A Hitchhiking Adventure Full of Heart

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Arrival and Initial Impressions of Samoa

After settling into my new life in Fiji, I zeroed in on spending the week of Christmas in the neighboring Pacific Island country of Samoa. Just a short flight of one hour and 45 minutes away is Upolu, the most populous island with 150,000 people, and where the capital of Apia is. The other 25% of the population lives on the biggest island of Savai’i and two other inhabited islands.

The remaining five islands of the volcanic archipelago country are uninhabited. I set out to see as much of its fascinating landforms as possible and, against many friends’ advice, decided not to rent a car. I rolled the dice on my luck with public transport and, perhaps, some helpful locals.

Christmas and CHOGM Festivities

The plane landed at midnight, so I directly grabbed a taxi into town. The driver, Tasi, was eager to stay awake, and we meandered in conversation from the third gender in Samoa – the fa’afafine, a large community of men who identify as women (“My fourth brother is one, it’s just a phase for him, though, you know? He isn’t going to get married to a man or something, the pageants are just so fun!”) – to the famous Samoan tattoos.

One such tattoo is so culturally significant that it is only inked on the upper thigh and always concealed, but most importantly, it is only for “real Samoan women,” someone who fluently speaks Samoan, deeply understands Samoan culture, and can perform Samoan traditional dances, according to Tasi.

Each village we passed had decked out their homes, churches, and community fales (thatched-roof open spaces) in Christmas lights, which blinked competitively at the next village. Some were in the shapes of trees, other multi-colored strings connected little shops to homes, and white lights in the shapes of icicles stood out in stark contrast with the 30°C weather and surrounding coconut trees.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is held every two years in a different Commonwealth country. CHOGM 2024 had just concluded in Apia at the end of October. Remnants of the decoration and signage were still left up all over the country. Each village on the main island was given one of the 56 CHOGM countries to represent, and it started alphabetically from the airport, with Antigua and Barbuda flags, onwards.

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Navigating Public Transportation

The next day, I made my way to the main bus station across from the dusty flea market and around the corner from a potent-smelling fish market. Sweaty vendors under the concrete structure waved plastic ribbons on sticks to keep the flies away from their catch while rumbling colorful buses roared by. Flames licked the front of several hoods, and hand-painted signs broadcast their end destinations or Christian phrases of encouragement.

After running back and forth between several drivers and different passengers pointing me in various directions, I found the bus I needed. Just as I wondered how to notify the driver if I wanted to get off, I saw someone clink their WS$2 tala ($0.71 USD) coin on the window, and he immediately pulled over. I followed suit 10 minutes later and successfully hopped off at the right intersection to the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks.

Sliding Down the Rock Slides

The 2km from the main road to the entrance was pure dirt and sun. Luckily, Lisa from the Philippines, who worked with one of the popular thrift shops in town, gave me a lift. She happily shared her years working in American Samoa, a US territory just 30 minutes from Samoa by plane.

Many Filipinos and Samoans work there in various canneries and labor positions since they offer better wages. Abby proclaimed, “American Samoans are lazy and don’t want to work because they have Uncle Sam’s support!”

At the entrance to the Sliding Rocks, I handed over WS$5 tala ($1.80 USD) to a lethargic attendant under a shaded fale and headed down the steep, uneven stairs. Very quickly, the top pool came into view, which connected to the biggest slide, a.k.a. the Daddy slide.

I watched as a group of young Samoans navigated the sharp rocks from the stairs towards the slide itself and plunged downwards with joyous yelps. Grateful that I’d remembered to wear my water shoes, I plopped my bag down on the stairs and warily followed their path towards the slope.

The slide was so steep it ended up being more of a slanted fall, but the pool at the bottom of the 12-meter drop was perfectly refreshing. A Samoan Australian family was psyching themselves up for the next two slides, and I joined them in peering over the edge.

The Children’s slide was the shortest, at approximately 3 meters high, and the tiny pool at the bottom barely fit the adult siblings from the family as they piled up waiting to go down the Mommy slide, the middle-sized one at roughly 9 meters. The group called out to one another to beware of a bump in the Mommy slide and laughed unreservedly when a brother-in-law clipped that exact protrusion and toppled unceremoniously into the water.

As I climbed from the bottom-most pool back up to the top with the family, we compared tan lines. Abby, one of the sisters, pointed out the pink and purple cordyline plants all around. Their medicinal properties were well-known in Samoa and included treating and soothing sunburns. I took the leaves they offered me, and after we’d dried off a bit, I gratefully accepted a lift back into town.

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Heading Down South

Back at the bus station, it took another round of asking around before I met Sulu, a young mother heading to Vauvau Beach, right next to the village I wanted to go to in the south of the island. As we pulled out of Apia, she schooled me in some basic Samoan phrases (“fa’afetai” means “thank you”, “talofa” is “hello”).

