SAMOA SEA KAYAKING - JUST BEAUUUUUTIFUL
by Dr. Steve Brown, David Kirkland, Ian Osborn, Funealii Lumaava Sooaemalelagi and Wayne Langmaid,
Mix a few volcanoes, some remote tropical islands, a few sea kayaks, some 3000 foot sea cliffs, some virgin beaches, a few lava tubes, some sea arches, a few turtles and dolphins, some romantic sunsets, some Samoan legends, a few shoals of tuna, the odd sailfish jumping towards the clouds, a few coconut palms and some warm tropical weather and you have got SAMOA, hovering over some azure lagoons just waiting for the next sea kayakers to put an extra ripple on the beach.
Paddling Paradise
Photo - Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
No, not Somalia (as in Africa) but the Samoan Islands as in the South Pacific, just 5 hours flying out of Australia, via that other island place called New Zealand (which is heck of a lot colder let me tell you!)
Ocean Planet rate Samoa as the next Sea Kayaking Hotspot, excuse the pun because the Samoan Archipelago is made up of over 300 volcanoes, 300 beaches, 300 coastal villages, 300 waterfalls, 300 lava tube caves, 300 surf breaks, 300 legends and 300 High Chiefs all waiting to welcome you into their villages (errrrr, assuming you have your colourful lava lava waist wrap-around on and a flower in your ear, sorry behind your ear).
Samoan Islands - unknown, untouched, uncharted by sea kayaks. Well, almost.
There is a new Sea Kayak company in Samoa, better known as Ocean Planet (Samoa), that is now offering some exciting tours, inside lagoons to remote islands, suitable for the family and beginners, and for the more adventurous paddler along the coastlines past villages and mangroves and uninhabited islands, more for the super adventurous 14 Day Sea Kayak trekker.
At $USD188/day per person, you have everything supplied. Some fantastic locations that will please the nature buffs, even introducing you to the Samoan culture at the deep end (excuse the pun). No, not the stuff you make yogurt from: this is a 3000 year old culture producing David Tuas that use coconut husks as boxing gloves, World Champion Rugby Players famous for playing rugby with coconuts, legends of High Chiefs with 99 wives, forest pigeons with 9 heads, spirits lurching in the forests even today. No wonder people here are so laid back - everything they need is here.
Falefa Waterfall
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
Visitors to Samoa find that sea kayaking is possibly the only way to get to some of these fantastic locations. And your guides' children, Sitivi, Sosefina and Nuanua have been most places with their eco tour operator mother and father, Fune and Steve who run a popular eco tour company which truly believes in community benefit and cultural protection. They live it in their heart and soul. They have all swum with dolphins, even had dolphins jumping over the bow of their sea kayaks.
Oh, and swum with sea turtles, as many as 30 in 30 minutes popping up around you. What a sight. Bring your goggles, the coral is fantastic. Nuanua was once seen being breast fed in the mangroves on her spray-skirt 'bouncer-net' what a sight, lying there on your back looking at your mother's breasts with a pristine mangrove forest to surround you, fish jumping, tranquil river setting. From one swing to another, some years later......
Sitivi & Nua Nua on the rope swing!
Photo - Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
And if your appetite is not whetted enough yet, then Dave Kirkland's photos of Samoa will "make you want to go there" (see www.kirklandphotos.com where you can purchase beuatiful images of the world online). Imagine being there, at dawn, beneath 700 foot sea cliffs in the open ocean surrounded by 6 islands and no one in sight, Dave has re-visited Samoa 4 times in the last 24 months. Why? Either it is just that beauuuuuutiful, or he just hasn't been able to capture it all on film yet. The exhilaration of paddling beneath 6000 foot rainforest covered mountains in lagoons 2 miles wide could never be captured on film (our words, not David's). Bring your favourite paddle and a small collapsible surfboard!! Coconuts, Boulders, Nuutele, Octopus Island, Ava and many more await you.
