Shopping - Samoan style!

Let's face it: You don't go to Samoa to shop. Or to use the Internet. Or check emails. Which is just as well, because apart from a zillion different lava lavas, there isn't a lot to buy. And the internet doesn't appear to work for most of the time.
Which is actually great, because with the time and money you save, you can enjoy a few cocktails.
Anyway, I still did my bit to support the local economy, and couldn't resist a little retail therapy.
A bar in Apia
One of the markets ... The stalls basically all sold the same things for about the same prices. Die-hard bargain-hunters can bargain a little, but not too much, as everything is cheap to start with. Usually, they will give a discount if you buy a few things from them, but I couldn't bring myself to try it on. It must be a hard way to make a dollar. Or Tala. (We are in Samoa after all). One local, a tour guide, told us his weekly wage was 100 Tala, and a decent bag of rice costs about the same - so you can work out how hard many Samoans have to work to support their families.

Some interesting flavours of crisps/chips.

In the deodorant aisle of a supermarket

More chippies (Octopus and cuttlefish flavour. Yummy)

Or perhaps you'd prefer to snack on Mr Bean?

Missy searching for an elusive, child-sized lava-lava. (We didn't find one. Sizes and styles of everything were limited. At one supermarket, they sold not one diet softdrink in the entire store. Husband must have diet, since he's diabetic.)

Market shopping. The in-season fruits were divine! And cheap!

Local transport. Jump in the back of a mate's car ...

Or grab a bus. Open-air (air-conditioned, and the locals sit on each other's laps to make room for spoiled tourists. Though one man told us he preferred the busy buses, so he could get pretty girls to sit on his lap!)

A must-purchase - Vailima beer. $5.80 tala for 750 ml in the supermarket; $12 in the resort.