On The Road Again: Day 16 - Apia, Western Samoa

GPS says we are about 70 miles from Samoa. We stopped by the International Cafe for a small pastry and coffee and are now awaiting docking in Apia. If rumors prove true, Samoan dancers will welcome the ship off the starboard side as we dock.

Looks like we will be delayed again as the Captain just came over the PA and our arrival is now 1:00. We decided to go ahead and order a light lunch before going ashore.

So we left the ship about 1:30 and headed to where the cabs hung out. Our goal was to hook up with a couple or two and hire a cab for a whatever a three hour tour would show us. A half hour later we were four couples off for a three hour drive. Before going any further I will say that Western Samoa is one beautiful island. Banana and coconut trees abound and flowers you find only at a florist are everywhere. The whole island is a garden.

Anyway we headed southeast out of Apia traveling along the ocean. Right off the bat we noticed the number of churches. They are open air and they are everywhere. According to our driver, come Sunday everyone on the island goes to church. They don't work. They don't even cook. They just go to church. During our drive we saw two theological colleges. Who knows how many more there are.The second thing we noticed were the raised, open air, covered platforms that almost every house had nearby. Some were small, some were large and some were very decorative with fancy painted columns. These are areas where families gather to socialize, cook, eat and even sleep.

Our first stop was at a Methodist theological college for a short hike down some very steep stairs to the Piula fresh water cave and ocean, where turquoise water meets the white sand. Does that last part sound like me or Barb?

I'm going to take a moment to say a little about our drive today. Once you get out of the city the roads are narrow, usually without a shoulder. And they drive on the wrong side of the road, that is they drive on the left. I suppose that's more different than wrong. Anyway, they only started doing this a few years ago, so many cars still have the driver sitting on the left, including our van. Now that makes it hard for a driver to see to pass another car, but that didn't bother our driver. However, the fact that the roads were very narrow and he couldn't see didn't bother me as much as I think the van only had about 35 horsepower. Oh well, we made it.

Next we headed South over the mountains to the South side of the island, which was devastated by a tsunami six years ago. After turning East we were again traveling along the coast. A short ways down the road our driver pulled over to where a lady was selling coconuts and he bought each couple one. The lady chopped the top off with a rather large machete so we could drink the coconut water. It appeared she still had all her fingers.

Next up was a stop at Sinalei Reef Resort and Spa. This is the kind of place you see in travel magazines. We are ready to spend a couple of weeks. Heading back over the mountains to the North side we encountered a little bit of home. Road construction. The first we'd seen in two weeks. Just before getting back into Apia we took a drive into what was Robert Lewis Stevenson's home. I had no idea he had lived there.

Before returning to the ship our driver took us for a short drive around town pointing out some of the government buildings. By the time we got back our three hour tour had turned into four hours. All in all a great drive.

Here's something interesting. We passed a new school built by the Chinese. Later a big new hospital built by the Chinese. Then in town a really big new parliament building built by the Chinese. Kinda makes you wonder.