Novermber 20, Apia Samoa

November 20, Apia Samoa

Apia, on the island of Upolu, is the capital of Samoa and the only place that you could call a city and mean it. For all of its modern details, it still retains the picturesque charm of its history. From the center of town, Apia’s neat villages spread west along the level coastal area and climb up the gentle slopes towards the hills and valleys. The clock tower in the center of town is a memorial to WWI casualties. Several churches are scattered around with the largest of them being the Catholic Church on the city waterfront. The Anglican Church, although smaller, has the most beautiful stained glass windows.

We had originally planned to go on a tour with our Cruise Critic friends, but Sharon woke up with a very sore hip and thigh which we assumed was from a fall that she took a couple of days ago. She quickly found out that trying to climb stairs was extremely difficult, so we decided to opt out of the tour to give her an extra day to heal before Hawaii.

Because of that and the fact that the temperature upon arriving in Apia was already 84 and climbing, I decided that I would take a short walk into town, get a few pictures and call it a day.

I left the ship around 7:45am and after fighting my way through the taxi drivers at the gate, started walking toward the downtown area. It was less than a mile walk, and I stopped along the way to take some pictures of the many gorgeous flowers I saw, and the Anglican Church which I thought to be quite pretty. There wasn’t much open yet which I had expected, but I noted that while some of the buildings were slightly rundown in appearance, the streets and general look of the town was quite clean and neat.

One of the unique things in Apia is the daily parade of the Police Band. At 8:30am every morning they leave the central police station, and march down the road to an area near the main Tourist Information Center while traffic backs up behind them. It’s quite an interesting sight to see.

I returned to the ship around 9:30am very hot and tired from the heat to relax and enjoy the rest of the day onboard. Now it’s four days at sea before arriving in Honolulu the day before Thanksgiving.