Now we’re just kind of biding our time until the Presidential debate. We had some choices after Lalomanu, but we really wanted to be certain we’d be in a place with good TV coverage so we could watch the debate on September 26 (though here in Samoa it’s on September 27, which makes it a little confusing to plan for). Since there’s a Sheraton in Apia, Samoa’s capital city, we figured we would stay nearby and check in there for the debate.

In the meantime, we spent four days at a brand new resort on tiny Taumeasina Island just outside of the city. That was a mistake. The new resort is all shiny and comfy and the pools are nice, but it utterly lacks personality and has little of the tropical landscaping that makes the area so beautiful. We’re in Samoa, but it feels as though we could be at any resort anywhere. I know, this is not the worst problem anyone has ever faced (I’m reading a history of D-Day and the Battle for Normandy right now, and that would be worse) but there’s just not much going on in or around Apia for excitement. We have managed to find some good food – a nice Italian place where all the waiters seem to be gay and a great, local lunch place near our hotel. Otherwise this four-day stay was kind of a waste.

So absent anything interesting to say, here are some interesting facts about Samoa

• The island group, including what is now American Samoa, was historically known as the Navigator Islands. If you’re reading a history of the age of exploration and are confused about where they are, that’s why.
• The country – technically the Independent State of Samoa – was known as Western Samoa until 1997, when it dropped the “Western” part of its short-form name.
• On September 7, 2009, the country changed driving laws to require driving on the left-hand side. Since so many cars on the island come from New Zealand, where they drive on the left, they figured they’d just bite the bullet and make the change. Apparently there were limited problems in the aftermath. Imagine, though, trying to make that change in the U.S. Yikes!
• Just three weeks after that change, though, there was a devastating tsunami that hit the southern coast of ‘Upolu.
• There was no December 30, 2011, in Samoa. Instead, on December 29 the country switched from the eastern side of the International Date Line to the western side and just skipped over December 30. The original positioning on the eastern side of the date line was made in the 19th century to facilitate trade with California, but these days most of the country’s economic relationships are with New Zealand and Australia. Nothing like throwing off those imperialist shackles!
• Strangely, Samoa appears to observe daylight savings time. We woke up on Sunday morning to discover that it was an hour later than we thought it should be. (As we’re a bit south of the equator, this is the start of spring in the temperate zones so they “spring forward.”) From our experience it’s unusual for a country in the tropics, where the sun rises at 6:00 AM and sets at 6:00 PM pretty much year-round, to switch to daylight savings time. It must be, though I’m just guessing, that they make the change here at the same time New Zealand changes so they remain always on a fixed clock vis a vis their primary economic partner. And the really bizarre part is that now we’re 25 hours ahead of American Samoa. So when it’s 12:30 AM on September 26 here, it’s 11:30 PM on September 24 there, seemingly two full days away!

That’s all the excitement from Samoa. Waiting for the debate, then a couple more days on the island, including one night in a tree house. Yup, a tree house. We’ve had lots of time here to sketch out the rest of our time in the South Pacific and for now, at least, it looks as though from here we’re going to Fiji, Tonga and then New Caledonia. After all these years of not getting to the South Pacific we’re finally making up for lost time.

We’re going to spend a couple weeks in Samoa to explore ‘Upolu, the most populated of the country’s islands. This stop is something of an experiment, considerably more rustic than the standard we’ve come to enjoy.

Lalomanu is on the far eastern tip of ‘Upolu and supposedly has the most beautiful beach in Samoa. Much of the area was devastated by a tsunami in 2009 – there were pictures of the aftermath in our little resort and there was really nothing left standing – but the area has recovered remarkably. At the same time, the “resorts” are pretty basic. Litia Sini Beach Fales, where we stayed, is a step up from most, as the beach huts – known as fales (fah-lay) – have doors with locks and actual beds instead of just mattresses on the floor. Electricity, even! Still, it’s pretty basic, as in “shared bathroom” basic. As I said, not our usual standard.

Still, with a couple exceptions, we loved it. The beach really was spectacular. There were no beach loungers, but they had blue tarps strung up that somewhat shielded you from the sun so you could spend long, leisurely days doing pretty much nothing. (The young New Zealander in the neighboring fale discovered to his sun-burned dismay that the tarp doesn’t fully protect you from the sun’s UV rays, though.) And the shared bathroom wasn’t a problem. Meals were on the not-quite side of OK, but we weren’t too keen on the limited, set hours for meals. The biggest downsides were unbelievably aggressive, small mosquitoes that just ate me alive and the heat at night with no AC made it really difficult to sleep at night, even with all the windows open.

The highlight, though, was clearly the beach. White sand, blue water. Doing nothing. The little porch on our fale was pretty great for a little scotch at night (we’d come prepared). We spent time over meals with a fun German couple who love to travel but otherwise it was a few days of sun, sand, and not much else.

From Pago Pago in American Samoa it’s a quick 35-minute flight to Apia, the capital of independent Samoa. You don’t even change a single time zone. You do, however, cross the international date line and switch days. Without having to adjust our watches, we went from being 7 hours behind the Eastern time zone on Wednesday to 17 ahead on Thursday. And the 14th of September mostly just vanished. I’m not sure there are many places in the world where you can do that.

Apia is on the island of ‘Upolu, where most Samoans live. As our taxi drove us to a resort on the south shore of ‘Upolu, our first impression was just how lush and beautiful it is. Thick green vegetation is loaded up with flowers in red, orange, yellow, and white. The weather was quite moody, really playing up the color drama.

Next impression: The people here are just super friendly. We’ve joked that it reminds of of Minnesota. When you walk down the street everybody says hello. And they frequently want to ask where you are from, where you are staying, what you think of Samoa. All this without the slightest hint that you are being hustled for anything.

During our first few days we got a good dose of that moody weather I mentioned. One minute it’s sunny and beautiful. The next minute dark clouds roll in out of nowhere and it pours. The sun might return just as quickly, and it might even start pouring rain while the sun is still sparkling overhead. It’s weird to find yourself getting rained on and sunburned at the same time. But whatever the weather is doing it’s always lush and beautiful. We really liked sitting on our little porch and watching it all unfold.