I have had the privilege of calling Samoa home for the last
nine years. The memories, both happy and
sad will be cherished. The friends and
family that I have gotten to know better have helped to make me become a
stronger and more resilient person today and I will hold them forever in my
heart. I can honestly say that making
the decision to leave Samoa has been one of the hardest I have ever had to
make, it was easier to decide to get divorced so that is a big choice right
there! The opportunities that I have had
to do so many things and meet so many people are beyond what I ever thought I
would accomplish in my life thus far.
Over the next six (6) weeks I will be sharing with you some of my things
that I have yet to do in my Samoan Bucketlist, so here is number one.
Over the White Sunday Holiday I made sure to go to the
beach. It was not just any beach that I
chose it was one that I had never been to before and I am a poor volunteer so
couldn’t afford to stay the night at this beautiful place. I am so happy with my decision to check out Return to Paradise Resort because I have
fallen in love with this location. I
will admit that the weather was not on our side that day, but it was worth the
trip. The sign from the main road was
easy to locate and easy follow it was when you got further down the road that
it got a little confusing. There is a
sign that gives a list of prices for the use of the beach with a little fale
Samoa beside it. IGNORE this sign! There is no one there to take your money so
continue to drive past. As we reached
where we could see the water and the pristine beaches it was unclear as to
where to go now or if we should have turned right at the false price sign
because there were no signs for the resort once we got on this road. If you pass another beach fale set up and
begin on a dirt road then you are heading in the right direction. Keep following this road until you reach a
security guard. This is where you will
be given a piece of paper telling you that it is free to use the beach,
yay! But you do have to spend money at
the restaurant/bar. This is great
because in essence you are just paying for lunch at the beach. The costs are reasonable $25 for an adult and
$10 for children. You are given a
voucher so make sure you don’t lose it otherwise you have to pay more money. Only guests staying at the hotel are able to
use the pools, which is completely understandable.
The beach is gorgeous!
It is calm enough for young children to swim, there is coral close by so
you can get some snorkeling done and there is even a rock pool along the beach. The sand is clean and there is even a
volleyball net already set up.
The service at the restaurant was better than some other
places in Apia. The staff were friendly
and made you feel welcome. They were
polite and timely in their service. The
food was good. We ate pizza and would
recommend the bacon one with pineapple.
I also enjoyed the pulled pork pizza even though the rest of my table
didn’t like it, their loss I say! The
prices were as expected for a resort outside of Apia ranging from $25 +. I think the only thing I would suggest is a
dessert menu as I am a huge sweet tooth and would have enjoyed some chocolate.
One of the things that I think I will miss the most about
Samoa is being able to admire the chiseled torsos of the handsome men of
Samoa. If you are as lucky as I was you
may even get to see the likes of Mr Lavalava or some Toa Samoa players when you
visit Return to Paradise.
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