Eden's Edge Apia

... snorkelling the reef just off the coast and the fish here are plentiful with the islands just off shore offering great protection for fish and swimmer alike. One of the islands, Nuutele (Noo-oo-telly) Island previously housed a leper colony for Samoa. The Black Sand Beach, just off Aganoa (agg-an-oww-ar), is a local haunt for ...

... become independent. He was very interested in the politics of the island as well as the culture. Before he died is asked to be buried at the top of the mountain so he could look over the island to the ocean, which took some doing. The mountain is covered in thick vegetation so the people hacked a pathway to the top and then they lined the entire way from his house to the top and passed his coffin from hand to hand ...

... 3 armies - and the food! Lobster, squid, fresh Tuna, salads, fresh fruit, rice, sweet potatoes, plantain, Taro, coconut milk, etc. The list went on and on. I seriously felt like one of those old english nobility that feasts and feasts, throwing bones on the floor for the dogs and eating only with a hunting knife. :-) Our beach Fale was a little platform on stilts with a reed roof. There were tarps around the sides, that could ...

... passer la journée sur l'ile Namua, une petite ile a environ 10 minutes en bateau de l'ile principale d'Upolu. Tout était censé être organisé par la reception de notre auberge donc une fois sur place, on s'est assis et avons attendu que quelqu'un vienne s'occuper de nous. Ca a du prendre presque une heure pour voir quelqu'un débarquer qui voulait savoir qui nous étions, ou nous voulions aller, avec quel bateau, etc. Après encore 30 minutes d'attente, on a finalement pris le ...

... didn't do much today, we bumped into Hannah and caught up with her. we also chatted with Eddy one of the staff at seaside inn. Monday 21st July We ate breakfast with Hannah this morning before heading to the bus station to go to the Robert Lewis Stevenson museum (the guy who wrote Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). At the station we met a couple from Australia, they just arrived off a big cruise ship! We ended up catching a cab with them to ...

... for a bite to eat at Aggie Gray's. This establishment started out as a hamburger stand that catered to US soldiers during the war. It is now a hotel and restaurant (and conference center!) run by Aggie Gray's son. Aggie Gray herself was the wife of a sea captain who managed to lose all his money, so she started cooking up favorites for the soldiers as a way of earning a living for her family ...

... from a traditional canoe-and the help to get it out again was not readily forthcoming. It was finally spirited out by a large gang of small boys sympathetic to my predicament so I have the use of it again, at least for the time being until the boss returns from the Malua conference. Having the boat built new was better than buying a used one in any case, because I was able to observe the entire boatbuilding the process ...

I've only got like 5 minutes worth of internet time, so here are some random facts and things about Samoa: -the last sunset on planet earth is in Samoa, meaning it is also the last place to begin each day. -McDonald's tastes close to home, and as an added bonus you get a thick, black Samoan hair with your nuggets! -Even better, you may find a centipede (or half of one, i think Bonnie may have ...

Finally, after much trouble and expense, I have a Samoan dugout canoe. The villagers here are very superstitious about a foreigner having a boat. I was not able to purchase a second-hand boat under any circumstances, even though there are a number of them lying about unused. Finally, the master boat builder of the district agreed to build me a new one, but he demanded a ...