We've just experienced a fia fia – a local carnival that welcomes guests into a village in Samoa. In our case that's Salani village on the southern shores of Upolu, Samoa. My mouth is still zinging from the kava ritual, but it's the villagers who came to welcome us that are burned into my mind – lots of smiling children clapping and dancing to the beat of the music being drummed out by the band. Then we had a display of firedancing that set the main fale (meeting house) alight ... well, not lierally, but these guys were pretty amazing. Hospitality in this place comes in great big doses of smiles, friendly waves and laughter.
But the past three days have been marked by something else – equally as extraordinary as the generous culture we have encountered: some pretty solid waves. We came to surf and it's fair to say that twice a day at least, we've indulged in some amazing reef passes, remote point breaks and necklace-reef freight trains.
We're staying at Salani Surf Resort and each day begins with a check of the local waves: Salani Rights and Salani Lefts. We usually surf the right then go exploring the coastline for the afternoon ... and there are a lot of amazing beaches here. I never realised the water was so clear and the coral so vibrant. Locals say it's still recovering from recent cyclone activity.
We finish each day shattered, exhausted and excited about the latest weather report. Today's looks good – I'll probably be swimming around a coral reef right about the time this dings into your inbox.
See you at the reef ... Derek
PS A big thanks to the team at Island Holidays for making this trip possible. And a huge thanks to the warm welcome from the people of Salani village and everyone else we've been lucky enough to meet here during our journey. There are some infectious good vibes going around.
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