This weekend we finally made it up to Robert Louis Stevenson’s tomb. Being THE palagi of his time here in Samoa he lived the concluding chapter of his life (while brief) in quite the lap of luxury in a small village a couple of kilometers inland called Vailima (incidentally this is also the name of the only Samoan brewed beer- don’t ask me to analyze that one). The greater Apia area is bisected by a mountain- Mt. Vaea- that runs right up to the middle about a kilometer in from the ocean. The suburban sprawl, as it were, extends back along both sides of the mountain. Where I live is a couple of kilometers inland on the western side, where Robert Louis Stevenson used to reside is on the east side. When RLS started to realize that Samoa would probably be his final resting place (he was sick and weak from the start of his time here) he decided he had better find an ideal location in which to spend eternity. He settled on Mt. Vaea, smack dab in the middle of everything, with a full-scale panorama ocean view to boot. Unfortunately for his eternal soul foliage has hampered a significant portion of the oceanscape in the past century, but it’s still an amazing location with quite the spectacular view. There’s a great trail leading up the mountain from behind his house that makes a large loop up to the tomb through beautiful forest that takes maybe an hour and a half to hike in full. That of course doesn't count lounging about enjoying the view once you're at the top :) The intention had been to head up there and get a bit of movement in as well as taking in one of Samoa’s more infamous monuments, right before the torrential rainy season that has only recently abated. After multiple weekends of planning on attempting our venture and succumbing to inclement weather, this Sunday was sunny and beautiful and we decided it was an ideal way to pass the afternoon. We also got to check out his house which is relatively impressive in that colonial imperialist style, if you’re into that kind of thing… complete with lion-skin rugs and safari regalia just to prove the point. At any rate, it was lots of fun to get outside and get some blisters and a bit sunburnt and even a mild workout (or a significant one, depending on one's lung capacity).
I’ve posted pictures of our hike… Also, there are new albums with photos from both the Apolima Craft Day and Career Day. They took a gazillion years to upload so check them out :)
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