Travelling to Samoa

I've done a search on TC (hopefully thorough enough!) and couldn't find much on Samoa.

We are going to Samoa in a month's time for 2 weeks and I tell you, I can't wait! I want to buy up big on their hand crafts...

Does anyone have any tips on locations we shouldn't miss, crafts I should look out for or other? I want to make sure I make the most of this holiday!

PS: Although I don't think Samoa has much to do with Tikis, I have seen lovely carved poles that adorn the new Aggie Greys restaurant (seen in travel brochures).

PPS: Sorry I've been a slight recluse regarding my Tiki Mug thread and the last glazing post I haven't got around to (or responding to PMs for that matter)... I've been creating a major masterpiece which has taken 4.5 months so far and has 4.5 months to go before it's ready :D This one though is a one off piece and I won't be up for trading it!!!

[ Edited by: hmc 2006-07-26 23:41 ]

Congrats on the little HMC!!! Can't wait to see the pictures :wink:
Aloha and have fun in Samoa.

HMC, In my view Samoa is probably one of best places on the planet, you're right there isn't much Tiki, but there is loads of other cool stuff to pick up.
Aggies is a great old Hotel,its got History and Class, the Tusitala is a fancy place.
There are some cool bars and restaurants around Apia, go and see one of the Fa'fafine shows if you get a chance, they are great fun.
Check out Robert Louis Stevensons grave.
Whilst Upolu has nice beaches and places to stay, go over to Savai'i (take the ferry) where you will find the real Samoa. The people are fantastic, there aren't many Tourists and the island is unspoilt.
A good place to stay that i thoroughly recommend is Satuiatua beach bungalows, Matti the owner is lovely, the food is great, it has a bar, beach and some of the best surfing in Samoa on the doorstep.
If you go could you take a picture of the mural on the Toilets for me.
I painted it whilst i was there, to help pay my way (I ended up staying for 3 months instead of two weeks) but didn't have a camera.
On the note of Cameras take all the spare batteries, memory cards, film that you need as it is hard to find .

Wicked! Thanks cheekytiki.

We have already booked accom at both islands, staying in Fales. I will definitely take a pic of the mural if we are around Satuiatua beach bungalows... looking at my map, it's on the opposite side of where we are staying but I'm sure we will be travelling all around the island!

I'll definitely be taking all my batteries, rechargers and memory cards. We're even going to take the laptop to download and empty the cards as I think I'll be going a bit crazy!

Thanks again for the tips, I'll make note of all of them!

Moki: Thank you! It's all very exciting!

Not sure on Samoa stuff.

I found customs were great coming back in to Australia, but I was on a cruise so they are a bit more relaxed than airport customs. We declared everything and didn't get anything knocked back.

With wood products make sure they are sealed with poly or painted. If they are bare wood make sure it is solid with no nooks or crannies that might hold boras or parasites. If they can see it is a solid piece of wood its generally okay - just declare it. I think customs have a treatment option where they fumigate borderline stuff before letting it in - at a cost of course. Be careful with beaded jewellary. Often the beads are made up of seed pods which wont make it back.

Cant wait to see what this major project is - all your work is awesome!

I'm back! I've been to Samoa and I gotta say - what a wonderful place! Although I was happy to return home after 2 weeks especially as I missed our wide variety of food.

cheekytiki - do I have a surprise for you...! Check out the pics below... (takes a bow, "thank you, thank you").

There is a new addition to your mural, a border of hibiscus flowers and "female/male" signs in red. Although Matti said that the girl that had done it was due to touch it up in a week so I got there when it still looked faded:

And you were 100% correct on the Satuiatua beach bungalows, it was the last place we stayed at (only out of boredom at Tanu beach fales) but I am grateful that we stayed for even one night. My husband got to surf, you got your mural pics, the food was THE BEST and yes, Matti is very nice too. Oh and, I have another (bigger) surprise for you - but it will take me a while to get it to you - and I'll need your email address for that one...

While in Satuiatua, I got to see a Tapa cloth demonstration. I saw how Tapa was made right from the beginning - I'm talking about - right from the tree lopping stage! I felt extremely fortunate to see this demonstration and afterward, I felt as though it absolutely made my time in Samoa that much better. Here are the pics I took:

hmc
Helen McLean

[ Edited by: hmc 2006-08-03 19:38 ]

wow!
fantastic pics!
sounds like an awesome holiday - hopefully one day i can make it there too...

Awesome!
-sigh- yet another place I've been ignorant of...
Wonder how long it'd take to swim there...

Here are the Samoan souvenirs I picked up while there this year:

Kava Bowl - I chose one that had both carving and rope/twine:

Tapa Coasters - or wall hangings:

Book on Polynesian design - bought at the Louis Stevenson Museum:

Fan:

Tea Towel / wall hanging of Tapa style design:

And fabric - loads of TIKI DESIGN FABRIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(my favourite - I bought 6 meters of this one... I'll make either a boys shirt or a girls A-Line dress, depending on what pops out of the belly this October.

