I'm back with another not-so-known place. Maybe you read my "Tierra del Fuego" article. Hope you liked it by the way. Anyhow . . . back to this week's topic. This place is another island chain, but this time it is in the Pacific. A tropical paradise some might say. It is part of Polynesia (one of the three major subdivisions of the Pacific Islands.) This place, is called Samoa.

Samoa is south if the Equator, and about halfway in between Hawaii and New Zealand. The Samoan Islands were volcanically made and they are barely smaller than the state of Rhode Island! The two main islands are Upolu and Savaii. Upolu and Savaii are 99% of the land in Samoa, and all the other land are just small little islands. The climate is tropical and is usually 27 degrees Celsius.

The Samoans themselves are friendly, warm-hearted, and good-humored people. Their generosity and hospitality are widely known. The Samoans had their own gods before Christianity was introduced. Their main god was Tagaloaalagi. Nowadays, church a very important thing to the people and usually the only people that don't attend are the people fixing Sunday dinner. The traditional houses in Samoa are called Fales and they prove the Samoans have little need for privacy. The Fales are open, have no walls, and use blinds made of coconut palm fronds during the night or in bad weather.

The traditional Samoan dance is called the Siva. It's a little like the hula, because they move the hands and feet gently to tell a story. But the Samoan male dances are more aggressive and, well, snappy. The Sasa is another traditional dance, and in it rows of dancers perform synchronized movements to the beat of drums.

There are not many mammals in/on the Samoan islands. There are rats and flying foxes mainly. Geckos, snakes, and lizards are very common there. So are insects. There are a ton of different birds on the inlands though, 50 different species in fast. Parrots are wild there.

Here are some random things about Samoa:

1. Their currency is the U.S dollar
2. Capitol city: Pago Pago
3. They speak Samoan and English

I hope you learned a little something about Samoa. I think it is an interesting place, and I'd like to go and visit it someday.

Well, this is pengwins7 signing off, saying, Ta-ta for now!