Apia Travel Guide

After a night out in Apia we woke up at Seipepa. Someone said there was a taxi outside waiting for us. Almost forgotten, the evening before we planned a trip to the brewery with other backpackers. Without having breakfast the taxi took us to the Vailima brewery for a brewery tour. Great experience, especially a couple of hours after drinking lots of bottles Vailima.

Price: Free.

Make reservations because tours are only given on certain days.

The Coast and I Spy two of Apia's finest clubs, Its has a decent number of Locals and Tourists, the Music can range from PDiddy to Shania Twain through to Metallica with a reasonable amount of Contemporary Music from Islands all over the Pacific. Friday is the Big night,but most clubs close at 2 to 3 am Saturday morning. But for the price of Alcohol It is worth it because a few hours is all you will need.

Dress Code: Wear what ever you feel like wearing. I got in to the clubs with Jandals, Ripped Jeans and a T Shirt.

I've heard varying reports on the true HIV rate in Samoa. As one would anywhere, practice safe sex and be cautious of sterilisation procedures. I witnessed several places doing tattoos (thr traditional way) without even cleaning the tools.

When visiting the Apia area you might try taking a hike up to the top of Maunga Vaea
which the final resting place of Tusitala which is a Samoan word for Storyteller
also better known to us as the famed author Robert Louis Stevenson.
Stevenson began his travels from his native Scotland after contracting TB
and wanted fresh air so he traveled across to the United States and lived in St Helena California
for awhile the ventured on to Hawaii where he met with Hawaiian royalty
and became friends with Princess Kai'ulani during her teenage years
after Hawaii traveled to the present day Republic of Kiribati to the island of Abemama
where he met with it's fierce chief Tem Binoka and became friends with him
After leaving Abemama traveled on to Samoa and settled there and lived many years there
and recuperated from his TB but died from a massive stroke in his old age.
It took several big husky Samoan men
to carry his coffin up to the top of the mountain where he is laid to rest
It's about an hour and a half climb to the top of the mountain.

Favorite thing: Take extra time to explore Samoa. We spent three weeks in Samoa and probably felt like locals at the end. Dump the hire car and spend time travelling around the islands on the busses. They are an experience in themselves and worth the trip.
The places you stop are wonderful and the people are always helpful and hospitable. There is a slowness in time and a peace that is there.

Without doubt I would take a bike and cycle around Upolu with a fit friend. I would eat bananas and fresh fruit