All items were cheap, cheap, cheap! Fabric worked out to be $2.50 AUD per meter... bargain! Kava bowl was about $20 AUD and fan $5 AUD.

On 2006-05-16 16:48, hmc wrote:
Wicked! Thanks cheekytiki.

We have already booked accom at both islands, staying in Fales. I will definitely take a pic of the mural if we are around Satuiatua beach bungalows... looking at my map, it's on the opposite side of where we are staying but I'm sure we will be travelling all around the island!

I'll definitely be taking all my batteries, rechargers and memory cards. We're even going to take the laptop to download and empty the cards as I think I'll be going a bit crazy!

Thanks again for the tips, I'll make note of all of them!

Moki: Thank you! It's all very exciting!

I'd like to hear a lot more about your trip as my wife and I are thinking of visiting . Recommendations , advice , etc also appreciated .

On 2006-05-16 16:48, hmc wrote:
Wicked! Thanks cheekytiki.

We have already booked accom at both islands, staying in Fales. I will definitely take a pic of the mural if we are around Satuiatua beach bungalows... looking at my map, it's on the opposite side of where we are staying but I'm sure we will be travelling all around the island!

I'll definitely be taking all my batteries, rechargers and memory cards. We're even going to take the laptop to download and empty the cards as I think I'll be going a bit crazy!

Thanks again for the tips, I'll make note of all of them!

Moki: Thank you! It's all very exciting!

I'd like to hear a lot more about your trip as my wife and I are thinking of visiting . Recommendations , advice , etc also appreciated .

Samoa is amazing! I went there in February. Stayed at Tanu's Beach Fales in Savaii and just loved it. If you want adventure & excitement Tanu's probably isn't for you. It is definitely the place to relax. We went in off season so it was very quiet. At most 15 people any one night but we met some great friends at the communal meal times! They even put on a fia fia for us. It was great. Very authentic and without the glam factor some of the bigger hotels put on. Across the Rd from Tanu's is Robinsons or Robertsons. Pretty darn cool. Lots of tikis. A tiki bar that looks like it's left over from the 50's. It doesn't have the kitsch factor but it is pretty authentic - same can't be said about the drinks though!! But definitely worth a look!
Also stayed at Aggie Grey's in Apia for 3 nights. Very expensive for what it is but also very cool! We stayed in the Nixon Fale. Loads of tiki's around the gardens & there's a great Fia fia in the restaurant.
Samoa is definitely worth the holiday. It is dirt cheap there. Picked up some fab masks and war clubs. Had a wee quarantine problem though - declared them through customs/quarantine and they were cleared, but a week after getting them home discovered little piles of sawdust sitting next to one of them and some borer holes. Rang quarantine & was advised to bring them in, which I did. They "seized" them for fumigation but I was able to pick them up a couple of weeks later.
Will definitely go back to Samoa. Get there before it's ruined by commercial tourism!

On 2009-05-18 03:08, tikineekie wrote:
Samoa is amazing! I went there in February. Stayed at Tanu's Beach Fales in Savaii and just loved it. If you want adventure & excitement Tanu's probably isn't for you. It is definitely the place to relax. It doesn't have the kitsch factor but it is pretty authentic -
Also stayed at Aggie Grey's in Apia for 3 nights. Very expensive for what it is but also very cool!
Samoa is definitely worth the holiday. It is dirt cheap there. Picked up some fab masks and war clubs.
Will definitely go back to Samoa. Get there before it's ruined by commercial tourism!

i went to Samoa a few years back and heartily concur. compared to any hawaiian island, the several tahitian islands i have been to or even Fiji, Samoa offers a much more authentic natural polynesian experience. i would compare it to tahiti in the 80's. dont expect honolulu amenities! Tanu's IS really nice, and they can probably arrange for as much excitement as you want. we stayed in the small resort attached to Salani's in western Samoa and surfed the excellent reef pass there...and also canoed up the river and took great excursions to waterfalls and stone slides.
great energy there, so it IS a great place to relax...hell, we were only allowed to share the village phone for 1 hour during the week.
a fun fact is that Aggie Grey's is HELLA haunted. my catholic mom even saw ghosts when she was there in the 80's!! robert louis stevenson died there and his gravesite is nearby, which is pretty damn cool to be able to visit!
not for those used to 5-star travel...it's all 'rustic' in Samoa, but a trip that will stay with u forever.
let me know if u have other questions!
toesy

I just saw that Survivor (the reality game show) is filming in Samoa for their next season. Once that happens I am sure tourism will spike.
My cousin lives in Gabon, Africa which is where Survivor was filmed a few seasons ago and even though there is next to nothing to see or do in that country all of a sudden they had an influx of tourists which I guess can be a good or bad thing depending on how they are able to handle it. At the very least Samoa is one of the places I would love to visit one day so I guess something like Survivor gives people the chance to see what the country is like. I am sure its a beautiful place to check out.