The founder of Ocean Planet claims that the Samoan archipelago of 15 islands (American Samoa and Independent Samoa) is possibly one of the most beauuuuutiful and most exciting untapped sea kayaking locations in the South Pacific. Links to the above Samoan and South Pacific web sites will give you the insight and overview you may need to just whet your appetite.
Molly feeding Green Turtles
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
And one of Samoa's most famous photographers, Australian-born David Kirkland ,has just captured Samoa on film from Sea Kayaks, thanks to Steve (also Australian-born and living in Samoa as a travel guide). Steve claims that no photographer has ever captured Samoa on film because the best sights can only be seen by kayakers from kayaks. Dave thought there was something fishy about that statement and he took the bait and just spent 10 days circumnavigating these beauuutiful islands.
Imagine a sunrise in the Aleipata Marine Protected Area, 4 seabird nesting islands, all uninhabited except for two cooks who will serve you some sumptuous meals, mostly seafood such as vegetarian crayfish, octopuses in black coconut cream, fresh sashimi, oka (a Samoan raw fish dish), even raw crab (you'll never cook crab again , especially when you caught it barehanded, and ate it live and fresh and juicy). Sorry, is this too descriptive? But this is how the Samoan Islanders have lived for 3000 years and they aren't going to change (hopefully) for you. Errrr, ever tried a Samoan sea kayak? These little kids have.
Children Paddling the Samoan Outrigger
Photo Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
Sit on the beach and listen to Fune's stories, mostly exaggerated, of modern-day drift voyages, 7 and a half months drifting at sea with no food and no water (well, these 3 Kiribati fishermen were fortunately drifting over a supermarket for 3000 miles, and they knew it). Then there was the shark attack, 20 teeth marks from a legendary shark, a story as tall as these Samoan Islands. What about the legendary Nifoloa (a bad spirit who will bite the wicked and deposit a tooth well inside their flesh - true, it still happens today). Then there are the drifters (offshore) who don't take enough care with local currents, many ending up in nearby Tonga, Solomon Islands, even Fiji and Tokelau Atolls. This local knowledge saved lives in the past, or at least saved paddling unnecessary miles - just sit back and relax and allow the currents to take you to around these palm-fringed shores.
No one has ever kayaked along the foreshore of Ta'u Island, beneath 3000 foot seacliffs, totally unspoilt (excuse the tautology). Believe us, nothing man made in sight. What about kayaking from American Samoa to the real Samoa - only 40 miles of open water. Travel along unlogged rainforested mountainous coastlines that are inaccessible except by foot or sea kayak? Call into a remote village, lay down your paddle and hopefully watch the villages lay down their weapons and layout a spread that would beat the best Seafood Restaurant in Sydney - believe me, Reinder commented that a feast of octopus, mud crab, crayfish and baked whole fish was something he had never witnessed before in all his travels - well, not at one sitting. You will be killed with kindness, metaphorically speaking: Samoans have stopped killing the missionaries a while back.
Never a shortage of lovely smiles
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
You too can capture all this on film. The Ocean Planet (Samoa) Sea Kayaking Drift Voyage covers 7 islands in 14 days, 10 days of sea kayaking and 4 days of exploring some of the South pacific's most remote hinterland (not even David has seen the Wild Waterfalls of Lotofaga, the old leper Colony ruins, the famous Taga Blowholes from the sea, or even the Lion King's Cave (accessible by sea kayak only - so dark you cannot even see the bow of your kayak - nor your paddle). And THEN, the roar of the Lion King - children fall into the water, too frightened to return to these caves - despite the fact that the Lion King is their hero (at bedtime only apparently). Cancel Samoa.
