Evan Hunter's Round The World Diary

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Tour of Savai'i

Today I went on a tour of Savai'i Island (70 tala)with Tanu, and Java in a minivan owned by the family. After breakfast, Marko, Heather, Lisa, Adi, Dede, Miah and I got in the van, and headed west along the only road, as it hugged the mostly rocky coast.
We soon passed a beautiful, old, slightly dilapidated church, then continued on as the road went higher above the sea. We stopped at Salega where there is a legend about a mother and daughter being turned into a shark and turtle after jumping from the cliff into the small bay. Amazingly, as we stood there for about 5-10 minutes we saw first a small shark, then a turtle swimming in the bay.
We also stopped at the residence of one of the best tattooists in the south pacific, and he showed us some of the tradidtional tools he used - bone or shell combs on the end of a wooden rod, which was then tapped with another stick. He apparently used soot mixed with water for the dye. He also had a modern tatoo gun for those not requiring the traditional methods. Tanu told us about his tatoo. It is refered to as a full body tattoo, but actually extends from just above the knees to just above the waist. There are large sections which are filled with solid black, which Tanu said was very painful. These tattoos take about 3-4 days to complete, usually over a week or more. He told us a story about a Palagi (white person) who wanted one, and had it done in one day, only to die the next day from the shock at such a massive injury.
Not far from here, we went to Falealupo Rain Forest Reserve, where there is treetop walkway, which was fairly expensive for what it was - 20 Tala. It consisted of a tower with stairs, then a swingbridge to a Garuga Floribunda tree, on which was build more stairs, and, 30m above the ground, a platform, which apparently can be used for overnight stays. The views of the tops of the forest were good, but not that great.
We stopped for a lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and coconut milk at Satuiatua. There was a nice beach with fales there, and strangely the tide was so low that the coral was sticking out of the water by about 10cm. It looked at first like kelp until one looked closer.
Next we stopped at Alofaaga Blowholes, where the coast is a wide lava rock shelf. There are cracks and holes in this shelf, and these form blowholes. We looked at Two adjacent ones, which varied from not working at all to shooting a mist of spray 20m or more high, depending on the particular wave. An old man came out with some coconut husks, and with good timing and luck was able to throw the husks into the hole and have them shoot incredibly high into the air.
Next we stopped at Afu Aau Falls, which was a short way from the main road, on a dirt track through a coconut plantation. The falls drop into a large and deep pool that is wonderful for swimming in. It also has rocks up to about 5m high surrounding the pool which you can jump or dive from. We stayed there for quite a while as it was so nice.
Continuing around the island, we stopped briefly in Salelologa, before making our last stop at Satoalepai where you can swim with turtles in a pool partitioned from the adjoining wetlands. The water is amazingly clear, and there are also fish there. The turtles are not too bothered by people - unless you try grab one, which is surprisingly easy - although I found later that you shouldn't really do that.
The tour ended with us returning to Manase, having circumnavigated the island. An excellent dinner, conversation over a few beers, a great sunset, and the day was complete.