Tuesday 10th January – 16:05pm – Its raining outside… and i’m currently sat in the beach bar at the Matareva Beach Resort. My feet are destroyed and I’ve been bitten everywhere, but i’m loving it…

To say I was apprehensive is an understatement. We arrived just before 11:00am on Friday 7th January, and were greeted by a tropical heatwave. Walking off the plane my feet began to instantly sweat, something I had never experienced before. After some in-depth questions by the passport security, we hesitantly shuffled out of the exit into the most foreign environment I have ever experienced. Most of the roads here are simply gravel or mud, with little sign of road works. You have to pay to enter most roads, as each village claims ownership over the passage. The cars beep each other to signal they are over taking, and there are are wild animals running around everywhere. I’d say I was feeling a solid 50/50 of apprehensive and genuine fear as we stepped out the airport into the visitor greeting area.

We were met by Tavita, the man in charge of the resort we were working at and also a village chief, his son Warren and his Nephew Amako. After a sweaty 30 minute drive, we reached the turn off to the Matareva Beach Resort. The collection of fales and huts were a further 3km from the main road, down a stoney and dangerous track. It took a further 20 minutes to drive the 3km, and I was feeling slightly motion sick by the time we pulled into the resort. Matareva Beach resort is a collection of 18 fales, with 5 small bungalow huts, and a larger restaurant hut complete with an office and kitchen area. The beach directly in-front of the main group of fales is gorgeous, with yellow/white sand leading to crystal clear waters and a thriving coral garden just 50 metres out into the water.

After meeting some of the friendly staff, we were introduced to Daniel who was another ‘workaway’ volunteer from New Zealand. Daniel showed us around the resort, and told us what we would be doing over the next few weeks. I was expecting a strict regimen, with a scary overlord of a boss and tough time scales to adhere to. It turns out, as I should have expected, all they wanted was day to day help with the resort. Whether that be help in the bar, daily litter sweeps of the beach, or even help making fish shelters out of coral and cement. The jobs changed day to day and we were just there to help out the permanent staff. As well as a two bed bungalow, we are given 3 LARGE meals a day (Samoan sized) and were given as many bottles of water as we needed – its important not to drink the tap water as my poor western immune system wouldn’t be able to fight against the bacteria in the water here.

When we arrived I was instantly bitten like crazy, and sourly regretted not bringing some insect repellent. Dan let me borrow some of his, but now we are 3 days in and he has just left for home, leaving a rather ominous couple of weeks ahead. I am hoping we can get to Apia for a day, so I can buy some, but in the meantime I’m just struggling through with lumps everywhere.

After a slow first day, we were given the day off on Sunday, as apparently in Samoa Sunday’s were for ‘rest, food and rest’. I woke early and went for a run, something I regret more than anything now. A mixture of the heat, and uncomfortable trainers, has given me two massive blisters on the sides of my feet. Following the run, Daniel, Ash and I walked to the nearest resort up the road, a 45 minute walk. After resting in the infinity pool we walked back, which was when I realised I had left my keys at the pool. I walked all the way back, and then back to the resort again. Somewhere in this time the blister on my left foot burst, and had become slightly infected. It hurts like crazy but i’m praying the sea air and salt water will quickly heal it.

On the Monday morning I dragged my aching, stinging body out of bed and went to work. First we were collecting large coral rocks on the neighbouring beach, still owned by our village, to form some fish houses with cement. After amassing a fair amount, we jumped in the back of the caged truck and drove back to the resort. We then spent a couple of hours mixing cement, and building the fish houses. It was a surreal task, but the exact reason I came to samoa – to explore and experience a new culture, and take part in the unknown. After applying the cement, we went for lunch. Lunches and Dinners were usually made up of a healthy portion of rice, chicken and some vegetables, sometimes mixed in with more chicken and fish. After being initially worried about food, I am now so happy to admit I haven’t been hungry once over the last few days. The food portions are huge, and they always encourage you to eat more. Even the breakfasts, a buffet style deal, with plates of fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs and bread, are massive and topped up if they ever dip below half full.

As expected, it rained for the rest of the afternoon which meant only one thing; more rest… I’m starting to get used to this samoan culture. Around 7pm we went with Tavita, Daniel, Warren, Walter (another of Tavita’s 5 sons) and Amako, to visit the lava caves in Tavita’s garden, which was at his other house near the main road. They were breathtaking, huge caves under ground, that stretched for miles and miles into the earth. It was like something out of a horror film, with a narrow entry hole, opening out to a huge expanse that we were able to walk down for hours. Just after entry, Tavita took us to one side and showed us some bone fragments he had found a few years earlier, that were buried inside the cave. After closer inspection I realised there was a human bone jaw, with teeth. It was scary, but Tavita explained the cave was probably used when the Tongan’s invaded Samoa many years earlier, as a safe place and somewhere to launch surprise attacks. We walked for nearly an hour, and found the cave was never ending. Tavita explained they had once taken camping equipment, and walked for nearly 15 hours without reaching the end. Our hour’s journey seemed tiny, but I was happy to be heading out back to the light. It was pitch black, and even with torches it was a creepy environment.

The next morning we woke at 07:30am, and went to take the fish houses out into the coral garden. The idea was that we were going to plant coral on the outside of the houses, hoping it would aid in overall growth and expand the current coral garden. They would also act as shelter for small fish protecting them from predators, helping improve the species and eventually grow the amount of fish in the area.

We used an innovative Samoan transportation system – two branches with a solid piece of wood nailed to the middle – to carry the cement houses into the sea and slowly walked them out. Then, after locating some buoyancy aids, we walked/swam them out into the ocean and placed them near the coral gardens. Unfortunately two of the five houses broke in the transportation process, meaning we were only able to take three out to the reef. I was lucky enough to get some good footage on my GoPro of the overall process, meaning I can always remember my first real shift of Samoan volunteering!

Afterwards, Daniel was leaving the resort for home, so we had a big lunch with a beer and said goodbye. He is a really nice guy, who has worked all over Polynesia and the world on projects similar to this one, so its a shame to see him go, doubly so as Ash and I are now the only ‘workawayers’ on the resort. We will be joined by a British girl on January 24th, but until then we are alone!

I’m currently sat in the beach bar, watching the rain fall and trying desperately not to itch my many bites! Earlier I went to go to the on-site gym – it contains a lone dumbbell with 5KG weights on either side, a wooden hand-made bench with a metal pole and two metal wheels either side for a barbell, and another metal pole barbell on the floor with two breeze blocks either side… as rudimentary as you can get, I love it! However after just one set I realised I was surrounded by Mosquitoes, meaning I had to leave. As soon as I get to Apia and purchase some bug spray, i’ll be back…