A few days in Samoa - Reefs, Thieves and Blue waters

We went to Samoa (the Western one not the American one) for a few days to experience sun, surf and the typical tropical paradise things. However paradises are very fragile, snorkeling is difficult since reefs are dying after a tropical cyclone, which flattened some of the best resorts.

Beach Fales along the Eastern shores of Upolu

Churches are everywhere, our resort was right next to a very large Methodist compound. The biggest building in Apia is probably the L.D.S. church with a shiny top. In spite of all the religious zeal the commandments are not obeyed, we had been warned about theft at the resort by TripAdvisor and it did happen. Some money disappears from our resort room, the police got called in to take statements from the staff. Only fair given Australian Federal Police is shoring up the policing in Samoa.

The To-Suo water hole at low tide

We drove around for a couple of days, getting througly lost and finding some wonderful places. Samoans only started driving on the left side of the road recently and about 50% of the cars are still left-hand drive, sharing the road with them is dangerous at best. I went off road for a bit and managed to get stuck in mud in pouring rain. A local thankfully came by and helped us extricate the car with some well placed planks.

Eventually we got to To-suo after repeated searching at opposite ends of Upolu. I had a stroll through the Livingstone museum and took photos of falls at sunset. Ate greasy food at the local market, stared at huge taros and rode the local bus (one of which was swept of a ford by a river the day after we left). I was a fun holiday overall.

Falls near Falefa