Day 1: Fiji
Nadi
We started our honeymoon with a 10 hours flight to Fiji from LAX, landing at 5:00am. We hopped in a taxi to meet a driver who was a Fijian Indian. Fijian Indians make up 40% of the country, and are 3rd generation or so at this point, born and raised in Fiji. The driver told us that Fiji was just too expensive for him.
Port Denarau
By early morning we were in Port Denarau, but had a few hours to kill so got some delicious chai latte and coffee. The sugar tasted a little different here! We explored a few shops but finally got on our boat for South Sea Cruises and departed for our island resort at Matamonoa.
Matamanoa Resort
After a quick session of Breath of the Wild on our Nintendo switch as we waited on the board, we arrived at the resort. Hopped off the main boat and onto a smaller one. With a wet landing we arrived to a welcome party with some beautiful music. The welcome was warmed with a shell necklace and a flower in Dani’s ear (the left side since she’s taken). We waited for our room to get ready, and luckily there was a chessboard. Dani and I played a quick game before we got taken into our rooms. Our room had an amazing swan towel arrangement on our bed. The beach was right in the backyard, fitted with a super comfortable hammock, 2 lounge chairs, a day bed and a pool. The rest of our day included a complimentary foot massage, a quick snorkel in our backyard, some relaxation and a nature hike. The nature hike was a pleasant walk through the island looking at the naturally growing breadfruit, papaya, and banana trees. From the top of the mountain we could see baby sharks and turtles in the reef below. At the sight of a baby shark Dani immediately started singing that silly song. After a quick game of ping pong, we got our scuba gear settled for the next day and relaxed in our backyard to watch the sunset. It was happy hour before we knew it, Mark got a fluffy duck, which is basically a white Russian with vanilla ice cream. What a great drink! Dani got some fruity drink of course. Anyways we got an early dinner where we got the special (oka, which is a fish dish). We split it and went to bed shortly after.
Day 2: Fiji
Deep Blue Fiji Diving
Dani woke up at 4am to star gaze, just 8am PST so not too bad I guess. We made our way to a great breakfast buffet with muffins, fruit, and toast. With some cute little birds singing and begging for food by the side. After ignoring the birds, we went to our first dive. Deep Blue Fiji took us out to the “supermarket” which is their location they go to for shark sightseeing. We went about 18 meters deep and instantly saw at least 5 white and black tip reef sharks. They were a few curious sharks that came up behind us, 2 that were just chilling on the bottom of the ocean, and a big fella lurking in the blue depths in front of us. We continued the dive by swimming along a reef, seeing a puffer fish, and these cool fan coral that Dani liked. Inbetween dives we say on the lounge chairs in the resort and Dani burned the crap out of her legs while Mark’s just got much darker. Our next dive was uneventful, no luck seeing any rays or turtles, but the 100ft coral reef wall was still spectacular. Dani noted that one of the Nea Zealand divers was super annoying with terrible buoyancy control who kept grabbing the reef which you’re not supposed to do! Not cool dude.
Cooking Class
After diving, LUNCH TIME. Delicious fish and chips with some beef stirfry. Not long after we attended cooking class. The check had some Mahi Mahi in a bowl, marinated it in some sea water (just walked out and gathered some). He made a quick bonfire with coconut tree stems to add some flavor. He put the fish in foil and threw it on the fire. He had Dani and another girl cut some tomatoes, lemons, limes, and onions in more saltwater. After 20 minutes, he put the hot fish into this bowl. This was called upoku, and was a great snack! The day ended with happy hour, as we made our way we tried to capture the dozens of bats that were flying from the mountain to the trees at sunset. Bats are so cool. At happy hour Mark got a chocolate ice cream cocktail and Dani got another fruity drink. We didn’t even make it to dinner and just fell asleep cause time differences are hard.
Day 3: Travel to Samoa
The next day was a quick flight over to Apia, Samoa. Dani lost Mark’s sunglasses on the plane… silly guber. No matter we got some more the next day for 5 tala ($2USD). Our dinner was at Scalini’s, a nice white tablecloth place. We hit the head ready for our next day in Apia! Our Airbnb had 2 cute doggos and quite a view!
Day 4 – Apia, Samoa
Breakfast
We made our way to the Coffee Bean on the Beach Road in Apia. After that, we drove to the church and checked out the clock tower. The ceilings on the church were made of magnificent wood. The resting place of the first polynesian bishop was there as well.
