Samoa is an interesting place

By Anina Kazaz 12 May 2018, 12:00AM

Samoa is not a new destination for the Kindred family. 

Alan and his wife are from Auckland, New Zealand and they came to Samoa with their two kids and grandchildren last week Friday. 

The couple has been married for 40 years. 

Alan has lived in Fiji for three years, so you can say the Pacific region is not really new for the family. 

“Here it is less busy than in Fiji, Apia for example. I do not feel any tension in the air here in Samoa; in Fiji it was almost always present. Here it seems to be that everybody accepts everybody,” Alan said.

“It is the first time for me here, but my wife has been here before. We came with our friends here. It is a holiday escape for us.

“I read my third book since I arrived here,” he said showing the Dear Tourist team the book.

Besides reading, they have enjoyed sites in Samoa.

“We have been snorkeling; we swim every day and enjoy the breakfast. The breakfast is traditional like home, but way more. We drove around the island in two days with a rental car,” he said.

“I would say it is very quiet. It does not seem to be a hustle and there is less traffic compared to New Zealand.

“What I was surprised about is the amount of fales we saw. The other thing is the number of churches. We understand the position of the religion in New Zealand, there is a huge Polynesian population.

“We haven’t really been interacting with locals. When we go to the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum for example, they talked about him.”

Alan said: “It is hard to get along without the map because the names are on the map but not on the streets. We tried to find the To Sua Ocean Trench and we missed the sign three times.

“When we were asking people, they probably did not understand every time. I think everything else is pretty cool here. It is a good place to go. 

“This hotel is modern. It does not give you the feeling of a fale of course. Pricewise it is good, it is not too expensive but back in the days everything would have been cheaper.”

Alan shared: “There is no sign anywhere if we want to donate anything. We have many things to give if we know how, if there are options to do so, without showing in your face, you would not want that. A more visual way to have donation options would be great. It could even just be with activities.” 

Alan also highlighted his interest in the Samoa Observer. 

“I read your paper. It is so clear without using long sentences; they make it sound so simple.

“The paper helped me to understand more about the country than talking to the people here probably because I am really interested.”

By Anina Kazaz 12 May 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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