Samoa - The First to See the Sun Each Day

My last unvisited country in Oceania, and once again, I was astonished by how wonderful the South Pacific can be. With its constantly changing weather, the green lush landscape right next to the blue ocean looks fantastic, almost like an artificial theme park. Great!

I came here almost directly from Tuvalu, but as there are no direct flights from Tuvalu to Samoa, I had to switch planes and airports in Fiji to get to Samoa. I departed Tuvalu yesterday morning towards Fiji (Suva), where I stayed overnight in the Nausori area, which is close to the airport.

Then today, I flew from Fiji's Suva Airport to Fiji's Nadi Airport and then to Samoa. As Samoa is on the very east of the planet earth, they are the first country to say 'hello' to the sun every new day.

May 25 - Arriving in Samoa

Finally in Samoa now. Samoa is divided into two big islands. The island on the right is called "Upolu," with all the airports and the capital, Apia. The island on the left, "Savaii," is less developed.

Map of Samoa.

The main international airport is Faleolo on the west of Upolu. It's a nice airport and a sign that tourism has already brought a lot of money here. Yes, the tourism industry is well-developed here.

There are plenty of transport options for well-paying tourists outside the airport.

To avoid overpaying, I went to the bus station outside the airport area. The local bus passes there every 15 minutes and brought me with a 35-minute ride right to the city center of Apia.

Apia town is small with about two main roads where most restaurants and shops are located. There is even a small McDonald's, and it’s the only restaurant that is open on Sundays.

Even shops are closed on Sundays as Samoa is highly religious.

Should I go diving or should I visit Savaii?

This afternoon, I started planning my stay for the next four days in Samoa.

Of course, I wanted to see the whole main island, but aside from that, I had the option of:

a) Going to the other island "Savaii" or b) Scuba diving

Higher priority was the scuba diving for me. After calling the only scuba operator, I had a hard time deciding what I should do. He told me they are going diving tomorrow, BUT:

We are going tomorrow, and we would be happy to have you on board. There will be some less experienced divers, and we will go to an easy dive spot.

The "keyword" has dropped!!! After many years of diving, I know what will happen. When an operator says it will be an easy dive not too far away, it means it will be a beginner dive spot with not much to see and one that doesn't represent the real diving in the area. I have fallen for it too many times already. Nope, not this time! So yes, as it will be an "easy" dive spot, it made my decision a bit easier. I didn’t want to go diving at a more or less beginner dive spot where I would only see some dying corals.

My decision was made. I will go to Savaii, and tomorrow morning, I need to be at the bus station at 5 AM to catch the bus that brings me to the ferry. Well, at least that was my plan in today's mid-afternoon.

I continued to stroll through the town along with the friendly and laughing Samoans.

Another Option opens up: Day Trip to American-Samoa

After roaming through the streets of Apia, I passed the Samoan Airways office. During my months of research about this trip, I also considered going to American-Samoa, but due to lack of time and uncertainty of the whole trip, I ditched that idea.

But I was still curious, so out of curiosity, I went inside to ask. It was Friday, 30 minutes before closing.

A few minutes later, it was clear. There will be a flight early tomorrow morning to American-Samoa and a flight back late tomorrow afternoon. The flight times are totally confusing! It is only a 30-minute flight, but as American-Samoa is 24 hours behind Samoa, it means I will depart Samoa on Saturday morning and arrive in American-Samoa on Friday morning. I will depart American-Samoa on Friday afternoon and arrive in Samoa on Saturday afternoon. To be sure, I asked another lady in the office if the times on the tickets were really correct, and it seemed to be correct.

I was still confused, but I didn't have much time to think and decide as it was 10 minutes before closing, so I quickly bought the tickets.

No scuba diving, no visit to Savaii Island.... BUT... a trip to American-Samoa. Hopefully, it was a good decision and the time travel will work.

The weather turned bad this late afternoon, I hope this won’t last until tomorrow for my flight.

May 26 - A day in American-Samoa

Samoa and American-Samoa are different countries. Samoa is its own country, whereas American-Samoa belongs to the US.

I was excited this morning, wondering if this trip was really going to work as intended. The flights from Samoa to American-Samoa depart from the airport right next to Apia, which is called the Fagali Airport. The staff showed up 30 minutes before departure to do the check-in, and I was sure there would be a delay of a few hours, but fortunately, there was no delay. The plane was tiny, and in total only about 10 people were on the plane, whereas several dozen people were waiting at the check-in. Strange.

It's a 30-minute flight but totally confusing: Departure was this early Saturday morning. As American-Samoa is 24 hours behind in time, I arrived in American-Samoa on Friday morning but came back to Samoa on Saturday afternoon.

I covered the trip to American-Samoa in a separate trip-report.

May 27 - Road Trip around Samoa

I arrived yesterday late afternoon back from American-Samoa and immediately back in the hotel, I started to organize the trip for today. I wanted to drive around the island on my own with a rental car.

Organizing a Rental Car and License

The staff at the hotel was very helpful yesterday. Especially as it was Saturday evening already and today is Sunday where everything is shut down, it was difficult to find a rental car for a fair price. It was not only the rental car that needed to be organized but also the driver's license. The lady explained it clearly:

Your international driver's license is worth nothing in Samoa. You need a real Samoan driver's license and it's mandatory, you hear me? It's mandatory, okay?

Thankfully, the friendly lady from "Talofa Inn" Hotel sorted out everything, including the mandatory Samoan driver's license. Somehow ridiculous to have a dedicated drivers license for a country with approximately 5 cars on the whole island.

