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Featured Book Moon Handbooks - South Pacific |
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Accommodation
Adventure
Aggie Grey’s
AIDS
Aiga
Air
Airlines
Airport
Airport Bus Service
Alcohol
Alofaaga Blowholes
Alphabet
A-words
Apia
Apolima Island
Art & Artifacts
Automatic Teller Machines
Ava
AccommodationThere’s a range of accommodation in Samoa to suit all tastes and budgets and even luxury on a budget if sleeping in a traditional fale separated from the warm, clear water only by white sand is your idea of luxury. Fales on the island of Savai’i like the Tanu Beach Fales offer a true Samoan experience for as little as $50 per night, per person, including meals. Another nice property on Savai’i is Siufaga Beach Resort.There are backpacker hotels, boutique properties, places for surfers, honeymoon retreats, hotels and now a large full facility resort with the new Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa. New Aggie’s is just five minutes from the airport on Upolu. In Apia, Aggie Grey’s Hotel is still the premier accommodation property. One resort deserving of special mention is Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa - a charming resort on the south of Upolo that’s pretty close to a perfect Pacific paradise, if you’ll forgive the alliteration. >Top
AdventureSome people’s adventure can be daring to have a second colourful cocktail by a swimming pool but whatever your idea of excitement is you will probably find it here… deep sea fishing, snorkelling, diving, caving, yachting, playing golf or just exploring what’s around the corner. It’s easy to get about and everything is accessible.>Top
Aggie Grey’sAggie Grey’s Hotel has been Apia’s most famous address for over 60 years. Sitting opposite the harbour the property is still the city’s leading tourist hotel and it first became famous as a hamburger outlet for US soldiers during World War II. Aggie’s son Alan oversees the operation and you’ll find granddaughter Aggie Grey Jnr at reception (she is a delightful host).The ‘new’ wing is around 18 years old but very comfortable with views across the harbour or to the lush vegetation hillside. There’s a range of accommodation flowing through the resort, including the fales named after visiting celebrities (Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, William Holden etc). The bar and reception area are charmingly colonial and atmospheric - the main restaurant a tad gaudy and akin to a Chinese restaurant but the meals excellent and the service bordering on being over-attentive. Thursdays nights you can experience a fantastic fia fia night poolside and on Fridays you’ll find some laid-back jazz in the bar. Aggie’s grandson, Frederick, manages the new Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa. It is about forty minutes from Apia and five minutes from the international airport. There are 140 air-conditioned rooms, restaurant, cocktail bar, swimming pool with swim-up bar, tennis courts, Kids Club, watersports and a stunning Day Spa for pampering. The 100-year-old chapel is more than a ‘resort chapel’ - it has church services on Sundays for locals and those of Aggie’s 200 staff members who may want to attend. It’s a perfect spot for couples to marry if they wish to invite guests. More on weddings here. >Top
AIDSHIV/AIDS hasn’t swept through the Pacific as it has in some parts of the world and let’s keep it that way. Practice safe sex.>Top
AigaThis is the Samoan term for family groups and is the basis for how society functions.>Top
AirIf you hire a car and the tyres look a bit flat you may have to part with $2 at a service station to inflate them. Not a big news item but in most parts of the world this is gratis and it just goes to show that some people can apparently live on thin air.>Top
AirlinesSamoa should get a huge tourism boost now that Polynesian Blue is flying direct from Sydney three times a week. Polynesian Blue is a joint venture between the Samoan Government (49%) and Virgin/Pacific Blue (49%). The other two percent is owned by the Grey family mentioned above. It’s now easy for connections from all Australian capital cities via Sydney. Polyblue also services Tonga from Australia and New Zealand. Air Pacific flies once a week from Nadi in Fiji and Air New Zealand has daily flights from NZ and weekly from Los Angeles. For those with an aversion to open water ferry travel (90 minutes from Upolu to Savai’i), there are daily 10-minute flights between these main two islands.>Top
AirportFaleolo International Airport is 35km west of Apia. Arriving is quite a welcoming experience with a band playing in the baggage collection area and friendly faces once through customs. If possible book transfers as part of your flight and accommodation packages but if you arrive and need a taxi to town, allow around $45 ($70 if heading to the south coast. There are a couple of money exchange bureaus and an ANZ ATM. The international departure tax is $40 - probably best to slip it into the back of your wallet so you don’t have to panic on the way out. When departing, the small gift shop upstairs is okay for unloading leftover tala on souvenirs but the duty free shop in the departure lounge is not particularly good value.>Top
