Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Samoa (cont.)

Just off the side of the main road there is a sea turtle pond. It is free to go to. They just put the sea turtles in this pond to protect them. I don't think they bring all of them here, because there are still some "wild" ones in the ocean, but there are quite a few in this pond.
Above: The view of the pond from where we parked the car. During past trips, we have just pulled off the side of road and looked at it from there. This trip we pulled to the inside and went to the "beach" where we could get a closer look.


"Turtle" in Samoan is "laumei."

This is one of the first Samoan words that I learned and it stuck with me the first time.

I have been able to visit this pond on every visit to Samoa. The first trip we had Kuso's niece and nephew with us. Nuga was about 4 at that time. When she saw the turtles, she started yelling "laumei! laumei!" So now, when I see a turtle, that's what I think. Above: From the beach, looking to the left.

Below: From the beach, looking to the right. Below: From the beach, looking across toward the road. It is just mesmerizing to watch the turtles in the water. They are so peaceful and elegant. And the coloring on their shells is so awesome. Kuso's dad has a shell of a turtle that they killed to eat when Kuso was just a young kid. Kuso remembers eating it and said it was the best meat he has ever tasted. I would think otherwise, but he said it was amazing. (btw...it was NOT against the law at that time...since then, they now protect the turtles.) Anyway, I wanted to bring that shell home to put on our wall. It is beautiful, plus it would be a very cool cultural item to have. Well, because turtles are protected, you cannot bring anything involving turtles through customs (shells, earrings, meat, creams with turtle oils (?) etc.) So the lady at customs said "enjoy it while your there, because that is where it will stay."

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