Last night, despite the evening rain showers and overcast skies, nightfall gave way to rather unobstructed views of quite a few stars. We are after all quite a ways away from any light or major centers of population. This fact would come into play the next morning.
Breakfast was . . .ok. I don’t think we’re going to get any great meals on this trip. Pickings are slim. Upolu, the main island of Samoa, is a much larger island than Tutuila (American Samoa’s principal island). Most commerce and businesses (and most importantly banks) are located in Apia, more than an hour’s drive away from where we are. On Samoa, cash is key. We were told this by the guy renting us the car as well, but we just assumed we’d be able to find an ATM . . .somewhere.
You need cash to get gas, food, and pay entries to any parks or waterfalls. We asked around and people told us of a bank down the road about five minutes next to what everyone kept referring to as “the Chinese store.” We were able to locate it without issue, but even though it was after 10am, the bank was still closed. Their hours were from 10-230pm. To kill time, we walked around the adjacent store, but couldn’t find anything there or the reason people called it the Chinese store.
Eventually, they opened, and we waited in an informal line for over thirty minutes before we were helped. The soft spoken teller was able to exchange about $60 for the local Samoan Tala currency. With local currency in hand, we headed off to the To Sua ocean trench, the most famous attraction in Samoa.
It cost a few tala to enter, and is essentially a big swimming hole — which I think is what To Sua means in Samoan. First we observed from afar, watching other whites timidly descend the 30m ladder down to the wooden platform. After walking around other areas of the park, I decided I’d go down and see what all the fuss was about. I timed my entry well and didn’t have to awkwardly wait for another white to go down or up. Once down there, I could see there was a sort of grotto or cave that appeared to connect to the ocean, but turned around before exploring too much.
It was all okay. I was expecting to be underwhelmed by the #1 attraction and it met my expectations. Judging by google reviews or TripAdvisor, people love this place, so good for them. They aren’t jaded like Bricole. We headed back to the Aga Reef to recover and relax. As we settled in, we saw this eel slithering around just off our bungalow. I don’t know my eels that well, but I think perhaps it was a Peppered Moray, based on the spots. Perhaps my niece, Emily, would know better.
A passing rainstorm kept things interesting and we enjoyed the sound of the rain from the safety of our covered deck area. We spent most of the afternoon on our deck, alternating between the covered and uncovered area depending on the weather at the time. We watched the tide roll in, eventually making the nearby water safe to swim/snorkel in.
We went swimming around the property spotting some more fish and even seeing some eels up close. Nicole was less enthusiastic about meeting them than I was. The eels slithered away whilst Nicole got pushed into a rock (by the current, not an eel). To dry off, we sat outside once again. It was a pretty relaxing day.
Sunset also delivered some nice colors. We went down to dinner, where Nicole ordered a different pasta with supposedly a different sauce. It too tasted like curry. Poor Nicole. She hasn’t even had the option to order a pizza since she doubled up at CPK in Kapolei, Hawai’i. Tomorrow we head back to American Samoa, but will have the whole morning to relax before driving nearly two hours back to the airport. As of yet, I haven’t received any emails about delayed flights, so I suppose that’s good. Or perhaps they’ll just let us know of the delay once we get there. We shall see.
passports & pepto bismol 