Samoan Outrigger Hotel Apia

... with lush rainforest and small villages with brightly coloured houses and and overflow of churches in pastels. The Samoans are highly religious people (Christianity) so churches are scattered all over the island and people are regular churchgoers. Plus most people's front gardens are family burial ground, so elaborate headstones with masses of flowers can be seen in every village. Actually, it is only 0.3% of the population that is not Christian. After 4 days ...

I awoke with a start. Rubbing the carpet imprints on my cheek, I wondered how intelligent it had been to press my face to the floor of the Faleolo Airport. Considering the amount of monstrously huge cockroaches I'd been desperately dodging for two weeks, it probably wasn't the best choice of makeshift beds. I sat up, absently wiping the drool from my face, and tried to focus my bleary eyes - which is when I noticed my glasses weren't on. Vision cleared, I looked up ...

... with each other! So to reach the beaches around Upolu you have to do a kind of star shape: Apia- beach 1 - Apia - beach 2 - Apia - beach 3... we'd end up spending more time in Apia! Lonely Planet has failed to mention that although there is a road going around the island, no bus takes the whole route - our faith in the trusty LP is ruined. Our first beach destination was Lalomanu Beach, popular tourist spot in Samoan scale, no Costa Brava though! The first ...

... any booked accommodation hoping for the best when we got there and surprisingly enough it worked out, we got a fale right by the water! And we got our newly found German friend as next door neighbour. The other one, from New Zealand got a fale at the back row. So nice to meet new people! We seem to run into a lot of New Zealanders from Auckland, there everywhere! After e settled in we got some very much needed lunch before ...

The first week in Samoa has pretty much consist of us getting our bearing, adjusting to the temperature (which is usually around 30) and sampling the delights of local restaurants. Our first Sunday was quite interesting. The city becomes very quiet as everyone goes to church in the morning, then they have a large traditional Samoan Sunday dinner and then they mostly fall asleep ...

Those of you who know Ray know that he is very involved with Civil War re-enacting. This is a special report that he produced for the Battery Rag of Battery G Northern Illinois Light Artillery. Though Ray had to give up his commission as a Sargent upon joining the Peace Corps, he still works undercover. Lt. Tedrick: Though in service to a foreign monarch, I am ever ...

... last five days staying in a beach fale (beach hut) on the other island of Savaii- the island was awesome, with the highlight being swimming in a waterfall, and swimming with turtles! We met some great people from NZ, and plan on visiting all of them when we get to New Zealand at the end of September. We've been a bit homesick knowing we will not see our friends or family for 10 months, but it helps to meet new ...

... letting other dogs steal food from him, but he was always happy to provide comfort and friendship by allowing us to pet him. He took to following me, Ray says he was my dog, where ever I went, finding me in other peoples houses. He even followed us one day when we biked to Satupaitea, about 5 km away. Boy was he a tired puppy when we got home. I don't know what was sickening him but one day he took himself off to ...