Tonga - Samoa Handbook

The format of travel handbooks is fairly well established, and anyone used to Lonely Planet books should feel comfortable using this guide. The book starts of with a general introduction to the Pacific and Polynesia looking at flora, fauna, history, culture and politics as well as useful information for travellers in the Pacific. Three chapters are devoted to Samoa, first looking at the country as a whole and then the islands of Upolu and Savai'i. The next three chapters cover American Samoa splitting it into Tutuila and the Manu'a Group. Tonga has chapters devoted to Tongatapu, 'Eua, The Ha'apai Group, Vavau and The Niuas. Finally there is the chapter on Niue.

The first thing that strikes you when reading the general introduction to Samoa is the excellent synopsis of Samoan history, government, politics and economics which also provides a concise overview of some of the more recent newsworthy events in Samoa, and would be hard to come by elsewhere. As is to be expected there is also a guide to etiquette outlining how to behave in a Samoan village and what to do should you find yourself in various unfamiliar situations.

The chapters on Upolu and Savai'i have the same structure. There is an introduction to the island and a description of the various attractions to be seen, followed by details of the various hotels, motels and beach fale and the transport arrangements. The chapter for Upolu devotes a substantial amount of space to the various attractions in and around Apia as well as covering Manono. Although Apolima is mentioned there is no explanation of how to obtain an invitation to the island.

The advice and opinions offered about the hotels in Samoa coincides very well with our own impressions. However where David Stanley prefers the Aggie Greys fiafia we found that on offer at The Kitano Tusitala to be more enjoyable, but even the residents of Apia disagree on which is the better of the two. He also says that the food is quite expensive at the Vaisala Hotel on Savaii, but we feel he should have added that the quality of the evening meal was very good. They also have a fiafia, but it is somewhat more rough and ready than those in Apia.

The book details all the main attractions to be found on both Upolu and Savai'i as well as providing the custom fees associated with them and the dangers of paying custom fees to children. When referring to the Pulemelei Pyramid the book explains it is on private land, but that no fee should be necessary to visit it. We found that the inhabitants of the house you pass on your way were asking for 5 tala. Initially the children came down to demand a 10 tala fee, but we insisted on seeing their parents and it was revised to 5 tala.

The chapters are very easy to read from start to finish; you need not simply use this as a reference book. Scattered throughout the chapters are side-bars containing additional background information such as what palolo is and why it is so important, the international reputation that Vailima has acquired or how to locate the Southern Cross.

One puzzling aspect of the book is the selected vocabularies provided at the back. We cannot imagine why you would want to know the Samoan for "have a nice dream". It also seems strange that the words and phrases included are not the same for both Samoan and Tongan, most notably numbers being given in Tongan but not Samoan.

Some people may be suprised that there are no colour photographs and just black and white photos and illustrations. We do not consider this to be a problem, since photographs of the Pacific Islands never do them any justice. Of far more use than any missing photographs is the extensive set of additional sources of information provided at the back of the book. This is twenty-one pages of regional and national organisations, bibliography, media and periodical contacts, discography, website and e-mail directories for the three countries covered by the book. It is an invaluable starting point for someone interested in finding out more about these Polynesian islands.

The Tonga-Samoa Handbook is the most current guide to the islands of Samoa and provides all the information you need to ensure you enjoy your stay, whether you are booking from overseas or turning up and making your arrangements when you arrive.

We have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone planning to visit Samoa.

A number of excerpts from the guidebook are provided on the Moon Travel Handbooks website.

Title: Tonga-Samoa Handbook
Author: David Stanley
Published: Moon Travel Handbooks
Date: 1st Edition 1999
ISDN: 1-56691-174-5
Pages: 321
Price: US$ 15.95, GBP 9.99, CAN$ 24.95