Only 20 minutes passed before the bus stopped, and nearly the entire bus got off. Sulu beckoned me to follow, and we headed into a large supermarket. “All the buses stop here, so people buy things for their families before going down there. In the south, you can’t get very many things!”

An hour later, I hopped out at Sulu’s stop. She insisted that I see her home, and I was introduced to her husband and three children. Photos of the extended family adorned all four walls, and she stopped at her oldest brother’s wedding portrait. “He died a few years ago, but he still protects us,” she nodded at the white rectangular grave in front of the side door.

A Local Christmas Eve

The beach fales I was staying at were run by a couple that started the business in 2009 and their eight children. The older ones helped manage the place, and when they invited me to Christmas mass at their local church, I recruited their eldest daughter Valentina to help me assemble an appropriate outfit from the small selection of clothing I brought.

The church was a modest building with numerous foldable tables and benches, a high ceiling, and colorful Christmas ribbons and balloons clipped between the open louvre windows. Many multi-generational families were sprawled out, with the younger ones ogling the table stacked with several sweets. Each family contributed something potluck-style and then prepared a dance as the night’s entertainment.

Afterwards, massive portions of food were passed out, starting with the oldest guests, with several slices of cake, custard, and ice cream heaped on plastic plates. The pastor continued his MC duties by calling on the children to play a number of games in the center of the room where they could win small toys. Though the families started trailing off after dinner, they all promised to come back at midnight to wish one another a merry Christmas.

Inside the To Sua Ocean Trench

The next morning, I set out for the most famous site in the country, the To Sua Ocean Trench, a swimming hole 30 meters under a cliff. A retired couple, Uiane and Lisa, picked me up with their two young grandsons in the backseat.

Surprisingly, they told me that they had never been to To Sua and, in fact, refused to. The land, they bitterly explained, used to belong to their grandmother, but when she passed away, the ownership documentation was lost, and another family claimed the property, converting it into the popular money-making tourist destination it is today.

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Walking on a Lava Cliff

I hitched a ride with Kidd and Serena, a Samoan couple developing vacation container homes on the island, to head 40 minutes down the road to the Coastal Lava Cliff Walk. When I asked how their Christmas was, they shared that as Seventh-day Adventists (SDA), they didn’t observe Christmas. I was reminded that while Samoa is predominantly Christian, there are numerous denominations, such as Roman Catholics, Latter-day Saints, Methodists, and SDA.

The lava walk is a part of the Pupu Pu’e National Park, and from the main road, I walked 3km down a narrow dirt path to the welcome sign in a smaller parking lot. I spotted a beaten path heading towards the ocean breeze and found the black lava rock path. The cracked edges dug into the bottom of my flip-flops, and I walked cautiously, winding around trees growing out of the cracked cliffside.

At the open lava field 20 minutes in, where the dried curves and shapes of the lava were most visible, I met Talei, a professional rugby player waiting on her brothers who were fishing over the steep cliff’s edge. We watched as they repeatedly cast the line, searching for dinner.

Finally, with one small success and a broken pole, I ambled back to the parking lot with the siblings. Before depositing me on the main road, they loaded me up with Taxi raspberry sodas, “Stay hydrated, it’s hot walking out here!” I cracked open a can and started walking, wondering who else I would meet along the way.

If You Go:

There are direct flights from several cities in Australia, Auckland, New Zealand, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Nadi, Fiji. Most nationalities can get in visa-free for 30 or 60 days.

If you don’t purchase a SIM card, take note that Wifi isn’t widely available. At the international airport in Apia, guests receive one hour per week. Pro tip: the Sheraton hotel has free, fast, and limitless Wifi in the lobby.

The three main ATMs are NBS (yellow), ANZ (blue), and BSP (green). The ANZ banks seem to work the most consistently with international bank cards, while NBS and BSP are hit-or-miss.

Check the high tide schedule as it can greatly affect the experience at the To Sua Ocean Trench, the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks, Vauvau Beach (and its rope swing), and visibility at the Giant Clams Sanctuary, to name a few examples. Also, nearly every beach and swimming site (Piula Cave Pool, Sheraton Beach, etc.) has sharp rocks and coral around, so bring your water shoes.

Plan ahead for Sundays, as most things are closed then. There are some exceptions, such as the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks, the Vailima National Reserve, which is the entrance to the Mt. Vaea hike and Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, the Baha’i Center, and To Sua Ocean Trench.

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Author Bio: Annie Elle is originally from Los Angeles, though she currently lives in Fiji. She has been residing overseas since 2011, working in various aspects of international education. Annie enjoys playing volleyball and squash, and exploring new foods and art forms in her free time.