Scott and Jenni's Home
SamoaUpolu
Samoa
We left Savai'i and got back on the boat to the main island Upolu where we were staying for another 5 nights. The boat crossing was very choppy, even for our strong sea legs so after an hour and half we were pleased to be back on dry land! We got a taxi to the south of the island where our next accommodation was. The place we were staying was called Virgin Cove and it was absolutely amazing. Incredibly picturesque and even more beautiful than the last place. The fales were all on the beach but set back a little bit in the rainforest that surrounded us. It was very secluded and had no electricity so everynight guys would go around and light oil lanterns along the little paths so you could see your way back to your fale! Because getting around Samoa is so difficult without a hire car we spent our time mainly lazing on the beach again! There was a 'tour guide' who would either take you on a walk every morning or give you some kind of demonstration. He took us on a walk through the rain forest that was next to our fales which was really good but a little tricky when you're only wearing flip flops! He also showed us how to climb coconut trees, open coconuts, make coconut oil and the best demo of all was palm leaf weaving. We were shown how to weave a plate and basket completely out of palm leaves which was so much fun! Ours was pretty good, we even used our palm leaf basket to take our stuff down to the beach!!
The food was really nice, you all ate on separate tables unlike the other place where eating was communal but we still managed to meet some nice people and might even have a place to stay when we get to Cairns! The staff were incredibly friendly as all Samoans are and when we left Virgin Cove they sung us a goodbye song - how cool is that!
We had a whole day to kill before our flight which was early the next morning so we went into Apia for the day which is the main town. Unsurprisingly there was even a MacDonalds there! Apia is quite nice, we looked round a craft market and had dinner there. You're advised not the walk around Apia after dark as there is a massive problem with aggressive stray dogs which form packs at night and terrorise people! We met a lady who had been bitten by a dog while in Samoa and it looked nasty so we didn't want to chance being bitten ourselves! Luckily we made it out without any wounds but one dog did turn on us and started growling. Scott was prepared with rocks which you are told to throw at them so we managed to escape unharmed! The owner at Virgin Cove had a sister who lived in Apia so she called her for us and asked if we could leave our bags at her house while we wandered around the town. Not only did she let us leave our bags there but she also gave us a room to sleep in for a few hours and her and her husband even gave us a lift to the airport! Kindness like that is just unheard of in England.
We couldn't leave Samoa without being hassled by a weirdo which is what happened at the airport. The only difference was he was a really nice, weirdo who bought us drinks and offered us his food! Security guards kept coming up to us to see if we were ok because this guy was incredibly drunk and they thought he was being annoying us! We decided to move to a different part of the airport and had two different guys approach us at different times to see if we were ok as they thought he was being a problem! One security guard even asked us if we wanted to report him to the police! If that's the kind of 'crime' they have in Samoa that's pretty amazing. They were just so concerned that this one guy had made us think less of Samoan people, we assured them that wasn't the case and the Samoan people are the friendliest, kindest, most genuine people you could ever meet.
Our time in Samoa has been really enjoyable and we were sad to leave and we don't think we will ever meet anyone quite like the Samoan people. |
Locations Visited: Saanapu
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