Having left Fiji on 11th December (at 1.45 am!) we found ourselves back in September 10th when we landed in Samoa (around 4.30 am). After we had gone through immigration and collected our baggage it was a longish drive from the airport to the capital city, Apia, 35 or 40 km. I felt completely exhausted by the time we arrived, and we rejected any offers of breakfast and fell into bed, from which we failed to arise until after lunch.
This was a bit of a mistake, because Samoa is rather like Wallington or Banstead 50 years ago. Saturday is half day, and everywhere is shut by 12 or 12.30. On Sunday, everywhere is likewise shut, and most people go to church in the morning.
We wandered about for a while, looking at closed shops, cafes and other buildings, then we found a taxi driver who took us about a bit to show us around, which was something of a relief as there are no street names or street signs and the rain had started to descend in a waterfall. The streets are named on the map, but not on the street itself. You can navigate to a certain extent by buildings which are named on the map, because many of the buildings have a sign with the name on the building, but not all of them. This is why you need a taxi!
Apia is not really like any capital city we have recently visited, though there are some beautiful new buildings, and some historic ones. We will have to wait for more information until the tourist office is open on Monday - it closes at 12 on Saturdays. However, our taxi driver showed us some of the highlights. This is the old Parliament building, which is very traditional.
And this is the new one, which has preserved the traditional round shape.
The most impressive building is the Justice Building, which houses all the courts.
This is the main Radio Station, which is more typical of the buildings we have seen.
This is the tomb of a local politician, who was dearly loved. I have forgotten his name, but I will look it up when I next connect to the Internet. (I have bought 5 hours of connection, so I am being sparing and will see how it lasts)
It did occur to me to wonder which of our own politicians might be so dearly loved that we would build him such a tomb and so revere him (or her).
As you can see from the pictures, it was a pretty stormy day and we kept having to shut the taxi window to keep the rain out. The rain seems to be intermittent. It is sometimes so heavy it is like a waterfall, sometimes quite light, sometimes just drizzle, and sometimes there is no rain at all. It is warm -about 28 - 30 degrees C and very humid, so we are glad of the air-conditioning in our room.
It is a beautiful place, with lots of flowers. Our room was decorated with frangipani flowers when we arrived. Unfortunately, I was too tired to take a picture. The place is full of tall trees with beautiful red flowers which our taxi driver told us were called Manuka trees.
These are clearly not the same as the Manuka trees in New Zealand, so I am not sure if it is the same spelling or something completely different.
Later in the evening we went out to eat, as our hotel only provides breakfast. Fortunately, there is a restaurant which is open within one block, though the menu is not extensive. It is an Italian restaurant! The food was nice, and we sat in the open under a roof while the rain poured down again. It was a little odd listening to the piped music, which was Xmas songs. So we were in the wet heat, listening to 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas' , 'Let it Snow' and other such songs.
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