GPS: 13 26.641S 172 21.961W
Run: 48.5nm (87.8km)
Savai’i, Samoa is the poor cousin to Upulo with a small port to receive the ferry from Upulo with several villages scattered around the outskirts of the island. The island has a range of tourist attractions so we hired a car for a day and set off to explore some of them. Samoa’s information centre in Apia does a good job of promoting all the tourist attractions on both islands. Regrettably they don’t all stack up to the hype.
As we toured around the island, like on Upulo, Samoan’s are not big on signage and the signage that is there is not always correct. Despite that we managed to find the attractions we wanted to see. On Savai’i we started with the rainforest canopy walk. A steel spiral staircase took us up into the treetops to a suspension bridge which led to a large banyan tree which we climbed higher into the canopy for views through the trees. Health and safety would have a field day here with the tree viewing platform and the stairs up to it held to the tree with ratchet tiedowns as the bolts have rusted away.
Next was the Alofaaga blowholes. Lava shelf just above sea level with a few holes in the lava to allow waves from the sea to surge through and create the blowholes. Travelling on around the island we then stopped at the Afu Aau waterfalls for a refreshing swim in the cool fresh water. Too cool for wimps Andrew and Stella but Sue and Tony had a great swim. After a quick stop for lunch near the port we discovered pigs on the island were quite intelligent as we saw one holding up the traffic as he sauntered across the pedestrian crossing.
Our last stop was the Saleaula lava fields. We got there about 4.45pm and they closed at 5pm but the lovely Samoan lady told us to go in and she waited until we came back before packing up and going home. Must say out of all the places we went to this family put some of the entrance fee money back into improving the attraction and upkeep. It was one of the tidiest and cleanest places we went to. Also the only one that took the time to explain how to get around and the history regarding this site. This site is where the village used to be before the volcanic eruptions between 1903 and 1907 when it covered the village in molten lava with no fatalities. We saw where the molten lava flowed through the church and onto the coast. We spent about 5 days in Savai’i. We decided that the best anchorage for us was Matautu Bay so we based ourselves there and explored from there. This was also a great spot for swimming, snorkelling and most of us saw turtles at one time or another. Left Thursday afternoon to come back to Apia where we have to clear before leaving Samoa.
