Underwater creatures

Just wanted to share a few random shots of underwater creatures!

 

 

 

 

We snorkeled in a giant clam reserve, set up by the government, and within, it’s illegal to hunt the giant clams for food.  These things were massive, and beautifully colorful!

 

 

Some of the empty giant clam shells showed that poaching was still happening.  Sad.

MS and I also visited a tourist turtle reserve (they accept donations of turtles accidentally caught by fishermen, though they don’t return them to the wild).  I didn’t feel great about visiting the site, but at the same time, they aren’t actively capturing or farming turtles.  They literally hung a sign for entrance fee, cut up some fruit to feed the turtles when we rocked up, and spoke no English, and told us nothing else.  Pretty anti-touristy.

Added two videos of the turtles, on a separate post, here!

 

 

 

To Sua Trench

There’s an amazing geographical feature in Samoa called To Sua (Trench).  It’s a giant sinkhole roughly 50 feet deep, with vertical walls, a few hundred feet from the ocean, and an underwater connection that allows the sea water (and motion of waves) to come into the sinkhole’s pool.  Further, there’s a second sinkhole (called To Le Sua, I believe), which is connected to the first sink hole, but which isn’t quite deep enough to have water.  I didn’t take the best photos at a macro scale, so I’m sharing this photo from Amazing Places On Earth: http://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/tosua-ocean-trench-samoa/ (my photos further down):

And I’ll attest that it’s much more beautiful in person than shown in the Chive’s recent photospread:
http://thechive.com/2012/10/04/the-to-sua-ocean-trench-will-solve-all-your-problems-you-dont-even-know-13-hq-photos/

My photos from here on out; a shot from the water, showing the ladder into the trench

From the trench into the second (dry) sinkhole

Hanging out on the rock arch between the two sinkholes

A calculated drop from the arch into the water

  

And finally, a video from the bottom.

Samoa: Busses and Churches

Busses are colorful and loud in Samoa, and stop wherever people want to get on or off. 

As a result, they don’t follow schedules, stop frequently, and you might find yourself waiting for an hour or so for a bus to come along (remember, there’s only one road around each island, so walk down your street to the ‘ring road’ (my name, not theirs) and wait for a bus going in your direction)!

If you take a bus, I hope you like loud reggaeton music!  :-) 

These busses weren’t the most awesome, they’re just what I saw in the bus depot on the day I flew out:

ME STYLE – the best kind of style!

(Yes, that’s a Samoan flag out the back of this bus.)

 

This bus driver was “Born to be Famous,” though we’re not sure why.

And finally, a “school bus” which in all cases (almost) is just a personal vehicle that is a sort of “carpool” to get kids to school, often a work pickup truck:

 

Churches are uber-important in Samoa, with most being Christian, and a visible portion being Mormon (LDS).  On one 30 minute drive, going roughly 20 mph (max), Meagan and I counted 60 churches.  That’s one church every 500 meters.  Very important to the culture.  Here are some photos that I took from our moving car; note that they are not special specimens, just a random sampling:

And finally, this shot shows a fancy, ceremonial fale (beach hut), and a burial site; it is common to see folks buried in front yards of houses, churches, or villages (usually the village chief, etc.).

New Samoan puppy

Loads of wild dogs terroize school children, church goers, and all other walkers and bikers in Samoa.  They’re a pain.  This stray dog, however, is being cared for in the ‘western’ way (for lack of a better description) and will become a house pet.  He’s adorable.  Contact me for higher resolutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunrises, Sunsets, Bats, Breads, and Fish

Here are some random photos from Samoa – internet access has been a real challenge, and I apologize for the delay!  Trying out a new offline blog editor that will allow me to post a bit more!

Sunrises and sunsets: tell me if you’d like a full resolution copy for your desktop background or something:

 

 

 

Here’s an over-water beach fale with patio; that we stayed in, shown at low tide.  Hopefully I can post a video soon!

 

Here’s a massive volcanic crater located in the village Tafua.  Allegedly 700 meters tall (from top lip to bottom of crater where livestock live), though I’m not good at estimating, I’d say its closer to 1000 ft (350 m).  Still a reallly huge hole in the ground.  Roughly 1km across!  
There are rare bats living here; read a bit more on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa_Flying-fox

 

Fish, as viewed from the edge of the ferry between islands:

Yep.  Fresh coconuts (niu) are delicious and cheap in Samoa.

A bakery that uses super old equipment to make one style of bread.  Worst selection bakery ever.  But still delicious fresh bread!