This is all about the willpower of a young entrepreneurial family that lost their restaurant on the beach when it was hit by the tsunami wave on September 29, 2009.
Sala and Nika had a good going small restaurant in between two big luxury resorts. The guests from both Sinalei Reef Resort and Coconuts Beach Resort all loved the possibility to have a beer and some food together with the locals in an easy and friendly atmosphere just a few steps away.
When the restaurant was flushed away by the tsunami wave and the owner didn’t know what to do, the staff insisted to start building the restaurant up again. They told Sala and Nika – We Can’t Wait!
Without any payments they worked for 3 weeks collecting timber and old parts that could still be used until a new version of the restaurant was created.
Help for the ones that help themselves!
When other people saw what was happening they joined the team and all kinds of building material and money appeared. It was a true Miracle! – Nika said.
Every day was an improvement and very soon people from Apia, 20 km away got to know that one restaurant on the affected south coast was open again. A new sign was placed by the main road leading visitors to the little oasis with cool beers, cocktails and food at the beach.
Prepared for the next wave.
Sala and Nika and their staff have now had time to prepare for the next wave, which hopefully should be tourists from the bigger resorts, that soon will be ready to open after their reconstruction work.
If their entrepreneurial mind was not set to get things started and moving in the beginning they would never be in this great situation of creating prosperity and wealth for themselves, their staff and for the entire village of Siumu.
Salani Surf Resort was a beautifully designed small resort in Samoan style. Totally integrated in the Salani village the resort was operated by surfers for surfers. Exactly where the river meets the sea become the perfect location for accessing the great waves just a short boat ride away.
The nature of a surfer is to be up early in the morning to watch the waves and plan for the perfect time to get out to sea. This habit probably saved all the guests and staff at Salani in the morning on September 29, 2009. The knowledge of earth quakes creating tsunamis plus that the water disappeared from the lagoon was signs enough for the manager Nick to quickly evacuate all people from the resort up to higher grounds.
In just minutes 12 years of work was washed away by the huge tsunami wave that followed. The place was completely clean except for one house that for some reason was spared.
Not sure about the future.
There are hopes to have Salani surf resort up and running again after a year or more but this is still only hopes. It is all depending on insurance payments and the willingness to continue by the owners.
Salani Surf resort was always very concerned about safety and good practices for their surfing guests which was very valuable for the reputation of Samoa as a good surfing destination. It would be very welcomed to have Salani Surf Resort continuing their work in this area which certainly would make a difference in promoting Samoa worldwide as a safe and caring destination.
Listen to Nick when he explains what happened on September 29, 2009
I just got off the phone after talking to Chris, the owner of Seabreeze Resort at the south east coast of Upolu island in Samoa. Chris explained that after 4 months not a cent of aid help has been provided by the Samoan government. Nobody is answering emails or phone calls to give an explanation why things takes such a long time.
Repairing before rebuilding
The last four months Chris and his wife Wendy have spent their time repairing buildings that were still standing after the tsunami at September 29, 2009. The buildings they are currently working on are the former suites 1 – 7 and the old laundry. Luckily all the work can be managed by Chris himself with all his experiences as a professional builder. The old restaurant has to be totally rebuilt from the beginning and tomorrow they will receive an Architect from New Zealand helping with the new layout.
Not much of the rebuilding can begin before they get a clear answer from both insurance company and government. Chris tells – The frustration is growing every day and soon some kind of action has to be taken to get the ball rolling.
Wendy wants all her kids back at work.
Chris and Wendy have always had such a strong bound with their staff and it is heart breaking to know that very few of them have a work at this time. All the kids will hopefully soon be back in their Seabreeze family again.
Will Seabreeze be open in November?
If things get moving very soon there is a good chance to have the resort up and running in November this year. There are many things that has to be done, a new restaurant is needed, destroyed bungalows needs to be rebuilt and a new seawall construction must be erected to protect from further erosion. The resort already lost about 3 meters of their grounds that was eaten by the tsunami wave.
See the video where Chris and Wendy will explain their plans for the future.
