Just some of the best photos out of many photos taken in Samoa. A portfolio of 5,000 photos would you believe it, and gowing at the rate of hundreds every week!
Almost every village in Samoa has it's public bathing pool. Rivers and streams flow down from the hills to a pool by the sea. Some of the water is pristine, crystal clear. Some of the pools are brackish water at high tide. Here is a shot of a lovely pool in Savaii
Some of us have a hard life. Debbie at Aggie Grey's Resort, aclimatising!
I stumbled upon this little fellow as I wandered through a rural village. I understand from those around that he is 7 years old nand has been like this since birth. They say that his mother has abandonned him and when I was there two naked children one probably about four years old and the other maybe two, snotty noses with flies were standing guard. At other times they were not to be found. "One day - one day, I promised this little man, somebody will come and look after you!" He would not have known what I was saying but the smile in this shot says it all. With the Tsunami and poverty of the third world kind only hours away from incomparable wealth, one wonders where there is justice. I've found Samoa a VERY challenging environment in many respects. This picture is simply pixels on a screen somewhere in cyber-space. When I walked into this village, where very probably not one Palgai would have visited ever (certainly as a tourist), and saw this sight in living breathing my eyes became liquid, by heart broke and I questioned my own very reason for existence. Samoa can do that to you!
The water is warm here - close to blood temperature. Why wouldn't you enjoy it like this? Rebecca at Manase on Savaii.
The Piula Cave Pools are a must - cool, drinkable water with two caves going back so far that you can't see the sky. Lovely. Unique
The Samoan Police are a force to be reckonned with. Stop please! Drivers license please! Make sure you are wearing your seatbelt please! Police have checkpoints around the island. Right beside the airport is the busiest for business. They are manned from morning to noon and sometimes in the afternoon. Lunchtime they are off duty. Afternoons they appear sometimes. All very official you know! I love it. If you are a Palagi tourist in a rental car, you can simply wave back to the policeman stopping you. I know. I've done it many times and have yet to be chased. With the SWAP-mobile on its way though, I won't be able to do that much longer!
Every morning these guys walk the walk from Government buildings to the Police station. A wonderful relic of days gone by. Again, I love it!
Visitors to Samoa staying more than three or four days should make sure they get one day on Savaii for the blowholes and the turtles. Here I am feeding about half a dozen of them. The mid-sized orange one in the top left is a "go-er". It took five good nips at me over a period of half an hour. Drew blood and gave me some good bruises from its bite. They nip like a duck or swan but slower and a little harder of course. Pushing them away was fun. They can't argue when you turn them around by their shell and push them off! A very unforgetable experience.
This is the last village on the end of the road over the Falagoa Bay Road - Uafato. Sorry Fusi-Safata, this is now my most favouritist place in the whole world - certainly at the moment. These guys are the bowl and weapon carvers of Samoa, going back generations. Their village is rarely frequented by Palagi and is the most conservative village I have found in Samoa. Two churches - a Mormon and a Congregational. Two hundred people. Thirty families. Sixteen extended families. No swimming in the river or sea on a Sunday and all they want is to sell their bowls. Delightful. I'll personally 'kill' anyone who even thinks to build a resort there!
Rugby or volleyball. Take your pick! Villages stop for sport and socialising from 3.00pm onwards. Yes, even now in 2010 there is a culture and a society that doesn't live on the Internet! Notice the various housing in the background. Centre of the picture is middle-class (new iron roof and timber trusses). Up the hill to the right is older, lower class housing (still iron roofing but old and rusty). Upper class at the top. Most likely the Pastor but could be a businessman or someone high in government. Taken on the South cost of Savaii.
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