Savaii Lagoon Resort Savai'i

... We landed in Samoa, no problem. Then they decided to get us off the plane and we were told to leave our hand luggage on board as we would keep the same seats etc and some new people would get on board. No worries we said! <br><br>We then had to go into the &#8230;.. erm&#8230;.. shack&#8230;&#8230;. erm&#8230;.. terminal to go through passport control again, security again ...

... me to the bottom of the sea. I try to find a balance with one foot planted firmly on the crest of a wave while the other languishs beneath it in the surf. In that way, I am free - finding my equilibrium somewhere betweeen Heaven and Hell (on Earth). Balanced and centered with my feet planted firmly on the ground. ~~~ Ticktickticktickticktick. Ticktickticktickticktick. WTF?! Ticktickticktickticktick. It's 2:30am and I can't figure out what that sound is. I ...

... that is full of mangroves and is a really pretty setting. The beach is not the best (black sand and no beach at high tide) but the mangrove marsh makes up for it - this is a different place to stay and after nearly two weeks on beaches it was good to change. The absolutely best thing about the place were the friendly and hospitable owners, Sung and his wife Otilia, who invited us for their family Sunday meal and cooked meals for us twice a day even ...

... nobody came to check us in and eventually we found out that the party was a private function of Westpac bank of Samoa. There was no fale ready for us and if we did decide to stay there'd be no food since the cook was not working. What about our booking...? What booking? With a 2km walk back to the village shop, no other fales anywhere in the radius of 15km and no buses running we decided to stay for the night. The general manager of Westpac invited us for their ...

... that Tanu's wasn't absolutely stunning as well! With so many gorgeous fales on offer you start to get picky: "no, this one is at least 20 meters from the water's edge, the other one is much closer" or "their palm leaf blinds are not hanging straight, we wan't properly hung ones". Ehm, back to reality - you're spending time in paradise, don't complain! Island atmosphere is catchy and we have both found ourselves letting go on petty ...

... dictionary and apparently a very funny pronunciation of Samoan words. The ferry finally came and 1.5 hours later we were in Salelologa on Savai'i. Salelologa is sadly quite a dirty town with rubbish lining the roads. It's such a pity to see the paradise wasted. We stayed in Lusia's Lagoon Chalets in a gorgeous fale elevated above the lagoon on stilts, very nice place and good food. In the evening we went for a walk and ran into Sebastian and Jasmine - on their way to ...

... for the night; the room was actually equipped with its own bathroom and the food was really good. The next morning we slept in and had a late breakfast feeling a bit flattened from the day before. From Manase we continued east to Saleaula to have a look at the lava ruined London Missionary Church and the Virgin's Grave. It's truly impressing to see the church ruin surrounded by the lava flow. Before heading back to Salelologa we went ...

... comfortable, so much so that the men fell asleep as night came. The women then worked through the night and finished before the men woke in the morning. Obviously some moral there, but I'll leave it to you to decided exactly what is it though. End of the World - The Western Most Point - After the house of rock we drove a little further along the coast to the western most point of Samoa, which is the closest western point in the world to the date line, apparently. Everyone loves a ...

... utili pour une ile volcanique... botanique.. que j ai appris enormement de choses sur les samoas en une petite journee.. je trouve que c est important d avoir fait ce tour.. car les kiwis je les retrouves dans le village balneaire au nord et ils voulaient pas faire de tour.. louer leur voiture et faire tout seul.. mais du coup ils ont manque le principal et fait le tour classique du toutiste moyen et vu ce que justement j ai pu evite grace a Warren ...

... lush &amp; tropical and very beautiful. Most people live in very modest conditions in extended family groups where communal living is the norm. Each village has its chief and everything within the village from property to manual labour is shared. On the tour we saw lots of waterfalls, demonstrations of basket weaving and the 1001 things you can do with coconuts! At one point Skipper got off the bus, wandered into the foliage at the roadside &amp ...