The end of our Samoan experience

A nice woman, whose English was excellent!

                 She lived in a modest village.

Only a week old.. should not have been separated from her mom

We saw people out rowing these earlier           

We very much enjoyed biking around Savai'i, and Craig survived the hot day through the rain forest along the northern coast. There only is one road around the island, so we backtracked a couple of days to enable us to stay in one location for all but one night.

Link to Leaving Samoa pictures

The western coast seems to have many more villages, which means sharing the road with dogs, pigs & their piglets, cars, and locals. The drivers were almost universally polite, and gave us space, and were never a problem, maybe partly because traffic is light.

Many dogs chased us (but many more ignored us); Craig, in his gentleman fashion, often placed himself between them and me. It can be scary to have 3 dogs running around you barking loudly, but we were never touched, maybe due to my ability to scream equally loudly for them to get lost. Craig noticed none of them are neutered, but I saw only one puppy, but at least some 40 piglets over our 5 days of biking there. The chickens rarely crossed the road in front of us, but the piglets are very fast (and totally unpredictable.)

The eastern coast has sandier, nicer beaches, and more tourists. Fewer villages, and fewer animals to share the road with.

Before riding our last short stretch to the ferry back to Upolu, we had the best pizza we have had in many years, anywhere! And this was not because we were deprived food-wise, but due to the fact a local woman had bought the business from an Austrian, who had taught them how to make a delicious thin crust pizza. I thought I would take some 80% for lunch for the next day, but we both finished everything in one sitting, and never felt like it was too much.

Riding on the northern side of Upolu, the main island, does not seem nice due to LOTS of cars, no shoulder, narrow lanes, an often poor road surface, and the fact the motorists have decided they have the right of way, at all times. We would have liked to bike one more day, but I had had it, so today, we took a bus towards the eastern most part of Upolu. It was nice to get to also see some of the inland road, and the further out of Apia we got, the less busy the road. Should any of our cycling friends decide to come here, we would recommend biking here, but maybe with luggage support. The hills are definitely challenging, and the bus struggled at about my pace uphill.  It is very pretty, and different than other parts we have seen.

They have a very nice custom on the buses both here, and in A. Samoa, where room always is made for a new passenger, up front. People automatically move further back to any empty seat when the seats up front are full, and what we read before coming here, is true: if all seats are taken, you sit on someone's lap! I once sat on Craig's, and we have seen high school kids double up when needed. If only healthy young people at home would make room for the elderly!

Yesterday we went to the R. L. Stevenson home, and now museum. We had planned to ride as far as we could on the steep uphill cross island road afterwards, but the road surface was one unevenly patched pothole after another. Craig will post an essay on him, as he was impressed to find out how helpful he was to the Samoans.

Outside of it, is a sculpture, depicting the end of cannibalism in Samoa. It did not give an idea of when this enlightenment took place.

We spent a fun last evening at an Airbnb hosted by Denise from NZ. She made a tasty dinner, and offered us a slice of a wonderful chocolate cake she sells in her attached cafe. I have been TOTALLY deprived, as chocolate does not seem to be part of life here in Samoa, except in a breakfast chocolate-rice dish, which was too rich for me with all the coconut cream. Denise also gave us tips for our trip to NZ come March. Unfortunately, Craig again was kept up by the local dogs, which start barking incessantly around 2 am, followed by the roosters around 4 am, despite this being in the town of Apia. Today, he also could hear a church service, which started at 5 am. Not what he was looking forward to.

Tomorrow, Thursday Oct. 5 we become a day younger, when we leave Samoa, and arrive in American Samoa Wednesday Oct. 4. After a night again at the Gecko Cottage, we fly to Ofu, for a week of beach going - a new activity for us. They are supposed to have some of the best snorkeling anywhere, and we also plan a hike up a peak in the rain forest. 

Add: have safely arrived in Pago Pago again, had a female copilot on the 19 seater plane, which was not even half full. Unfortunately I doubt she was from one of the Samoan islands. Leaving Apia, they didn't even want us to open our suitcases with the folded bikes, no X-ray machines in sight, no one checked us in any way before boarding, except again to weigh us with our carry-ons. I saw a local man's suitcase get checked through. They do want all luggage entering American Samoa to go through the Xray machine, but they didn't check people.