Samoan Cultural Village
We went to the Samoan cultural village right after. This was an AMAZING event. We would recommend this to everyone going to Apia. At the cultural village we learned how to make palm tree leaves into plates. Then we had a Kava (or Ava in Samoa) ceremony. From the ceremonial bowl they started selecting individuals and giving them a small bowl to drink. Mark said “Manuia!” and got a sip. The tour continued, to the fale where they were tattooing a man’s leg from the waist to the knee. Those tattoos go from the waist to below the knees and and take weeks to make only by this specific family. Also, after weeks of pain every day, you can’t be out in the sun with your legs or in the water. At least the person getting tattooed gets full support from his family while doing it. The idea is if you overcome this pain, you can overcome anything. The next fale was a cooking fale. They maked an umu with fire, rocks, and giant leaves. In it they cooked fish, breadfruit, taro, and palusami (this is the greatest thing ever). One of them demonstrated their coconut climbing talents. The last two fales were the carving and parch making ones. It was awesome to see them turn a wooden bark into a parchment with water, shells, and a few homemade tools. We bought 2 turtle parchments for our parents! One of the weirdest things here was this documentary crew on the tour. There was a creepy tall red headed 70s version of David Tennant with 7 cameras slung across his waist. At the end we say back down and ate the delicious food. Dani and I are obsessed with Palusami and are planning to make it at home. It was awesome how friendly everyone was.
Papase’ea Sliding Rocks
After the cultural tour, it was pretty hot; we went up to Papase’ea sliding rock. Once we got their, we paid some lady so that we could walk down a bunch of stairs to appear at a series of waterfalls and ponds. The rocks made perfect slides. There’s a small one at the top, but theres a great big one at the bottom. This one was so big we pretty much got air as we went down it. There was a cute New Zealand family which timid kids who needed some encouragement to take the plunge. Awkward mark decided he would rock climb up the hardway to get back up the slide even though there was a separate trail to do it.
Palolo Deep Marine Reserve
We didn’t get enough water apparantly so we made our way to the Palolo Deep Marine reserve. Had to go back to the AirBnB to grab our snorkel gear. Once you get there you have to swim out a long way to a flag and then the reef falls off. Notable sights were a sea snake, a blue starfish, and a sea turtle!
Pinati (Dinner)
We had to drive across the city like 3 times before we could decide on a place to eat but lucked into this place called Pinati. It seems to be where all the locals go, since there’s no menu and you just have to know what you want. We had curry, chop suey, and fried fish. Dani bought a Taxi Cola. 2 more non-Samoans showed up after us so we weren’t the only one! The night ended with some watching of CGTV, the Chinese Global Network, which had English speaking white reporters from a Chinese corporation, are they taking over the world? We’ll find out soon enough…
Day 5: Travel to Pago Pago
The next day we took a flight to Pago Pago, American Samoa. First stop was the national park visitor’s center. It was cool to see all the diagrams of the islands and the history. The legend of the turtle and the shark connects American Samoa to Samoa, more on this later. We got lunch at the goat island cafe, right next to Saddie’s by the beach. After Mark’s fried seafood dish and Dani’s Oka, we were ready for a hike.
WWII Hike
We started from the long way, passing the cable cars that once went across the Pago Pago bay. The cable car probably had the most beautiful views at the time, too bad it is decommissioned now. The hike was definitely the long way around, we walked along some overgrown bunkers and old gun stations from WWII and at the end saw 2 green cannons. On the way down we lost the trail, and due to the perilous nature of scaling a cliff, Mark threw the waterbottle down the trail… it went a little farther than he intended. We finally got down the trail, found the water bottle, and appeared out on the street by a landromat. This was the correct, shorter entrance for the hike, the otherway was definitely less fun. We had to walk back to our car along the road, but once we got in we much enjoyed the AC.
Day 6: Pago Pago
Ruby Red Cafe
The next morning we woke up super ready for an awesome adventure hike. First we looked for dont drink the water cafe… also known as DDW, but instead found ruby cafe and had great shakes and wraps. The longer we say there the great chef slash hostess kept bringing us more samples of taro chips and smoothies. Finally we saved half a wrap for the hike and set off.
Adventure Hike
Now this required some planning. First, we left our car at the end of the hike in Pago Pago. Took a bus to the main bus station the one to Vatia. these busses are outrageous. They blast music and the drivers are so chill about everything. He dropped us off at the adventure trail head… which took us a bit to find. Then went up. It was a wilderness immediately. and clearly not been trekked for some time. We ran into spiderweb after spiderweb. Through the trail there were rope ladders that started small, but got long and steep towards the end of this arduous trail. But I mean once you’ve done 1 rope ladder, you’ve done them all. The trail would come and go as it pleased and we found ourselves bushwacking more than we wanted. After more “adventure” than we had mentally prepared for we found the sign for Mt Alava… only 1 hour more of climbing to the top. We finally got to the summit and REJOICED. WE WERE NOT STRANDED! We duly noted the other end of the Pago Pago cable car but barely cared. We wanted to be home. At least the road down was much easier than the way up. The final hike was 10 miles and 5 hours… with very few breaks and countless spiderwebs.
