Samoa Day 6: To Sua Trench + Lalomanu Beach (Part 3)

Day 6 we visited To Sua Ocean Trench , Lalomanu and Siumu.

The moment I’ll never forget about today is getting to play games with the children of Siumu. We come from the land of IPad kids. Kids scrolling for hours and hours on end. TikTok, YouTube, you name it.

But what did these kids have? A Fanta Soda bottle. An empty plastic bottle.

They kicked it around laughing more than any iPad kid Ive seen. I joined them and remembered what it was like before nomadic work and online jobs. The best feeling to feel free like this

In Siumu we found my grandmas Grandpa’s family. He owned land in the village. Even 59 years later the family still lives in the same village.

Earlier in the day, we stopped by a a small shack full of kids and their mom selling coconut and papa.

We gave the kids banana bread and Manapua buns we saved from breakfast. The smiles on their faces eating the buns broke my heart and mended it all at the same time. We bought 3 coconuts.

We stopped in Lalomanu for lunch. The most beautiful beach I’ve seen but the entire village was empty. Lalomanu has an unfortunate history where a Tsunami hit the village in 2009. Most of the village was wiped out including the residents.

The man who helped us during our lunch told us the stories of how the waves hit the mountain surround the homes and nobody saw it coming. Now visitors avoid the area although there is so much beauty to enjoy.

We rented a fale by the beach for about $23 American dollars. We had the whole village to ourselves practically. It’s a hidden gem.

By the end of our conversation, the man said he wanted to name his daughter Logo Logo, after my grandma (he’s a new father). Grandma exists and has people naming their children after her. A living legend.

I admire the strong women we have in our family. How simple conversations can have lasting effects on the people around us. I’ll never forget what it’s like to witness it.

Today we will be saving some last surprises for our last day in Samoa. On Wednesday, we head back to American Samoa.

#samoa #travel #family #love #children #games #tosua #trench #taufua