren't there. When we got back to the cove Rob, Sarah, Mia and I headed to Sam and Neil's place to have a jam as they had guitars.

Day 6

Neil and Sam were getting there own car today so we jumped in the car and headed for twon as everything closes at 12 noon on Saturdays. Mia wasn't feeling to good so we went to get some re-hydration sachets. We made it to a chemist on time even though we asked a policeman where it was and he didn't know. We headed up to the robert Louis Stevnson museum but this also shut so we headed to To Sua sea trench which was on the other side of the island. It took about an hour to get there. When we did get there we were greated by a woman, I said "talofa" (hello), she said "o a mai oe?" we looked at her open mouthed until she explained it meant, how are you? The lady showed us around the trenches, there were two and they were huge, the second was full of water and we were allowed to swim in it. There was a really step ladder going down. She also told us there were some blow holes so we walked around the coast to have a look at the raging pacific. There were lots of big black rocks and huge wave crashing on to them but the holes had lost there blow. So we went back to the trench and walked down the steps with no railings. We saw from the top just how steep the ladder was and how strong the current in the trench was. It was obviously a new ladder and the concrete steps at the bottom of where the old ladder used to be were still there so if you fell of the new ladder you would hit the concrete steps. So I climbed the down the ladder and into the pool and was almost swept away by the current as the sea was coming in but then I was swept right back. Mia tried to climb down the ladder but the steps were really far apart and it wasn't up to her knee. So after a bit of a swim and some photos I climbed back up the 50 foot ladder. Then we drove back to virgin cove. When we got back we joined Neil, Sam, Sarah and Rob for tea. It was show night and there was a big fir fir (fire dance). A local group af dancers came to the cove to perform dances from around the pacific, then they did there fire dance which was amazing the were so quick, at one point this kid was basicly break dancing with a fire stick. Then they came and got people from the crowd. Mia was chosen and won her competition, helped by the fact she had six people cheering louder than everybody else. She won a lava lava and a crown of leaves.

Day 7

Breakfast included an Rambutan today which is a kind of lychee which tasted like a grape. Soon we were heading to Sopoaga falls to meet Neil and Sam who were going in their own car. On the way to the falls we had a blue 4x4 following us and Mia thought it was the other two and it was. So we paid our three tala for our visit to the falls and our guide. It turns out it is only a viewing platform for the waterfall which was really impressive. 180 meters from the floor and surrounded by lush rainforest, there was also a nice garden that had lots of plants with English, latin and samoan names on the tiles. We took lots of photos and neil and I discussed the fact that the cayon should have a big swing for adreniline junkies. We were also shown (again) how to husk a coconut. Then we all drove across the island taking in the sights and stopping every so often to let Neil fix his car. We drove to loads of places and remote villages and took lots of photos of the fantastic senery and the locals. Then we were both low on fuel so it was a gamble as we drove into Apia to see if any petrol stations were open on a Sunday. We were lucky that the first one we came across was open. So we filled up and went off for lunch. Then we tried to find the turtles again so we drove off to where they were supposed to be, talked to a local in a David Beckham Real Madrid shirt who pointed us in the right direction. Then when we got to the place we asked some kids what the score was and they said no one could feed the turtles as they were all asleep...at 4pm!!! Although it is a common Samoan pastime. So we decided to drive back to the cove via all the roads we hadn't gone down yet which gave us great views of the island and we got to drive through a big river, we also found out that Malo means "hi." then back at the cove we had our last meal before hitting the hay.

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Samoa 1":