Western Samoa

Matuatu Bay, Savaii, Western Samoa (September 18 to September21)

Before we headed to Savaii, we obtained our cruising permit in Apia.  We motored from Apia to Matuatua Bay, approximately 45 miles.  Winds were light in the morning but picked up to about 10 to 12 knots in the afternoon.  Because Dennis was fishing and his first mate was a bit under the weather from some sort of stomach bug caught from fellow cruisers in the marina, Dennis opted to motor the distance (approximately 8 hours) instead of raising the sail. 

We found Matuatu Bay to be a beautiful anchorage that was protected by the reefs and with lovely white sand beaches and a few turtles.  There were mostly villagers, Kiwi, Aussie and Japanese vacationers and a few local pigs on the shore.  The bay also had excellent swimming and snorkeling off the reefs as well as a few nice (but spendy) restaurants at the resorts.    By this time, Dennis had caught the “cruiser” cold and we found this peaceful little bay an excellent place to get some rest and relaxation so that we could knock our bugs before our next leg to Niuatoputapu, Tonga.

Upolu Island, Western Samoa (September 9 to September 18)

Our passage from Pago Pago to Apia, Upolu was an easy over night, approximately 90 miles, with gentle trade winds averaging about 10 to 12 knots and a full moon to boot!  Lardo’s boat speed averaged between 5 to 6 knots……can’t ask for any better sailing.  During most of the passage we were either cruising along the American Samoan or the Upolu coast line, we could see land for most of the passage.  The only vessel that we saw was a supply ship that got pretty close to us – we contacted the ship to make sure that they were aware of us and they had indicated that they had us on their radar.

We stayed in the Apia marina – our first marina since we left Mexico six months ago.  It was a luxury to have marina facilities which included cold showers, toilets, water and power.  This made touring this wonderful island very easy as we did not have to dinghy ashore; we simply stepped off the boat to a real dock.

On the first day that we arrived, all of the government officials (port authority, immigration and customs) came to us.  We waited onboard most of the day while waiting for the officials to show up.  Because we arrived on a Friday, the officials were quite eager to finish up quickly and to start their weekend.  For most of the questions that we thought deserved a “YES” answer, they requested that we say “NO”.  This for sure made our check in a breeze at the end of a Friday!  Note that when we checked out, we had to go to all of the government agencies instead of them coming to us.

New Zealand was this country’s protectorate from 1914 to 1962; before that it was the German’s.  The Samoan’s still have a strong tie to New Zealand in business; food (such as yummy rich ice cream and other dairy products); language - Kiwi English is spoken; and they drive on the left-hand side of the road but oh it is still culturally Samoan just as we experienced in American Samoa.   In December this year, Samoa will switch their time zone to be on the other side of the International Date Line.

Fa’a Samoa is alive and well on both the American and Samoan islands.  Here’s a few of the traditions that are observed in both Samoan countries:

·         Sunday is a day of rest – most shops are closed so that the residents can attend church

·         Evening prayers are daily around sunset

·         Approximately 18,000 Matai Chiefs still have a strong presence in the villages

·         Swim suits are frowned upon; most Samoans swim fully dressed

·         Shoulders and knees must be covered for women when attending church – a lavalava is encouraged for women

While visiting Apia, we saw the fabulous farmers’s market where we loaded up on banana’s, mango’s, papaya’s, pineapple’s and other tropical produce grown on the island.  We also visited Robert Louis Stevenson’s beautiful island plantation home.  RLS settled on the island in the 1890’s with his family.  The Samoan’s gave RLS the name Tusitala, meaning “teller of tales”.

We were brave enough to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road.  We spent two days touring this lovely island – very lush tropical vegetation and a few interesting birds that we had not seen before such as the cardinal finch.  We found that because Samoa is a large island, that more agriculture is grown here.  We also suspected that because Samoa was no longer under an international protectorate (i.e., no welfare) that more people had to work for their survival.  The work day on most of these Samoan plantations started early at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 p.m.  We were quite impressed how these Samoan’s could walk with heavy loads of produce in banana leave baskets under the hot tropical sun.

During our stay we got to watch Samoan Rugby and found that this town went berserk over the sport – total Rugby Mania!  We couldn’t even get the men’s US Open tennis championship due to the Rugby World Cup going on at the same time.  Apia went crazy during the World Cup – every government office, business, restaurant, home, etc, all had the game on TV – every time Samoa scored we could hear a lot of hooting and hollering all over town.  We watch Samoa trounce Namibia and stayed an extra day to watch Samoa vs. Wales.  The second game was a well fought match with Samoa (10) losing to Wales (17) – after the game the city went dead quiet with lots of sad faces – you would have thought that an important leader was assinated.  Fortunately, Samoa gets one more chance to play against Fiji.

We had a delightful week here and were refueled for our next island in Western Samoa – Savaii.