SAVAII - SAMOA

The second half of my time in Samoa was spent on the other island called Savaii. The first place I stopped at was the small village of Lano. It might look the perfect place for some but I was always the last person on earth to want to lie on a beach. I explored a few nearby villages and got a good feel for the place. Got bored after a day because everywhere seemed empty and moved on up the coast.


Next stop was Manase which looked a great place to stay. After Sumatra, Samoa was the least touristy place I had stayed at the time. There was a few others there but not too many, we had breakfast at a big long table every morning so it was a great place to meet other people.



At easter weekend the place filled up with people, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. The locals put on a bit of a show for us all at night.

Over a couple of days I went the whole way round the island, most of it on a bus trip but some of it on a bike. The locals were usually very friendly.







One of the sights were the blowholes caused by the waves being diverted through lava tubes. Our guide showed us the power of them by dropping a coconut in one. The water blasted it back out........



This picture was taken halfway up a tree that had a staircase built round it.



About 100 years before a volcano errupted which caused the lava fields where the blowholes were. We also visited a village that got hit. This church still standing was half full of the flow.



At nights I had the company of a good crowd of people. We usually went to one of a handful of beach bars within walking distance of where we were staying.



The problem with Samoa and all the other Pacific islands is that you must havean onward or return ticket. You can't just turn up and stay longer if you like it or leave early if you don't. 2 weeks was a little bit too much as I had seen and done everything I wanted to after about 10 days. I could have included another nearby island in this sidetrip from New Zealand.

Overall Samoa was a great country to visit and one of the highlights of the trip.