Apia, Samoa.
What a day this turned out to be!!
We had a tour booked with Princess and it involved hours of driving and then hours on a beach.
When Roy Cain suggested that he and Ken go snorkeling I turned in our tickets. I knew hours in the sun would be a mistake for me.
Barb Cain and I would shop and tour while the guys went to the beach. That sounded great to me.
When morning arrived much to our surprise there was a reception arranged for us. We were treated to wonderful music and dancers in native costumes. They were on the dock and they greeted the ship with songs and dance. It was wonderful, and this was the first time we received such a greeting.
It was not a tender port and so Barb and I met down stairs at the information table and chatted with the Samoan representatives.
A young man there told us all about a function that was taking place at the downtown information center. It was to begin at 10:30 so Barb and I decided to shop at the vendors tents that were set up right on the dock and then we would proceed to the cultural display.
There were amazing crafters there. The weaving and the carving and the jeweler making and sewing were wonderful. We began to shop right away. I bought a wonderful bowl with small round legs. It represented the Ava bowl. I found a wonderful little dress and bracelet for Emmie. We asked one vendor, Betty was her name, about flowers and she offered to make arrangements for us. We placed our orders and said we would pick up our flowers on our return.
We hired a cab and away we went. We were greeted by a young man in costume and he showed us where the exhibition would take place
It was a lovely shaded area and we had comfortable benches to sit upon. It was almost beyond belief it was so grand. We saw the way they used to prepare their food, how they made fire, coconut husking as well as climbing of the trees to retrieve the coconut. At one point we were given woven head bands and had our pictures taken.
We also witnessed another Ava ceremony. This one was so much better than the one yesterday.
From that spot we proceeded to another area where we watched a lady make bark cloth. It was just spellbinding to see what she could do and did... We saw it go from a stick to a large piece of fabric in less than a half hour.
Next we saw carving and weaving and the final show was singing and dancing with fire. What a wonderful 2 hours it was.
For this they only suggested a donation if you wanted to. The pictures they took were laminated and offered to us for five dollars.
This was such a great demonstration and the MC was so informative and friendly that I would have been satisfied to pay one hundred dollars for this special day.
We could have gone back to the cooking area and sampled the food they had prepared in front of us but we were already past the time we said we would return and we knew the guys would worry so we got another cab and headed back to the ship.
We were very pleased with our flowers and thanked Betty profusely.
Boy that air conditioning felt good!!
The guys had a grand time as well. They saw lots of coral and fish of many many colors and the beach was only minutes walk away from the ship. It was a perfect day for everyone. I am so glad we turned in those tickets.
Sail away was early so I was more than happy to stay inside and remember what a magnificent day we had had.
And to think we almost missed it
It was not a tender port and so Barb and I met down stairs at the information table and chatted with the Samoan representatives.
A young man there told us all about a function that was taking place at the downtown information center. It was to begin at 10:30 so Barb and I decided to shop at the vendors tents that were set up right on the dock and then we would proceed to the cultural display.
There were amazing crafters there. The weaving and the carving and the jeweler making and sewing were wonderful. We began to shop right away. I bought a wonderful bowl with small round legs. It represented the Ava bowl. I found a wonderful little dress and bracelet for Emmie. We asked one vendor, Betty was her name, about flowers and she offered to make arrangements for us. We placed our orders and said we would pick up our flowers on our return.
We hired a cab and away we went. We were greeted by a young man in costume and he showed us where the exhibition would take place
It was a lovely shaded area and we had comfortable benches to sit upon. It was almost beyond belief it was so grand. We saw the way they used to prepare their food, how they made fire, coconut husking as well as climbing of the trees to retrieve the coconut. At one point we were given woven head bands and had our pictures taken.
We also witnessed another Ava ceremony. This one was so much better than the one yesterday.
From that spot we proceeded to another area where we watched a lady make bark cloth. It was just spellbinding to see what she could do and did... We saw it go from a stick to a large piece of fabric in less than a half hour.
Next we saw carving and weaving and the final show was singing and dancing with fire. What a wonderful 2 hours it was.
For this they only suggested a donation if you wanted to. The pictures they took were laminated and offered to us for five dollars.
This was such a great demonstration and the MC was so informative and friendly that I would have been satisfied to pay one hundred dollars for this special day.
We could have gone back to the cooking area and sampled the food they had prepared in front of us but we were already past the time we said we would return and we knew the guys would worry so we got another cab and headed back to the ship.
We were very pleased with our flowers and thanked Betty profusely.
Boy that air conditioning felt good!!
The guys had a grand time as well. They saw lots of coral and fish of many many colors and the beach was only minutes walk away from the ship. It was a perfect day for everyone. I am so glad we turned in those tickets.
Sail away was early so I was more than happy to stay inside and remember what a magnificent day we had had.
And to think we almost missed it
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