the other Samoa: the vegetable market

The vegetable market was a lot of fun. The touristy stuff is sold at the nearby flea market - we spent lots of time there! - but, obviously, the vegetables and food are sold at the vegetable market so it tends to be more of a local hang out. We saw Samoans playing checkers, drinking kava, and just relaxing while we were there.

These things are used to strain/squeeze the coconut cream from the coconut meat.

We've had this poky looking fruit before. It's tart and sweet - grainy like a pear, but mushy like a banana, and really juicy. I've heard it called a Samoan apple, but I don't know what it really is. It's good though.

I love how the bananas are sold by the stalk at the market. At our roadside stands here, I've only seen them in bunches. When we cut down our own and have a whole stalk, it takes forever to eat all of them. They ripen from the top down so it's actually possible to eat them all without them going bad. We just don't want any bananas for a few months afterwards!