A great place to relax and paint
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
But those of you who are still interested, jump in and let's push off. Excuse me, we've just flown 3 hours from NZ, 5 hours from Australia, it's 0200hours, and you're talking about kayaking from the International Airport to a nearby offshore island?? You must be crazy. Believe me, it was true. At the end of the runway is the new Aggie Grey's Beach Resort with 4 islands in sight, all waiting to be conquered - one of them nearly as high as the highest mountain in Australia. Full moon, 22 degrees Celsius, slight sea breeze, fishermen in outrigger canoes, adrenalin pumping, our luggage all confiscated by some ultra-efficient guides. They weren't joking when we were forewarned to have just a small waterproof carry-on with hat, sunscreen, swimmers, waterproof camera, lightweight windbreaker, collapsible paddle, collapsible surfboard with collapsible intrepidations. We were ready.
After a comfortable 1 hour lagoon crossing, there we were in our thatch-roofed over-the-water fales (it reminded me of Bora Bora but more beauuuutiful). Ooooops, there went Air New Zealand flight NZ60 - poor buggers. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and we were blown out of the water - Manono Island. No cars, no dogs (both banned 3000 years ago), 4 villages all joined by a walking trail, and the best-kept legendary site in all the islands - Chief Vaovasa and his 99 wives.
"Wow. Cancel my flight".
Spectacular Sapoaga Waterfalls
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
Perched high above the lagoon below, just waiting for the most spectacular sunrise over Upolu Island - with 12 volcanic craters ready to frame this scene. Breakfast served - sumptuous - better than airline food and typical of what we were to expect over the next 14 days. We thought we were in heaven - in fact, Samoans call it Heaven on Earth!. Anyone want to go paddling? Silly question, said all too often over the next few weeks. Nuulpoa Island, Apolima island, Savaii Island: all need to be discovered. We felt like Captain Cook (just as well we weren't kayaking in the Hawaiian Islands because he was on the menu that morning). Did you hear the story of the Fijian Chiefs breakfasting on the Britannia? We'll save that one.
Day 3? (who knows for sure!) We'd better get going. South Coast Upolu Island here we come. Oh yes, the mangrove villages, remote beaches, azure lagoons, more dolphins, more turtles, more of everything. We were met by on the beach by the local Chiefs - we suddenly felt like Captain Cook (see last page of his logbook). Overpowering and overwhelmed, we were treated to an 'inu' or traditional Welcoming Ceremony. Can you believe it, we were given the keys to the Village. We were told that anything we wanted was ours, anything we needed would be granted. I can imagine Captain Cook handed over his shopping list. No wonder those Hawaiians ate him. Fortunately, Samoans are the most hospitable race in the world, the most loving (Margaret Mead was right).
Water Giant
Photo Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
Think about it. No orphanages, no old folks homes: now, that's practicing love with your hearts filled. Maggie was right. Her critics got it all wrong. We'll let you be the judge today cos not much has changed. And remember your Samoan Sea Kayaking Ethics (pages 14-18) - " .... be the ones to be changed ...". "Leave only ripples, leave your gifts and your hearts in Samoa". Sealevel rise can also be attributed to some tear-jerking farewells, believe me, as you paddle off-shore, away from a host village that simply offered their hearts, their villages, their lagoons to us. You cannot re-pay that favour. This was so different to suburban Australia. We didn't want to return and it was only Day 3. This is what makes sea kayaking in Samoa difficult. Our guides were treacherous - finding the currents, the winds, even the waves to push us along - we were molly-coddled as they say.
Errr, must be about Day 5, some more surf breaks - "Lookout. Check that out. Let's go." Some of Samoa's most secretive surf breaks end their lives on these lagoons, a coastline dotted with Ozzie surfers, washed-up over the years: there's Keith, Tim, Jesse, Jon, Aaron, Steve all re-living Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson captured nothing of Samoa in his writings compared to these 6 guys. My legs have never felt better - just getting over sitting cross-legged at the Welcoming Ceremony 2 days ago - let me forewarn you, practice your yoga before you come to Samoa - those Chiefs can sit all day cross-legged, gyrate towards the Heavens in a single bound, deliver their speech, then gyrate 180 degrees in the opposite direction like a modern-day fancy corkscrew. Can't believe it. They have to be in pain, but if they can have their whole body tattooed, then they feel no pain. I should have got some lessons: those sea kayak cramps may have a Samoan remedy (well, at least in the mind).
