Sickness in Samoa

As you can tell from the title, this blog entry doesn't go well. Pretty soon after leaving Suwarrow I came down with a tummy bug.  The details I won't go into, all I can say is that when we got to Samoa a few days later, it was still lurking about. When we reached Apia, on Upola island,  we were able to clear customs alongside a wharf . The first thing that hit  me about samoa is that its hot, humid and alot bigger than the cook islands capital island, Rarotonga. Has my first impressions on Samoa began, we also said goodbye to the journey's voyage crew. With such a great bunch of people, it was sad to see them go. I hope they enjoyed the adventure as much as we did.

Living alongside, watching the neighbours move in.

After a couple of days working, getting the ship ready for our voyage down to Tonga, We were able to leave the ship and see what Apia had in store. Well, not alot on a week day night to be honest. However, we did find a cocktail bar that sold cheap pina coladas and a tasty local beer. In the morning, it turned out Zim was suffering from full blown heat stroke working through the blazing samoan sun in the rigging.  And therefore, the idea of doing any sightseeing on upola island went out the window. So while other crew visited the sliding rocks and peted turtles, I bundled a rather ill man into a taxi and went to a hotel room.  It was nothing fancy, just a family run B&B, but it had a/c, ensuite, a comfy bed and samoan TV.  We tried to sleep off our aches and pains, getting supplies for the shop next door and watching random films. Its was only in the evening we felt up to a walk around, in which there are five things that I've learnt about Samoa.

1. They love their churches. There are tonnes of them and more are being build even bigger.

2. The buses are awesome, like disco trucks crammed with people.

3. For a small town, Apia has a lot of battered women centres.

4. One the whole, the people are very smiley.

5. I saw the cutest stray puppy, can I keep it?

Apia's Clock tower - the only sightseeing we got.

Maybe there have been more exciting times, but our day in a Samoan guest house gave us time to recharge, feel cold (god bless a/c) and feel vaguely human again.

Working two more days on the ship,we even began to sleep out on deck to beat the heat.  Feeling well rested, in good health and excited about the next voyage, we welcomed aboard the new vc and sailed out of the capital.....