March 30, 2026- Day # 84

 

So after leaving Pago Pago yesterday, we are in Apia, Samoa this morning. As seems to be our routine, they are calling for more rain today. The locals are telling us that yesterday was sunny and beautiful and that they are happy we bought them some rain. 

Our tour today left the ship at 8:00 am, so we went to a different restaurant for an early breakfast. 

Independent Samoa is made up of two major islands (Savai’i and Upolu) and 8 smaller islands. Of the two major islands, the smaller of the two, called Upolu covers about 434 square miles, and is the most populated (with about 3/4 of the country’s population). It is also the location of the capital city of Apia. Apia is along the northern coast and known as the heart of Samoa. 

The tour today is called Apia Township and Surroundings. Before I go any further, I need to tell you a little about this tour guide. She does this job part time with her main job being a government worker as a marketer for the government newspaper. She was very knowledgeable but also had a jovial streak. She said that most Samoan people, including herself,  love to eat and therefore they tend to be on the fluffy side. She also told us that since this is a Monday the streets would be busy, but yesterday being Sunday the streets would be vacant because all the Samoans would be in church then home eating with their extended family. Everything evolved around their family, including that they have very few cemeteries, as most of the ancestors would be buried in their front yards so they remained close to descendants.This is no exaggeration as we saw many tombstones and crypts in front of many houses. 

I have photos of the Apia Clock Tower which is a highlight in the center of town, and a number of pictures from the museum which was the house called Vailima, the former estate of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, who the locals called Tusitala ( the teller of tales). If you are not familiar with his works, he is the author of Treasure Island, and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, among others. 

We also toured and we have pictures of the beautiful twin spires Immaculate Conception Cathedral with ornate wooden ceilings and stained glass. We did not get to see the famous site of the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks which are a natural playground of smooth volcanic rocky chutes. 

Of course there was another market that had many local handcrafted items, fruits and vegetables. 

I almost forget to mention that we saw a local elementary school with an area for tourism next door that we visited. They showed us the method of hot rock traditional cooking of taro and breadfruit. They also did another Ava Ceremony and provided dances, some with the Siva Afi or fire knife. There was the chance to sample some of the food we saw cooked earlier, but by this time, guess what, the skies had opened up and it poured down rain again. 

Lastly, in contrast to yesterday, these buses had padded seats and A/C and actual windows (that unfortunately collected raindrops.