Tisa’s Barefoot Bar
No time to shower but we changed clothes and rushed over to Tisa’s bar. It was so nice to sit down and drink a cocktail: a fruity drink with a sassy name for Dani and a pina colada for Mark. Before dinner we all gathered around the umu and were given a little lesson in Samoan culture. Families make the umu once a week, often on sundays. While we were driving around we would see the steam of umus along the street; families were just preparing their communal dinners. The umu as Tisa’s bar was peeled back layer by layer; we saw fish, shrimp, palusami, plantains and other great food. All the guests ate at 1 long table where we met some Americans who were fixing the power system on the island and one who had been to 60 national parks! We have a long way to go on our National Park adventure, but I think we’ve gotten the most remote one checked off.
Day 7-12: Ofu
Getting there
After a quick bite, we rushed off to the airport because we were really worried about getting on the plane with our luggage. The other people were carrying like 850 lbs of food and stuff clearly as a delivery… later we would find out some of this was for our stay at Vaoto Lodge as practically all the food on Ofu is imported. The flight was quick, small and full. Looking out the window as we landed all I could see was the ocean. I thought we were in for a water landing until suddenly a runway appeared and we landed! Never flown that close to water before.
Vaoto Lodge
Vaoto lodge is right off the airport, literally like 50 feet. The owner Deb gave us a tour of the lodge and island. A quick drive to Olesega, which is the other neighboring island, and back. Mark found a new author Bill Bryson who rights more comedic biographies (this one was about Shakespeare).
The Beach
The beach is picturesque. No foot prints but our own. Well, I guess the hermit crabs have footprints. We snorkled in crystal clear water… it was like an aqauriam. Days in ofu just blended together. during snorkling we saw the red crown of throns star fish, these small crawfish digging holes in the sand with their little pet fish right outside the holes. They were adorable but so weird. One time we saw a white tip shark and Mark freaked the crap out and swam back to shore. Ofu has these enormous dome corals. They were so big you couldn’t swim overy them and had to navigate your way through these mazes of all the reef. Mid tide was always best as high tide got too tumultuous and low tide gets too close to the coral.
Other Activities
One day we went to Oge beach and saw a ton of crabs. We hoped to see some eels but no luck. Another day we hiked
the mountain on what I think was the best hike of the trip. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The pictures dont do it justice holy crap….Ofu is gorgoeus. On Sunday we went to the Pentecostal church which was in Samoan and mostly singing with like 15 people. A nice nurse accompanied us and explained everything. On our flight back, Mark got stuck in between two 250 lbs samoans with barely half a seat and the guy on his right was completely man spreading. Omg. Why.
Day 13 -15: Samoa
Apia and Cave Pool
Back in Apia. We went to the flea market to get the second pair of replacement sunglasses after we lost another in Ofu. New ones… and lost those in ofu on the first day. We are dumm dumms. Mark got the best massage of his life at the Touch of Samoa and then we drove to our resort Le Uaina. The AC was noisy, the water didn’t get hot, and there was a dead cockroach in the bathroom…. but whatever. We went to the cave pool. In retrospect we should have brought our dive lights to go further in but I still dont know if we would have; it was scary to be in a closed space underwater in the dark…
Namua
At a place south of the Tafua fales we ate lunch. But right after we realized we needed gas and money… which wasn’t nearby so we drove back to Apia and back to Namua. It was only 3pm. Time is magic here. A boat across a shallow tide took us to the small island. Honestly, the tide was so low you could walk across. At the island we met a sweet barking dog named Jasper who hates hates hates the boat but loves the people.
It was the windiest night of the trip and Jasper slept underneath our fale all night. In the wind we swear we got the windiest fale facing right into the wind with just a broken tarp for a windbreak. That night we didn’t sleep well… Mark had vivid dreams of being caught in a hurricane or tsunami…. Dani woke up every 2 hours. Yikes. On the brighter side. Lemon grass tea is great and the food was pretty good. That morning in Namua we hiked with Jasper and didn’t want to keep going after the top for fears of where the trail may end… It never got to low tide so we didn’t try to walk aroudn the island but O wells. On the way back though we saw like 3 turtles as they swam away from the boat.
To Sua Ocean Trench
We made our way to this hundreds of feet deep sink hole that is filled with blue ocean water. A magnificent site! We climbed a long ladder down with our snorkle gear. Swimming through the trench was fun. The current was strong but they
had underwater ropes set up for you to hold on to. A bunch of people were jumping off the and pier. It was pretty spectacular. After a little swimming and treading practice we headed out.
