My eyes closed, I can sense nature all around me. My lips form a knowing smile as a light breeze works its way over my body, blowing back my hair and exposing my face to the warmth of the sun. I now know what dogs feel like when they pop their heads out the window of a moving vehicle, eyes squinting, tongues out, laughing without a sound. They look so pleased with themselves, as if holding a secret to which everyone else is oblivious. Right now, I would like to poke my tongue out too, just to see if it contributes to the overall effect: if not to add to the pleasure, at least to exhibit to the world what I am feeling. With my head lifted towards the heavens, I am experiencing the bliss that can only come from escaping to a tropical island.
Enough daydreaming. I open my eyes, and I am greeted by the beginning of sunset unleashing a semicircle of magical rays that scatter across dense vegetation. I am on a natural high, sitting on the roof of our vehicle as it picks its way through unruly layers of lowland, mountain and cloud forest. I watch the dipping and rising of contours basking in the late afternoon sun. The only man-made elements interrupting the wild terrain are the van and road beneath me. This is the type of natural vista one can expect in most of Samoa, with 80 percent of the population living in rural coastal areas. Historically, the locals lived away from the sea due to the prevalence of cyclones and tsunamis. However, as tourism developed and resorts opened closer to the coast, jobseeking locals followed the bread. The only form of truly urban development can be found in Apia, Samoa’s capital city. Apia sits on the central north coast of Upolu, one of the two main islands. Upolu hosts the bulk of the country’s population, with approximately 135,000 residents, while the larger island of Savai’i has over 43,000 and is also the fourth-largest island in Polynesia. The rest of the population is distributed across seven smaller islands, while two remain uninhabited. Winding our way down the road through the mountainous, forested landscape, I cannot help but ponder the beauty of this almost untouched land, and whether it will remain this way. It is certainly a paradise for locals and visitors alike, but one that is slowly being ‘discovered’ by money-hungry developers. Caution must be taken so that Samoa does not end up as another Bali or Fiji — destinations that have been progressively destroyed by mass tourism.
123 / Islands On Our Mind
Perhaps the escapism associated with an island is due to the isolation factor — the fact that we know there is a large body of water separating us from those large continents that breed our ‘developed’ worldviews as to what ‘civilisation’ looks like. An island has either broken away, somehow freeing itself of man’s shackles in the process, or risen from the sea of its own accord, starting anew; fresh clay ready to be sculpted.