There I was, off in the South Pacific island nation of Samoa for some reason or other. I’d just arrived back in the outskirts of the capital city of Apia, my rear end stiff and numb after riding a rented moped out to visit the legendary To Sua Ocean Trench. That day trip was an adventure in itself: dodging wild pigs along the unmarked side roads; getting soaked through by a handful of sudden rainstorms; eating Sapa Sui in grass hut along a white-sand beach; and getting hijacked by a three-year-old in a Larry Bird jersey, who refused to get off my moped until I’d bought an overpriced coconut from him.
What can I say, really? Five tala sure ain’t cheap, but I respected the kid’s hustle.
But I’ve got to say, my favorite part of Samoa has to be the awesome Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, a nineteenth-century estate out in the suburbs of Vailima. Stevenson left his native Scotland at the peak of his literary career to travel west with his American wife Fanny, finally heading off from San Francisco towards the South Pacific in 1888. In 1890, he purchased this 400-acre estate in Samoa, where he lived with his family until his sudden death in 1894.
For me, it was very interesting to learn how respected Stevenson was in the Samoan community. He was friendly with natives and active in local politics, and several leaders awarded him the honorary title of “Tusitala”: Samoan for “Storyteller.” When Stevenson passed away, the locals insisted on keeping watch over his body until his funeral service, when he was buried on top of nearby Mount Vaea.
One of the best things about visiting these out-of-the-way attractions is how easily you can avoid the crowds. I felt like I had the whole place to myself, just me and the museum’s guide. And even though I couldn’t convince her to let me sit behind Stevenson’s writing desk, even for a couple minutes, a paperback copy of “Treasure Island” from the gift shop made for a pretty good consolation prize.
If you ever find yourself on this side of the world, be sure to stop in for an hour and check out this cool museum for yourself. But if you’re a little light on the frequent flier miles, no worries: you can always read my write-up on the RLS Museum for Atlas Obscura.