Samoa OVERVIEW
The Garden of Eden must have looked like the idyllic Samoa, at least this is the ambience you experience once you unpack your cases and start tramping into the amazing interior. Forget about the ticking clock, schedule-centric days and deadlines and assume the Samoan mode - laidback almost languid, measured by the waves gently caressing the powder sugar golden beaches and balmy palm rustles. Much undiscovered by mass tourism, Samoa entices with its nature treasure trove of sultry rainforests, heavenly waterfalls hidden in verdant valleys, pleasing swimming holes and out-of-this-world azure lagoons for perfect natural spa-like moments. To please the explorer in you, there are extinct craters with their maws wide open and lava tubes ready for some digging into, flashy marine life to strike your oceanographic chord and rugged cliffs plummeting into the roaring ocean below.
Generous and famously hospitable, with faces frequently breaking into a wide toothy grin, the Samoans are a nation of complex social forces and relationships. With the colonial past echoing, the impact of westernization and the ever-flourishing fa'a Samoa, meaning an all-encompassing system which clearly defines responsibilities and behavior, Samoans seem to be in quest of a formula that would reconcile the modern consumer needs with the antiquated traditional way. When visiting remember to SMILE and you'll get it quickly back with some accompanying friendly gestures. As not to show disrespect, make sure you follow protocol which bans skimpy clothing and walking through villages during the evening prayer curfew. You are also advised to take off shoes before entering a fale (the traditional thatched house) and never stand within it when elders are seated. Don't offer children money, even if they ask and however idyllic and Edenish you might feel, don't beach rollick naked.
And above all that, enjoy your little piece of Heaven on Earth.
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