Hulking like one of the great rugby players its villages breed above the swells of the South Pacific, Samoa is a tanned and sun-kissed land where the palm boughs sway in the trade winds and the beaches sparkle and froth with salt and silver-flecked volcanic boulders. The capital at Apia fuses the traditional and earthy worshipping houses of the Polynesian world with reminders of the archipelago’s place in the modern psyche – institutions dedicated to one Robert Louis Stevenson are set to a tune of traditional Fia Fia drumming and dance! Further afield and Samoa tour guides lead travelers through a wondrous backcountry. Island treats like the Sopoaga Falls pop up on Upolu, light and shadow from the lanky coconut trees dances on the beaches of Salamumu, multi-coloured birds chip overhead in the reserves of the Falealupo Rainforest, the clatter of kilikiti cricket echoes through the tribal villages and serene Savai'I comes with blowholes and the bubbling tops of active Mount Matavanu. Expect a warm local welcome too, with smiles as bright as the sands on Tanu Beach or Fale.