Tafua Fales
We checked into Tafua fales and immediately noticed the poppin party that was happening. It was easy to meet other guests at the communal dinner. Some of them were cool but a lot were just awkward…
Ma Tree Walk and Coastal Walk
This short walk reminded of Sequoia National Park just due to the size of the tree. Very unique tree. The coastal walk was right next to it. We drove a bit more in to it and started walking. The cool hot the waves hit the lava rock walls and splashed all the way up the cliff. After the walk, we stumbled upon a surf resort called Sina Fales. A group of canadians stayed there and came to talk to us. It was great to here an accent from our continent. The resort was run by a married couple and I have to say my favorite thing about Samoa is delicious home-cooked that is fresh. The husband is a local chief, and talked to us while making some palm crowns.
Giant Clams
We got back on the road and made a quick stop at a lavalava stand. After a quick purchase, it was giant clam time. We swam out a while and then we saw them. Holy crap they were huge. The size of a table, The clams were so colorful. Blues and greens and purples. During our snorkel, Mark swam with a hawksbill turtle for a while until Dani splashed by and scared it away.
Fia Fia Night
We got back before 7 for dinner and Fia Fia night. Mark and Dani both got to try out their dancing skills like traditional samoans. The dancing here at Tafua fales was like you little brothers recital.
Day 16-19: Savaii
Ferry
We got out early and made it to the ferry. dani likes ferrys. Funny enough we watched carnival row a TV show about fairies on the ferry! Anyways. Once we got to Savaii, and as we tried to go around the west side of the island we got a flat tire O No! and it was a Sunday! No one could help out. Some really nice locals came by and helped us change the spare… Fa’a samoa, the samoan way, is the sense of community here, they help anyone who needs it.
Savaii Resort
As we got back on the road we drove up to the resort, got a good shower, sat for a few drinks and pizza. We really appreciate free water, shampoo, and garden toilets! We have seen a bunch of there garden toilets and they are really nice. Mark wants one in our future house.
Diving Savaii
We saw sea turtles up the wazoo here. Also there was magic coral which turns from brown to white, barracuda, clown fish, and the disappearing coral that goes away when a wave goes over it. There was also a ship wreck which was very cool.
Pea Pea Cave
Before the cave we stopped at Mataelealelo spring. Just a fresh water pool but nothing really to see here. Its supposed to be that spot where the eels guts sprouted to a tree now we got coconuts! Next we went to Pea Pea cave. very short and sweet. Our pokedexes found a swiflet and 2 eggs. Dani insisted we enjoy rhe pitch black so once we we’re in we turned off he lights. While it was pitch black, it was not quite as Mark couldnt stop talking.
Canopy Walk, Moses Footprint, and House of Rock
Onwards walked up the canopy tree. This kluged together ladders and wood to make a pathway up the tree through some stairs and a rope bridge. It reminded Mark of a house Robin Hood may live have lived in the shire. Dani aptly described it as a swiss family Robinson home. This canopy ticket got us to see the moses footorint. Another one is supposed to be in Fiji where the giants next step was. After that Mark said I wanna rock! rock! As we awkwardly approached the house of rock. Women built this apparantly in a race with men. We assumed the two
puny ones were the mens shoddy work.
Alafaaga Blowhole
The road went south for an hour to the alafaaga blow hole. Mark made It his mission to get a coconut into the hole. After many failed attempts and a drenching from the ocean gods, it finally happened. Mark raised his hand and the coconut must have moved so fast we couldn’t even see it. The last stop going back was lovers leap. This connect our American Samoa adventure to Samoa. Its the spot where a mother and daughter jumped into the ocean to become the shark and turtle. Did not see shark or turtle but we did our best to turn into ones.
Another tire issue
O ya… remember that tire I told you we replaced…. ya we didn’t know it but we had been losing bolts. Just one at a time. Dani noticed a weird sound and we went out the car to find only 3 bolts left… one barely on the edge. With a quick free body diagram Mark asses that a redistribution would last the remainder of the drive. Turns our the nuts were on backward. They dont stay on so well that
way. We rushed back to the resort to get some drinks and watch the sunset. What a great day. Minus almost losing a tire on this dying rental car.
The last day, the trip back.
We made our way back to Fiji. We did some shopping in Nadi but since there wasn’t much else to do we decided to hop on the earlier flight and get back early. With much turmoil at the airport, getting offers for the flight change from USD$200 to USD$900; the nice man at the counter did so much for us and found a way to get us on free of charge. We got home and after a long time of being home sick, we were ready.