The Afu A'au waterfalls in Savai’i remains one of Samoa’s natural wonders with the villagers still turning to it for nourishment including shrimp fishing expeditions amidst the economic downturn.

A tour guide from the village, Mata'afa Upuia, told Samoa Observer that while the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced the number of visitors to the site, life goes on for him and his family members.

He said he attends to his plantation and his wife takes care of their home and his sons regularly attend to issues pertaining to the upkeep of the waterfalls.

During the pre-pandemic days, Mata'afa said the village council matai had a roster for people to guard the site while maintaining the road leading up to the waterfall.

He said they also ensured that the public toilets were well kept for public use.

"Everyone has a role to play towards conserving the natural site, we do not allow any outsiders to fish here,” said Mata'afa.

“Only the villagers can fish for water shrimp here but we also manage it by not overfishing, so there is still a lot of freshwater shrimp in the river.” 

And despite the pandemic, Mata'afa said the village have continued to maintain the site as they acknowledge its significance as a tourist attraction, which includes domestic market visitors from Upolu.

"We do not make a lot of money from it, but keeping it maintained is a village priority," said Mata'afa.

As he did the interview with the Samoa Observer his two sons cleaned the site with their mother cleaning the public toilets.

According to a Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) cultural expert, Mataafa Autagavaia Elia, there are Samoan proverbs that originated from the waterfall.

"One of the proverbs depicts a journeyed traveller finding nourishment and well being at the Afu A'au falls," he said.

A German who has been visiting Samoa over the last 17 years, Martin Japs, told this newspaper that the Afu Aa'u waterfalls reminds him of how simple and rich Samoa is compared to other places he has travelled to in the world.

Befriending many Samoans when he visited, Mr Japs told the Samoa Observer that he plans to visit Samoa again as soon as the borders reopen. 

In 2019 works at the Afu A'au waterfalls was approved by the previous Administration under the S.T.G.P. Samoa Tourism Growth Partnership and included major civil engineering and landscaping works to improve access for visitors to the site. 

New steps facilitating access to the waterfall were constructed as well as new ramped access to the middle and lower pools. Site safety was improved by relocating the access track away from the cliff and installing a proper drainage. Additional parking was also created including parking for buses. The project cost NZ$289,500 courtesy of funding from the New Zealand Government. 

Discussing the media familiarisation trip undertaken by Samoan media personnel early this week, the C.E.O. of Samoa Tourism Authority, Fa'amatuainu Lenata'i Suifua, spoke of the importance of natural sites’ upkeep and maintenance. 

He also alluded to the fact that most of the natural sites’ preservation funding came courtesy of the New Zealand Government.