Apia, Samoa

We arrived O.K. to the Apia Harbor in Western Samoa at 9:00 am. They didn't have room for us in the marina, so we anchored in the bay. No big deal as we had 4.5 days of soot and smoke to scrape off of the boat (the engines are smoking big - Detroit's deal - and we had a following wind the whole way). So in the only sunny day that we will see for awhile, we get the boat sparkling again. We can't go ashore as this is Sunday and the customs officials do not work on Sunday so we can't get cleared into the country until Monday. Monday, it is raining heavily on and off and we begin the frustrating process of trying to get into the marina and to have our boat and us cleared into Samoa. Finally after a bribe of 6 Canadian beer, we get a spot in the marina (we reserved a spot 1 week earlier - God knows with who!). Then even though we have an agent hired to expedite the clearing process, we have 5 - very friendly - customs officials parade through our boat, each lounging while the other asks us to fill out the same pieces of paper that the person before him did. So by 2:00 pm we are now legally admitted to the country. Our friend boat Ammonite is still parked in the bay and their nose is a bit out of joint. But most of the sail boats that we met in Suwarrow are here. Finally dinner out, and pretty good food too. Tuesday is another rainy day but we have a car rented and head out to tour the island. Well we know why it has rain forests, this is the "dry season" and we've probably had 2 feet of rain in the last two days! And because of the high rainfall, and the temperatures of 30 plus degrees C, the humidity is extremely high - we dry little prairie people are suffering. It is like being in a "hot Yoga class" all day (and night) long. Which leads to the type of houses that the majority of the people in the country side live in - a roof, supported by posts over a raised concrete floor. The fancier ones have a low wooden railing around the pad and some type of chairs, but mostly they are empty with the occupants rolling out sleeping mats and pillows for the night and rolling them up again during the day. Wow, how do they get any privacy? They do have a custom that being "tribal" everything belongs to everybody so I guess that the less you have the less you have to share. That being said, everybody we have met is extremely friendly without a hidden agenda and they all for the most part speak very good English. Things are very inexpensive which is a pleasant change from French Polynesia and the market has plenty of vegetables and fruits and the grocery stores have a very good variety of anything else that you would need. On our tour, we come to the south side of the island, this is where all of the really nice beaches are found. Exactly one year ago, this island was hit with a tsunami that wiped out the south and west sides of the island. All of the little beach "fale" (roofs over platforms) were wiped out. They are slowly being re-built. It is still very pretty, the accommodations are going in exactly the same - a central reception area with a restaurant/bar and clusters of these beach fale. The rest rooms are a block of shared facilities, toilets and showers. For $90.00 tala per person per day (roughly $36.00 Cdn) you get breakfast and dinner, a sleeping mat and mosquitoe net and your fale (open room with roof on stilts) ON THE BEACH. This is extremely popular. Some of the places are putting in private "fale" with ensuite bathroom but all are still under construction. The few 4 and 5 star hotels are all found on the north side of the island in the city of Apia (not too large) and by the airport. But they don't have the beach! So we have seen the beach and we have tromped through the rain forest and seen some massive trees and stunning waterfalls and walked all over the town markets/craft stores/churches. We joined a bunch of the other boaters and went to an historic hotel here for a traditional "fiafia" evening, which is their version of Polynesian dance and some of the local food (tourist friendly) and it was a very nice affair. We've done our usual boat community socializing and all in all are very much enjoying our stay here.

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