Hello from Samoa

Hello from Samoa

During our week break between terms, we were able to get some sight seeing in as well as work.  We were over on Upolu and we don’t get to see much of Upolu so when we had an opportunity to go visit some sight we took it.  They have some big Banyan trees on the island and a couple from Oregon built a couple of tree houses in a Banyan tree.  They have a big tree house and a little tree house and they took us for a tour.  They rent both houses out as a bed and breakfast.  They are very quaint and they are a bit pricey but they are very neat.  We didn’t stay there but we had a tour and we had lunch at their house.  It is all very impressive; here are some pictures from our tour.

This is a picture of some Banyan trees from out of the tree house.  All the big tall trees are Banyan trees.

This is a picture of Sampson, the Banyan tree in which they built the tree house.  This Banyan tree is about 300 years old.  They estimate this age from the time of the last volcano that erupted and covered this land with lava. This is the big tree house.  Sampson is about 180 feet tall and about 140 feet around at the base.  The reason they think that Sampson has withstood the tsunami and a cyclone a couple of years ago that knocked down a number of Banyan trees is that its roots are anchored in the lava flow under the tree.

Sampson is pretty impressive.  Each huge Banyan tree is made up of many roots and trunks of other trees

This is the bottom of the Banyan tree

called Sampson

A better look at the bottom of Sampson

This is the wall of the main bedroom in the tree house.

This is the main bedroom in the big tree house.

This is an interesting branch they had to deal with in the middle of their kitchen.

They made a stool out of it.

This is the wall of the shower .

This is the floor of the shower.

This is the bathroom with hot and cold running water.

This is the shower and shower wall.

This is the upstairs bed in the second bedroom.

This is the way up to the second bedroom.  It's a nice ladder straight up the wall.

This is a resting place on the way up to the rooms.











 These are pictures of the small Tree House.

 It is much smaller and built around a smaller tree but still impressive

The steps are a killer, I would hate to have to climb them too many times in one day.

The outside door to the tree house.

The kitchen, small but all their meals are brought from the main house .

A cosy place for two because this tree house won't hold much more than 2.

This is the only bedroom and the bed has a sky light so you can lay in bed and watch the stars, the sunset or even the sunrise.  They all are beautiful over here.

This is a deck where you can sit and have your meals or just relax and enjoy yourselves.

This is a tree near the small tree house, notice how the roots and vines are growing around the tree.  Many of these vines will actually infuse themselves right into the trunk of the tree itself.  It's all very interesting.

These pictures are from the coastal trail.  It is a trail that leads along the coast that is not protected by a reef.  It has some high cliffs where the waves just continue to come in and beat against the rocks.  There are a number of arches where the water has washed through the weakest points of the rocks.

Joanne standing on the edge watching the water below.  She is a little bit nervous thinking that one of those bigger waves will break down the lava she is standing on.  

These are the lava flats at the edge of the ocean.

These tree all have multiple roots going into the ground.  There is one main trunk but it branches into many roots as it goes into the ground.

There are lots of these trees.  The people here say that these trees help to stabilize the ground so that the waves won't wash it away.  I don't know but that sounds good to me.

These are some of the lava cliffs that the waves beat against.

This shows the power with which the waves hit the banks with.  It is amazing that the cliffs stand up so well.

Here is a lone tree on an island and you can see the holes that the waves have worn. It is an impressive sight.

These are the other couples we are working with. To the left are the Hammonds, they are the ITEP couple from Idaho who we work with.  Joanne is in the middle.  The couple on the right are the Goodlets, they are from Australia and they are the TVET couple who work with the vocational education program.