Busses

Busses

In other countries when you know a bus schedule, you know when to catch the bus... in Samoa you think you know a bus schedule, and the one day you go to catch that bus there is a faalavelave to disturb your travels.  Sometimes you hear about the faalavelaves ahead of time as it is well known of a village funeral requiring the use of a bus.  But for some of the smaller rentals of busses such as family reunions or other picnics, not everyone often hears that the particular bus will be out of commission for that particular day.  At least those disturbances are only for a day.

The bigger problem is when the busses are out for several weeks or longer as the bus has broken down.  While I was living in Savaii this affected my travels numerous times as twice during the two years my busses got into accidents and it took several months to repair them.  What happens is there is now a gap in that time slop of what the broken down bus travels.  Can I tell you how much this stinks!  It is bad when you are trying to get somewhere, and the next bus isn’t for a few more hours.  Usually I am not in that much of a rush, but when you need to take the first boat, this can be a hassle. 

This happened to me on my last trip to Savaii, as I was about to return to Upolu I learned the night before that the 3:00 bus had crashed into a tree and therefore there was no longer a bus for that ferry.  You could still sit outside and wait for the bus, and possibly the further district bus might pick you up, but it is not guaranteed as they could be full and just pass you by. 

I had to get to work, there was denying it.  The only solution I had was to gather a few others, and share a taxi and I felt lucky that I was able to make it to my bus in order to make it in time for work the following day.