A Sunday road trip around Samoa

Having a car and driver's license, I started early this Sunday morning. I didn't expect to get a car with air conditioning, but I was pleasantly surprised to get an almost brand new car with good air conditioning.

Sunday is church-day

After a few kilometers, I realized how important Sunday and church really are in Samoa.

There are churches everywhere, and people stream there happily dressed in white to participate. I stopped at one of these nice churches and saw that all the people were dressed in white, and I wondered what was happening here.

But it is normal in Samoa to be highly religious and go to church every Sunday, dressed in white. The reason for "white": The first missionaries who came to Samoa were dressed in white, and it became a custom over all these years.

Driving here is like driving in Disneyland

It's relaxing to drive in Samoa as the top speed is everywhere between 30-50 km/h. The streets are well maintained and easily allow more than this speed, but as the scenery changes dramatically around every corner, like with a snap of a finger, it's foolish to drive faster and miss the wonderful, constantly evolving landscapes.

The Papapapaitai Falls.

Driving Around Samoa Feels Unreal

It's like being in a theme park with an artificial landscape made of plastic. The scenery is wonderful, with bright light shining towards green mountains under rainy clouds, and it changes again and again within minutes.

So taking a photo of something now, it looks completely different after the weather and sunlight change in the next 5 minutes. Great!

Along the south-west coast, there are unique views.

Unique views also on the south-east coast.

There are so many Samoan-style houses (well of course, since we're in Samoa).

They are meant to be living rooms where sometimes whole neighborhoods can rest and eat together. The open houses are perfect for having a cool breeze, shade from the sun, and at night, it's possible to hang up mosquito nets.

There are not many restaurants or shops outside of Apia, and especially on Sundays, it is even more difficult to find a food booth or store to buy something. But it is still easy for tourists to get around and find a tiny small shop after a while of driving.

Not Everything is for Free

Thankfully, not every little sight requires an entrance fee.

Of course, there are sights that require a fee, but these are worth it. So paying two dollars to see huge 100-meter waterfalls in the middle of the jungle, visible from a cliff, and which are among the best I've seen, doesn't hurt at all.

At this particular waterfall, the Sopo'aga Falls, I even felt a little pity for the lady in the small ticket booth. She is the landowner and probably sits in there all day long to get the 2 dollar entrance fee from a dozen tourists per day. Well, maybe she doesn't sit in there all day, but glimpses from her house with binoculars and rushes to the small ticket booth when she sees a car arriving from afar.

Samoans also have the "friendly gene"

With the people here, it's the same as in many other Pacific island nations. These people are totally relaxed and friendly. Friendly Samoans everywhere, they greet everyone, smile and wave from afar, and sometimes even come to ask things, shake hands to say hello, and say "God bless" while saying goodbye.

I'm sure it must have something to do with genetics that these people are so relaxed. Surely tradition and culture as well. 

But it's not just the friendliness that probably comes with genetics, also the obesity comes with genetics. Samoans are officially the most obese people on the planet, and it can't be just the food which is the reason.

There are countries which eat much more unhealthy stuff than these people here, but it seems that genetics in the South-Pacific island nations are much more sensitive to unhealthy food.

The "To Sua ocean" trench.

This is a natural pool down in a hole that can be accessed with a 20-meter ladder.

Down there is a strong current as waves from the coast push and pull water in and out of the cave. It's a bit scary though, as the current can be very strong when the water gets discharged.

I should have been here earlier than 2 PM because the sun didn't bring enough light anymore at that time to make proper photos.

Running out of time while driving around Samoa is annoying.

I easily could have spent another half day driving at a slow pace through the country, but it was already mid-afternoon and I had to make it back to avoid getting stuck on the winding curvy roads in the dark. 

There are no lights to warn of steep abysses.

It was still afternoon, and the far east coast is even more wonderful than many other parts of Upolu. The green lush mountains, yellow palms, and the changing weather.

Wow!!

Glad I Have a Car

Did I mention that it's wonderful to drive around in Samoa? Probably yes. I even saw some tourists with scooters and bicycles, and I'm happy to have a car. The humidity is maximum and the sun is hot. And when clouds want to dump water, then it rains heavily and makes the streets soaked with water.

That can become very difficult to drive with a scooter.

May 28 - Last Day in the Wonderful Country

I spent this morning roaming around Apia again to have a last impression of the town and to pass by the Fiji Airways office to make a seat reservation for the afternoon flight.

With peace of mind having an aisle seat in the front, I went to buy some takeaway lunch. It was delicious BBQ chicken with rice, and I couldn't wait to eat.

Fly Back to Fiji, Then to Africa

To get back to Faleolo Airport, it's an easy ride with a local bus. These buses in Samoa are truly unique and worth a ride. From the outside, they look like American school buses, but inside their interior is completely made of wood. Everything is made of wood—the seats, the floor, the windows, the roof, the cockpit—it all looks nice!

Last photo on the ride with the bus back to the airport.

Now I'm sitting in the big modern airport, waiting for my plane to depart back to Fiji.

There they end, the wonderful weeks in the South Pacific, and I'm happy that everything went so well, without severe plane delays or cancellations. Five weeks ago, I didn't think that I would now be sitting in the Samoan Airport for real, as I thought something would have interrupted my plans.

Samoa was the last country in Oceania. Now I have visited all independent countries in Australia / Oceania / South-Pacific area. Time to focus on Africa now... 

Next country will be: Algeria