Adventure Travel Photography Blog
My island hop adventure has taken me from Hawaii, to American Samoa, to Samoa, and now Tonga. I knew nothing of Tonga prior to making my reservations. After browsing my Pacific Island travel guide, I learned the people are devout Christians and island doesn’t cater much to tourists. Not knowing what to expect, I was a little nervous about visiting, especially via Talofa Airways.
LET’S GO
Saletoga Sands is a lovely resort on the Southeastern coast of Upolu between Utulaelae and Matatufu. If I had my time to do over in Samoa, I might have stayed all four days here. The resort offers an airport transfer for a fee and has a variety of tours. For anyone who wants more freedom, they also rent both cars and scooters. Having seen the potholed roads, I’d stick to a car.
I spent two days in Apia, the capital of Samoa, and rented a car from Talofa Inn in order to get to the southeastern coast. The rainy weather wasn’t too conducive to beach going so I made a handful of stops along the Cross Island Road which cuts across the middle of the island.
LET’S GO
Samoa, once part of a larger island chain, was given to the Germans during the Tripartite Convention of 1899. At this time it became known as Western Samoa, though “Western” was dropped in 1997.
The archipelago is made up of ten islands though half are uninhabited. Savai’i is the largest island while Upolu is the most populated. The aforementioned are the most visited and four of the uninhabited islands are situated off the east coast of Upolu and comprise the Aleipata Islands which may be visited by boat.
LET’S GO
Before I visited American Samoa the only thing I knew about the Polynesian island chain, was that it is owned by the USA. I learned Polynesians first arrived on the islands some 2,500 years ago.
The USA didn’t get involved with Samoa until 1872 when it signed a friendship treaty with the Samoan government in order to establish a coaling station for the US Navy fleet as the islands are located midway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
LET’S GOI only spent two weeks in Australia which certainly isn’t enough time to see the whole country. But, of the time I spent in Queensland and New South Wales, one of my favorite places was Port Douglas.
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What a great trip to the Philippines! Originally, I told my friend I didn’t want to go, but she asked me once more after her travel partner was badly injured in a car accident. I succumbed, but wasn’t terribly excited about it mostly because we were going all the way to the Philippines and not going to the most beautiful island in the world, Palawan. Also I have been on a travel spree and was ready to be home to enjoy the summer in Denver.
My trip to the airport didn’t help my attitude. I missed the 8:12am train to the airport by seconds. I literally pushed the button for the door to open, and the train departed the station. So I patiently waited for the next train coming in 15 minutes except after 30 minutes it hadn’t arrived. Finally, an announcement over the loud speaker stated it would not be coming and shuttle buses would service the airport.
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Today Bax picked us up at Carp Island “Resort”, and took us by boat to the Island of Peleliu to visit WWII sites and see leftover artifacts. On our way we spotted an ornate eagle ray. Jayden had never seen one and Bax had only seen one in the last five years. They were so excited over it!
EXPLORE HISTORY!
The Wilderness Travel crew sent us on our way this morning. It was sad to say bye to them all, each with such a different personality, but all so nice. Wilter hardly said a word that many times he faded into the background, but he was a good fisherman and assistant chef. It was Hamilton’s first trip. He gave a great coconut show and could dive deep the one day he came snorkeling with us. Michael, was from Nigeria and always eager to help! Ludy was the head honcho and master chef. All of them seemed like masters of the ocean because they need fish to survive.
Bax took us by boat to two snorkel sites, Barnum Reef and Turtle Cove. A bunch of white tip reef sharks circled below, and we even spotted a few small black tips. I was blessed to see some squid which I haven’t seen in some time. We saw two more clown triggerfish which I really think are pretty, and a school of hundreds of goatfish. Of course, as the name of the reef suggests, several turtles hung around the reef…at least six! The green turtle had a prettier shell than the hawksbill.
After our snorkel, we paddled to a small beach for lunch and then to Carp Island Resort where we rested for the afternoon. “Resort” was a bit liberal. Camp might be a better description with free-standing, unair-conditioned cabins with a connected bathroom accessible from an outside door. The open air lobby was like a sauna under the tin roof, so we ate our dinner at a covered picnic table while the sun set, which was quite pleasant.
I think we may have been better off camping after our expectations had been lifted to “Resort” level. I recognize many third world countries’ plumbing cannot accommodate toilet paper being flushed in the commode, but if resort is being used in the title then the ability to flush the TP should be a requirement!
Tomorrow brings a lesson in WWII history as we visit the Island of Peleliu, Palau. ETB
Boy did we ever have the storm of all storms last night! Rain, thunder, lightening…something rare for Palau. It did offer a nice breeze for the tents, which were relatively hot. Some people might say that relatively hot was an under statement as they were considering sleeping out on the beach or in a hammock like some of the crew. If I were assured I wouldn’t be eaten alive by ants and mosquitos, I may have slept under the stars as well, as they were magnificent. Interestingly, while Palau is in the Northern hemisphere, 4° above the equator, the North Star can’t be seen. Sailors navigate by the Southern Cross and moon.
GO SNORKELING!