Home » Samoa » My Trip to Samoa

Samoa is a small polynesian island group, located in the south-pacific (Most people don't even seem to know that). The group is actually divided into two countries - Independent Samoa and American Samoa (And nobody seems to know that!). I stayed the entire time in Independent Samoa. I actually wanted to visit American Samoa, but the immigration office wouldn't let me in there without a special permit (Apparently they don't like israelis or anyone from the middle-east, really. Too bad for them!). While being quite a beautiful island, there are almost no tourists there. That's part of the magic - you can still see the traditional polynesian way of life, and yet enjoy amazing beaches. Independent Samoa consists of several islands, the two big ones are called Upolu and Savaii. The capital is called Apia, and is located in Upolu. But I guess you can get this info (or even accurate info) somewhere else. So to my trip...

My Trip to Samoa

Rm
2004-08-10 20:29:33

Displayed times (last time: )

I guess Apia is a 'typical' pacific capital (well, it looks just like Nady (Fiji) to me!). I've stayed in two places in Apia. The first was the 'Seaside-Inn'. It wasn't a bad place, but I didn't like it, it felt like an Hotel and not like a backpacker to me.
I think budget travelers must go to Seipepa - A wonderful place. After a couple of nights in Apia I moved there, and it's great. Seipepa is owned by a Swedish guy (Matt) who married a samoan and decided to stay (well, you can just be jealous).
So what is there to do In Apia? Well, not a lot. I recommend going out of there the minute you can - go to sleep on a beach, either on Lalumano beach (On Upolu) or somewhere in Savaii (I stayed in Tanu Beach, in Manase which was amazing).
If you do have time to spare in Apia, you can go to the Sliding rock, which is really fun. The Robert Louis Stevenson house is nice - but not very special (climbing to the Tombs is fun, although in Samoa, with the humidity, it's not easy even to climb for half an hour!). The marine reserve in Apia is nice too (Palolo deep - nice place to do some snorkeling). There are two markets in Apia - the food market and the flea market. And the fish market, of course. I didn't find them too exciting...

Tanu beach is where I stayed about 2 weeks out of the 3 in Samoa. The perfect place to relax, and do nothing for days. The place is run by Tanu, which is the chief of Manase (a village in Savaii). His family helps to run the place (and there is a lot of family there! I think there are at last 50 people working there...). What you get is a very cool Fale (An 'open' hut - no walls, just blinds you can lower down). The fales are right on the beach (yeah, about 2 meters from the surf) - and it's a beautiful beach!
So what do you do all day? Well, you have breakfast and dinner served to you. Between them you usually hang around ...