The reason I chose this photo for my "opening" shot of Savai'i is that you can see that this canoe is a real dugout canoe. It's in good repair which means that it's in regular use by the people who live just on the other side of the road. Also, there's another dugout canoe just a few feet down the beach - also in regular use. The folks on Savai'i live their traditional Samoan life and aren't terribly interested in having too many visitors. A last comment about this photo - you also see on the far left an electrical pole. Meaning, we like our traditional life, but a few conveniences are OK too!

This group of maitai (or village chiefs) is going to make sure that whatever happens in their village it's with their permission and knowledge. We stopped and spoke with these men before going on a jungle walk which included a "Robinson Caruso" style tree house. We, of course, paid a fee and were led by their guide. We had our captain, Scott, do the talking for us.

Here's Jean on the suspension bridge. Even though I believe this is perfectly safe and even though we're only crossing one at a time, the smile is FAKE!!! We hiked up several stories of stairs, then walked across this bridge. On the other side we could have walked up several more stories of steps. I decided that I had done enough sky-walking and proceeded down the tree-steps on the other side.

I like this image of a young girl out helping her family harvest the noni fruit. I see her as friendly, but half hidden - just as we see most native people, especially the people on Savai'i. We will always be "palangi" or outsiders. But then again, now we know how they feel when they try to enter our society.

I wanted to show the type of structure in which the people live. They're called "fales." Here I am resting and cooling off - which is how the local people behave in the middle of the day - not like mad dogs and Englishmen who go out in the noonday sun.

We saw this type of fale on the beach in Samoa and Tonga. You are right on the sand and the walls go up and down. Also, notice the netting to keep mosquitoes out of your bed.

At first, sleeping in the fale on the beach may not seem like such a great idea until you see the beach (left). It is really to die for, and NOT crowded. This little resort has about a dozen fales, also a restaurant and bathing facilities. Quite neat - like clean camping! Not too much money either - about $10 to $25 USD per night.

People often own enclosed homes and open fales, as seen on the right. They use woven mats to lay out on the floor.

The young boys are often seen harvesting the leaves necessary for weaving mats and baskets used for everyday needs. The shades that create the walls of the fale are constructed like Roman shades and can be pulled up and down in case there's a change in the weather.

Each town usually has a main town. That's where the market. Even though most people grow their own bananas and many other vegetables and fruit there are still some who prefer to buy their produce. Here, on the back of the bus a bunches of banana and other produce.

On the left people have their produce and other wares displayed for sale. Often the same items are displayed by many vendors. On Savai'i most of the buyers are locals. The only place where we saw a lot of foreigners at the market was Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and Vava'u, Tonga.

All around the island (right) there were freshwater pools. These were used for bathing and washing laundry.

Quite often each island has a Cathedral (left), but sometimes there are more than one. With island populations diminishing (in spite of large families), many countries are restricting Church building.

Along the shore (right) and out on the reef you often see men fishing with nets. This is a closer look of those nets.

This photo is a lot like our cruise: "Another beautiful day in Paradise!"

You can tell by the above photo of the black sand beach that there's a lot of black volcanic rock around - also a lot of lava tubes and lava fields (similar to Hawaii). We went down into one of the lava tubes/caves. I'm not keen on caves, so I was glad it wasn't a very long one. You can see that I let people go on ahead and scare away all the bad things that lurk in underground places!

We were anchored in the main harbor of Savai'i. You can see the Quest if you enlarge this photo (left). The inter-island ferry steamed right by us as she came in. Fortunately, the captain knew the way into the dock!