The day after Pago Pago, American Samoa, we arrived in Apia, Samoa. A few quick points on this. First, while the two Samoas share language and ethnicity, their cultures have followed different paths, with American Samoans often emigrating to Hawaiʻi and the U.S. mainland, and adopting many U.S. customs, such as the playing of American football and baseball. Samoans have tended to emigrate instead to New Zealand, whose influence has made the sports of rugby and cricket more popular in the western Samoan islands. In American Samoa, people drive on the right (like the U.S.) and in Samoa, they drive on the left (like in NZ and Australia).

The second point worthy of note is how to pronounce Samoa. Put the emphasis on “Sam” – not “Sa” – so it’s not Sa-moa. Rather, it’s Sam-oa.

Third, and this is cool. We were in American Samoa on Sunday. The next day, we were in Samoa – on Tuesday. Yep. We had no Monday. We crossed the International Date Line, thereby shooting forward a day and ‘skipping’ Monday. We’re still wrapping our heads around it.

When we arrived in Samoa, we hopped on a shuttle that took us to the Samoa Cultural Village. We were excited because a blog post had said there would be a free presentation, and we love free stuff (who doesn’t?). Alas, that was incorrect information. Rather, the presentation was $20/person (and didn’t look that appealing to us, though we could have been wrong so don’t trust us on that point). Instead of sticking around for it, we grabbed a local “tour guide” (using quotes because it was really just a guy in a truck), haggled a price, and took off.

But first – a quick photo of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral that was right there.

The first stop on our “tour” was a brief photo opportunity at Baha’I House of Worship. The ‘cone’ is actually nine symmetrical sides and entrances with a dome that soars 92 feet high with converging lines of mirrored glass. Impressive and extraterrestrial looking in a way. We did not go in – just a quick view from the outside.

Next stop was to Papapapaitai Waterfall. Yes, that’s 4 “pa’s” in that name! Talk about an impressive waterfall! It’s one of the longest in Samoa (possibly the longest) at 100m high, cascading into a deep gorge. Look closely and you can see some “baby falls” as John called them.

And proof we were actually there. (“Pic or it didn’t happen…”)

After this, our tour guide said, “I have another waterfall I’d like to show you, but it will cost you more.” Sigh. Of course it would. But we had bargained him down price-wise considerably from other guides so a little more and we were still a good rate. So off we went. This time we arrived at Togitogiga Waterfall. This one was more of a swimming hole, but along the walk to the fall our ‘guide’ showed us some cocoa growing and showed us how to crack it open. He laughed at me when I asked if a coconut had ever fallen on his head. Apparently that’s not as common as it is in my imagination. Anyway, here’s a pristine photo of the waterfall / swimming hole.

Apparently, this was once a swimming area for the great warriors of Samoa. So, with this, the great warrior John took a swim in his boxers. The fair maiden Tori just dipped her feet in the water. (Neither of us brought suits and we weren’t alone so skinny dipping didn’t seem like a good option.)

After our second waterfall, we stopped at a store to buy some beer (our tour guide insisted we try the local beer) and so we could get that extra cash needed for the additional tour time. On the plus side, the beer was tasty (I was the lightweight and went for a lower ABV) and we got to see the colorful Samoan currency.

Here we are doing a quick “cheers” by the truck that served as our tour vehicle.

With beers in hand, we headed next to the Robert Louis Stevenson museum / house. Stevenson was the Scottish author who wrote Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (among others). Due to failing health from Tuberculosis, Stevenson moved to Samoa (the climate was better for him) where he lived the final four years of his life, ultimately dying from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried on the island and his house now serves as a museum / tribute to his time in Samoa.

After the museum, our tour was done and we headed back to the ship. I’m leaving off plenty of “little” things we saw during our drive – from seeing school children in their uniforms, seeing many cattle lying right by the road, and even an overturned ship from a recent storm.

All in all, this was a nice visit to Samoa. And, even better, it didn’t rain despite the forecast calling for a 90% chance of rain. Silly weather person!