Sheltered Coastal Lagoon
Photo - Wayne Langmaid
Snorkeling, spear fishing, traditional fishing with torches at night (underwater), scuba diving, surfing and more kayaking - this is my kind of holiday. And more off-shore uninhabited islands await us on Days 6 and 7. All seabird nesting sites. I've never had so many boobies breathing down my neck: 5 foot wingspan, hovering over my head looking for my fish baits. Cheeky. Trolling a few yards on, we capture our first pelagic, a Yellow fin Tuna. Gosh, there goes the heart, gulp. Fingers through the gills, red meat at its best. The bait knife fillets the fillets - fresh raw uncooked tasty sashimi - amazingly tasty, especially with fresh coconut flesh (that's why the Hawaiians got confused with Cook - it was either his name or the English word 'flesh'). It may have simply been a language problem: Cook need not have been cooked.
Frightened? Throw all your cares to the wind. Land on shore an uninhabited island, no provisions with us except the ripe bananas, ripe paw paws, pumpkins, taro, sweet potatoes, shellfish, eels, a few more raw fishies and my favourite coconut apples - this was the best restaurant in Samoa: "Kaptain Kayaks". The setting was simply unbelievable - 10 kayaks on the sand, 1000 coconut palms, 700 foot sea cliffs, a volcanic cone with a beach inside, all forested, giant coconut crabs and the list goes on. Time to chill out, relax, recuperate and re-assess our suntans. Watching the hang-gliding frigates and boobies, we decide to swap places. This Marine Protected Area is a dream come true. A lighthouse to explore, some fantastic lookouts, some boogiboarding, a little more scuba diving and surfing, swimming, eating, dancing, singing, .....
Kayaks in front of Beach Fales
Photo Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
Day 10 and a big Farewell on the Beach. We leave our traditional beach fales behind us and swap them with some of Samoa's most rugged rain forested coastline, dotted with remote villages, customary-owned conservation areas, more legendary sites, woodcarvers galore and more kava drinking.
More beach waterfalls, even a horizontal blowhole to frighten you out of your cockpit. Some bush walking, some mountain climbing or just some bird hiding. The latter sounded fantastic and it was fantastic. 5 foot wingspan fruit bats, forest pigeons and kingfishers. Parking our kayaks beneath a 60 foot waterfall was an experience to be had. Kayaking into Piula Cave was another experience - much to the chagrin of the trainee priests who all thought that we were a new wave of papalagi or cloudbursters or missionaries. Not sure what they thought to be honest. We soon left to capture the nightlife of Apia, all we wanted was some semblance of normality. We didn't find it. It was so unusual.
The women asked the men to dance (unheard of in Australia). The men asked if they could dance with our wives (unheard of in Australia). The cross-cultural differences slowly became more obvious. We tried the restaurants but we had already been to the best of the best (can you imagine a restaurant in Australia without a name???). We went to the museums to learn about other drift-voyagers, we went to the art galleries and saw some fantastic "o mea sina" - some precious works of art.
Local Couple
Photo Courtesy David Kirkland
www.kirklandphotos.com
Time for a scenic flight to Savaii Island for some. The rest of us wanted to complete the circumnavigation of Upolu Island, a comfortable mornings paddle 30 kilometres along the village-lined North lagoon to Manono Island. We were home at last. Some panic calls to the airlines to postpone our departures indefinitely - we were met with stiff opposition from Immigration who said we would need to put it all in writing. We just showed them our digitals, our waterproof laptop screens, our new suntans - we looked Samoan.
Always a good idea to have a local contact so they and they can forewarn your loved-ones back in Australia of your late arrival - the following year.
So what are you waiting for????
Trips run all year around - so let's go and get away!
For further information on a Samoan paddling holiday - email us at:
Ocean Planet Samoa - Tropical Heaven
To enjoy and purchase more of David Kirklands Beautiul online images go to:
www.kirklandphotos.com
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