Pe'aPe'a Cave

Pe’aPe’a Cave

Another bring your machete to school day….did I want to spend the day watching my students cut and weed the grass, trim bushes and pick up the rubbish, heck no.  I was ready for a new adventure.

I was telling everyone I was heading to the bat cave because I knew pe’a meant bat.  I was excited to go to my first “cave” in Samoa.  The cave is located between A’opo and Letui villages on the northern end of the island.  I have never gone to it before as it is located in an area difficult to reach without a car, as busses and other vehicles pass by infrequently so you cannot be sure if you would be able to hitch a ride. 

The cave is actually a lava tube from the 1906 volcanic eruption which caused much of the lava rocks on this island.  It is also the eruption that caused the lava tube in Falealupo to be formed.  (A lava tube that has saved lives during the times of cyclones)  The one at Falealupo has many holes to the outside, and no torch is required.

Forgetting to bring a flashlight we stepped into the Pe’aPe’a cave, thinking we would be aright with only using the light from our telephones.  We were wrong, thankfully, the man who took our admission money was there to give a helping hand and lend us a torch. 

I was surprised to see that there were no bats in the cave; but instead, there were downs of birds called swiftlets (the real meaning for pe’ape’a). It was amazing to see them fly about the lava tube.  They were really beautiful animals and it is shames that they live in the dark so most people aren’t able to see their beauty.  The cave was pretty small, but it was a nice trip. 

Next time maybe I will go to Dwarfs Cave, where no one has found the end of the cave.  Should be a real adventure then!