Talofa from PARADISE: Surprised to hear from me? Thought that your name had been deleted from our mailing list? Just when you were feeling safe - no more "junk mail" from the South Pacific - along comes this latest edition of our Coco News Nuts - only about 7 months overdue. Our last issue was May of 1996! Why you ask is it overdue? Just read on and I am sure that you will figure it out. A lot has happened! Mostly all very good. Also, time does fly by very fast for us, here in Paradise. I am happy to say that a few months back Sieni, Mika and I, after living here for eight years, became permanent residents of Samoa - our adopted country. The only stressful part of the process was that Mika and I had to wear a tie (along with our lavalava) to our "ceremony" with the prime minister. Having not owned ties for many years, it was a bit of a problem. Fortunately, a hotel guest from England had several that he allowed us to choose from. The funny part was that all of his luggage had been lost, but he did have a few "essentials" in his hand carry. It is gratifying to report that, once again, we received more mail from Coco Nuts who received our last news letter than ever before. It is always a lot of fun to hear from you! So, I hope you enjoy this issue and that you write, fax, or E-mail, and tell me what you think. .......... Afa

PROGRESS IN SAMOA: An Oxymoron? Decide for yourself! Yes, it is happening. Kicking and screaming, Samoa is entering the 20th century. About 6 months ago we became the beneficiaries of a "real" telephone system at Coconuts. Our old, unreliable, primitive, radio-telephone has now been replaced with (Samoan) "state-of-the-art" equipment. That means that we now have reliable (it only goes out about once a week) telephone service of such a high quality that we can now send and receive (readable) faxes and we are now on e-mail. Want to e-mail us? Please do it! We would love to hear from you! Our address is cbc@talofa.net in Samoa, and cbcsamoa@aol.com in Honolulu! Speaking of telephones, starting next month Samoa will introduce cellular telephone service. I think it is great to live in a country with such modern conveniences. But I do have at least one nagging question: In our small country, where only 1% of the population have a "regular" telephone, who is going to use it? Now here is the news you have been waiting for. I can report that, at the moment, there are no new, large hotel projects in Samoa that are in the news, and all of the old projects (Marriott, Inter - Continental, etc.) that I have told you about in the past, seem to be dead in the water. On the other hand, I hear that the existing MacDonalds in Apia is going very strong and that there are plans afoot to open a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Apia. Remember, you heard it here first!

NEWS FROM OUR COCO NUTS : Our Welcome Back To Coconuts plan for returning hotel guests is proving to be very popular. Taking advantage of our special discounts for returning Coco Nuts this year were our dear friends from Germany, the Piacenzas and Werner Kirchoff - the third time for each of them! If you are planning to return to Coconuts, please contact us for details and learn how you can save up to 20% on your room. We get lot’s of mail and it’s hard to choose which ones to publish, but here is an excerpt from one that we received recently from "two arctic chickadees": Dear Mika, Not a single day has passed that we haven’t longed to be back at Coconuts. French eggs with Rhapsody in Blue just doesn’t taste the same in Helsinki.

COCONUTS "STAYS FAMOUS" For those of you "down under", you can read a terrific article about Coconuts in the April issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller. Living with Mika has not been easy since this article came out. But, for those of you who have sampled Mika’s great cuisine, I am sure that it is no surprise that we had a write up in that magazine. And, once again, I am proud to say that Coconuts and Western Samoa are highly touted in the May, 1997 issue of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. In Ron Hall’s excellent article, there are only two islands in the South Pacific that made it to his list of the "Ten Best" islands in the world, and Upolu, Western Samoa was one of them. You might be interested to know that Ron’s description of Coconuts included "...Coconuts Beach Club & Resort is the kind of sophisticated, mildly eccentric resort that I very much enjoy, with a well frequented bar where you soon start plugging into the island gossip."

HOTEL NEWS : May 5th was a very important date for us, for a couple of reasons. That was the date that we opened our Over-The-Water Fales, the first in Samoa! When we first came to Samoa, some 10 years ago, I had the dream of building guest accommodations on poles, over the water, in our tranquil lagoon. But, over the years, for one reason or another the time never seemed right. And now, it is a reality! Once again, Robert Ross, our dear friend and the creative designer of all of our accommodations at Coconuts, has come through with a spectacular fale for you to experience. There are only two of them - built in a traditional Samoan circular shape and combining traditional Samoan materials, like hand woven mats and local hardwood floors, with sophisticated Western appointments. Inside you will find both air conditioning and ceiling fans, a sitting area with a glass floor to view the sea life, and a king size bed with a direct view of the sea from the bed. The beautifully tiled bathroom has a large, two person tub, featuring both privacy and sea views from the tub, a separate stall shower, and counters that are made from lava rock that we carried from the local village and were hand cut by the villagers here at Coconuts. Two glass sliding doors lead to a huge, 18 foot outdoor deck. Outside you will see waves breaking on the outlying reef, great sunsets, the unspoiled beaches to the west of us and the billions of stars that dot the sky at night - all without a trace of civilization in sight. I can assure you that the end result is not just another "generic" luxurious accommodation, but one where you will be keenly aware that you are in the midst of the pristine Samoan environment. Also, one year ago this date, Ned Brown arrived as General Manager of Coconuts. Happy Anniversary Ned! I know that all of you who have had a chance to meet Ned at the travel shows in London, Berlin, or here at Coconuts have enjoyed meeting him and working with him as much as we have. And, with the smooth running operation of Coconuts under Ned’s able direction, Sieni and I have been able to enjoy our "retirement". Our new, GECKO shaped swimming pool with swim-up bar has been very well received by our guests, and, after many weeks of trial and error (it’s tough work, but somebody has to do it), Mika has now perfected his new drink, the Gecko Cocktail, made with Melon liquor.

TOFA SOIFUA: Time to shut down my Mac, head on down to see Mika and have a sunset cocktail on the Palm Terrace. Only two things are lacking. One is my father, Nathan - one of the original Coco Nuts - who left this Paradise for another last August, at the ripe age of 88, and the other is sharing Paradise with YOU! Please join us soon. Love from all of us here at COCONUTS to all of you COCO NUTS and would-be COCO NUTS!