South Seas – Samoa – Travelogue 2
The former Western Samoa is today’s “Samoa” and has nothing to do with American Samoa. Samoa is located in the heart of the South Seas and is only a few hours’ flight away from New Zealand. Tonga and Fiji are also within easy reach by plane. We traveled to Samoa on our South Seas trip.
The inhabitants of the island live in open houses where the outer walls are made of tree trunks. In the evening or when it rains, braided blinds are lowered between these tree trunks made of brushwood or bamboo. These form the wall replacement, so to speak. The platform of the houses is usually slightly raised from the ground in order to be reasonably protected against vermin and small animals. The roof is made of palm fronds, sometimes also of corrugated iron.
The larger house (bottom left) is a community house where people meet for special occasions and celebrations. It has already been built very comfortably with a concrete foundation. The Samoans live in these open houses in a completely uncomplicated way. Every passer-by can participate in daily life. This is where people cook, sleep and live for all to see. Tables, furniture and all household goods are open on the floor slab. The open design replaces the air conditioning that would otherwise be so necessary. On the picture below you can see the walls hung and raised under the corrugated iron roof.
The open buildings are built for all community tasks. Next door, in a small wooded area, the domestic pigs roaming freely and without any fencing meet with their feral neighbors, the wild boars.
Free-living domestic pigs in Samoa have no respect for the tourists and in unobserved moments they sniff through the bags for possible usable delicacies. Such moments seem to be particularly suitable when the travelers refresh themselves in the 23-degree cold sea.
Often the only means of transport are the colorful buses that are open on all sides, which are also operated by private drivers. Most of the time they are filled to the last seat.
