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Introduction
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Samoa is begining to market itself as a tourist destination but it does not yet cater
for the package holiday maker. There are some travel companies that specialise in cruise
trips or eco-tourism and provide organised trips to and around Western Samoa, but in
general when you arrive in Samoa you have to find things to do yourself.
Both Upolu and Savai'i can be circumnavigated in a day by car and the quality of the roads on both islands is very good. Most car rental agencies will let you take your hire car on the ferry between the two islands, but it is a good idea to confirm this first. Just travelling around the islands is an experience. The villagers take a great deal of pride in the appearance of their villages, and it is not an uncommon sight to see groups of villagers along the road, tending plants and picking up litter. There is an added incentive of a prize for the best kept village. It should always be bourne in mind when travelling around Samoa that local customs are very strongly adhered to. It may be frowned upon if you wander around a village in shorts or a swimming costume, the best way to dress is in a lava lava and tee shirt, that way you will not offend anyone and it will please Samoans to see palagis wearing a lava lava (arguably the most comfortable item of clothing to wear in the tropics.) Expect to pay where ever you go in Samoa. The Samoans have realised that tourists are fair game. You will have to pay to drive along some roads that lead to areas of interest and then pay again when you reach your destination. The charges levied are not exorbitant, and it seems a fair way of distributing tourist income to the people of Samoa. |
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This market and the fish
market, used to be the only markets in Apia but when the marketi fou was built they turned
this into a craft market. This is the place to buy your gifts and souvenirs as well as any
items of clothing you might have forgotten to pack. 
There are a large number
of stores selling tee-shirts and lavalava's, and a number selling traditional hand
carved wooden objects such as kava bowls and animals as well as the kava to go in the
bowl. Another item that is perculiar to the Pacific is tapa cloth. This is made from the
bark of the mulberry tree which is treated and beaten until it forms a substance that
resembles a cross between cotton and crêpe paper. This is then painted with natural
pigments to create geometric patterns. Other items you may come across are based on woven
coconut fronds such as the ili a small fan that is used for keeping you cool and
flies off the food. 
This is the new market in Apia. It is the place
where a large number of Samoans go to either buy or sell fresh produce. All the fruit you
would expect to see on sale is available; mangos, pawpaw, pineapples, coconuts, bananas
(four or five types), breadfruit (which is eaten like a vegetable), etc. You may also see
a smallish round green fruit called vi. These are generally eaten hard and have a
sharp refreshing sort of taste, that might not be to many peoples liking. Of the
vegetables that are sold most common are the taro and ta'amú. Taro is
traditionally the staple food in the islands, but because of a virus called 
This modern edifice funded by Chinese money and sporting token acknowledgement to samoan
culture by the late adition of a fale to it's roof is the new samoan government building.
Every weekday morning at 7:50 the Apia police force band marches from its police station
to the front of the building where there is a flag raising ceremony. 
Opened in 1972, this is the new
Samoan Fono (Parliament). It's design is loosely based on that of the traditional samoan
fale, although frequently likened to a beehive, by those who are not familiar with
Wellingtons new parliament buildings in New Zealand. 
Vailima is the house that Robert Louis
Stevenson and his family lived in up until his death. Robert Louis Stevenson has become
synonomous with Samoa and is important to Samoa, where he is known as tusitala, the
teller of tales. A large celebration was held in 1994 to mark the aniversary of his death
and people travelled from all over the world to take part. His house, a collonial building
has been beautifully restored and turned into a museum by the Government of Western Samoa.
Access is only available as part of a guided tour which lasts about an hour, and Samoans
pay a reduced entry fee. 
The musuem is surrounded by well maintained gardens, containing a wide range
of idigenous and tropical plants. As you get further away from the house the grounds
become less formal and start to resemble the tropical rainforest that makes up much of the
interior of the islands. If you are not familiar with the flora of this region, I strongly
recommend wandering through the gardens. 
The pool at
Piula is very unusual. It is located on a rocky beach, seperated from the sea by about two
meters of beach. This is pool a fresh water pool which stretches back into a cave that
goes some way under a cliff. Swimming is permitted, although it is requested that you make
a small contribution. 
This is the beach that
was featured in the 1952 film, Return to Paradise Beach, starring Gary Cooper. 
Mosso's footprint is an indentation in the ground that resembles an oversized and horribly
deformed foot. It is supposedly the point in Samoa from which the giant Mosso took his
departing step on his way across the Pacific to Fiji. There will be someone beside the
small walled enclosure, that hides Mosso's footprint, who will open a door for a small fee
so that you can look and take photographs.
Last Modified: 2nd April 2000
Formatting and links modified. Books added.