Airport Bus ServiceThere’s an airport to Apia accommodation service run by P&F Schuster Tours. The fare is $10 each way. Phone 23 014.>Top
AlcoholIn general alcohol isn’t expensive, especially the local beer, Vailima Lager ($2.50 in shops, $4 in resorts). Because Australian and New Zealand wines are imported they are on the expensive side (not outrageous though) - think around $40 to $50 a bottle (remember Samoan dollars here!) - so probably worth bringing in a few duty free bottles if vino is your taste.>Top
Alofaaga BlowholesThe blowholes are near the village of Taga (south Savai’i). Following the coastal track west for a few hours will take you to the ancient village of Fagaloa. When pronouncing places that have a ‘g’ in them, insert an ‘n’ in front - e.g. Tanga, Fangaola and Alofaanga. Speaking of which…>Top
AlphabetThere are only 14 letters in the Samoan alphabet - the vowels and consonants p, t, m, n, g, f, v, s and the glottal stop, ‘ used to separate syllables. The language ‘borrowed’ the letters k, h and r. The vowels are pronounced in a similar way to Italian or Spanish - so ‘talofa’ (hello) is ‘tah-loh-fah’ and ‘fale’ is ‘fah-lay’. Everyone speaks English but greetings and pleasantries like please and thank you in Samoan will please your hosts and enrich your experience. And so, a few…>Top
A-Words
>Top
ApiaApia is Samoa’s capital and is north and centre on the coast of the island of Upolu. With a population of 39,000 it is the country’s only ‘city’ - the rest of the inhabited areas are villages. Apia even has traffic lights - which is probably not a bad idea as the streets in parts are very wide. There’s also a McDonalds just off main Beach Road - I mention this because if you are ever in need of an urgent toilet stop, you know the bathrooms will be clean. If anyone mentions the toilets are for patrons only, just say you didn’t use them last time you bought a meal, so they owe you one.Despite the taller banks and office blocks there’s still an atmosphere of a colonial trading town in Apia. Have a wander and let the town unfold - you’ll come across the Flea Market, fish market, the John Williams Memorial, the old courthouse and interesting churches. Up from the courthouse (Ififi St) is the European cemetery, testament to the early German settlement in Samoa. Apia arguably has the best nightlife in the South pacific with a range of restaurants, bars and nightclubs but don’t leave going out too late because everything will pretty much close at midnight. Do include the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum on your list of things to do - it is highly recommended. >Top
Apolima IslandSamoa’s fourth largest island is on the rim of a volcanic crater between Upolu and Sava’i. There is one village that is home to around 150 people.>Top
Art and ArtifactsYou will find woven mats - some of these are extremely finely woven. Tapa cloth makes for a good souvenir. The cloth is decorated in inks (usually brown/black) with designs based on natural objects (fish, turtles). You’ll also find carvings - war clubs, drums and tanoas (kava bowls). Unlike those found in Fiji, Tonga or Vanuatu that have four legs, Samoan ones have a dozen or more round legs. You may want to take home a kirikiti stick - the local three-sided cricket bat. If you’re not impressed by the quality and range of handicrafts, keep in mind that Samoan culture is expressed far more in dance, song, story telling and tattoos. Tikis are not part of Samoan culture so save your purchase of these for trips to New Zealand or Hawaii. The Flea Market is a good place to find handicrafts and there’s the Aggie Grey’s Gift Shop next to the hotel.>Top
Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)There are ANZ ATMs at the airport and outside the banks in Apia. There is one ANZ ATM on Savai’i - next to the markets in Salelologa. Probably best to change money on Upolo just in case this one is out of order and you get stuck. Westpac has ATMs front and rear of their branch in Apia.>Top
AvaThis is the Samoan spelling of kava (probably because the ‘k’ is an introduced letter to the language as mentioned above). Unlike Fiji where kava ceremonies happen all the time (at resorts or a visit to a village), or in Vanuatu where you drop into a nakamal, Samoan kava ceremonies are an important part of tradition and culture and usually reserved for special gatherings of the matai (head of the extended family). If you are invited to partake, it is worth remembering that kava shells are like breasts or martinis - one is too few, three too many. While not strictly an opiate it has a numbing, relaxing effect and some medicinal qualities. The Samoans you see sleeping through the day however are probably just having a rest, not the result of overdoing the kava. Over-exertion is not part of the Samoan way unless it is time to dance at a fia fia (Samoan feast).>Top
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