Around Tahiti

Sunday started early with a 6:30 AM walk to the Marquisienne pattisserie for a breakfast of baguette, croissant and cafe au lait. Much was left over and they supplied a paper bag for it. This was a welcome alternative to the mediocre breakfast buffet at the hotel which featured such things as assembly-line oval "home fry" simulations with the eggs, inauthentic croissants and a skimpy overall selection of food for a princely price of US$37 a person.

After the smaller but higher quality breakfast at the patisserie we went to the now- bustling market where fruits and fish were being displayed all around, especially mangoes, coconuts, corn. No flowers and textiles today.

A lovely bunch of coconuts

Mushrooms, avocados, coconuts and legs.

A School of Fish

Then back to the hotel. At this time of the day the power of the sun can already be felt and the pale-skinned tourist is well-advised to have applied sun lotion protection and to wear a hat.

The weather has been surprisingly good, validating my promise to the taxi driver at the airport that we were bringing good weather and making us feel very good about not coming as originally planned in the beginning of February. Had we arrived then, we would have had a solid month of rain.

I should also mention the happy fact that a gas station/convenience store is located right next to the hotel. It is a source of cold water, milk for the coffee we have yet to make in our room, yoghurt and even some freshly-made spring rolls yesterday for an intermediate snack.

 The room has no safe so we make use of a bank-style safe behind the reception where we have a box, opened by two keys, one we keep and the other held at reception. After a few days Emma entrusted me with that key.

At 9 AM we began a full-day tour of Tahiti's West Coast with Tracey of Unique Tours. We covered Tahiti Nui, the big island where Papeete is located and Tahiti Ini, the smaller connected part of the island. Like a figure 8 with the top part much bigger.

The weather cooperated, raining heavily only when we were having lunch and providing a nice mix of sun and clouds for the rest of the time with only a few intermittent showers.

Yes, it looks like Tahiti. Lushly vegetated mountains leaving some flat coastal room for tourists to drive or be driven between the mountains and the sea on well-constructed highways. Polynesians lounge near their houses or roadside food or fruit stands, neither houses or stands or people paying much attention to Western standards of fashion. By this I mean the structures don't look like much and might be considered shabby until one realizes the contentment of the inhabitants and the fact their needs are satisfied.

A museum gave us a good picture of history and culture. Apparently, when a local chief saw the cannons of the first French ships he made a deal to get some. That enabled him to become the first big king. He blew the other little kings away. Sounds like most of world history. For a fuller and possibly more accurate history of Polynesia see, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Polynesia/

In those early days this intelligent Polynesian man was the first to go to Europe and learn their languages. Note that he was much better looking than the king.

The museum also had a nice model of the evolution of volcanic islands and their change from the relatively young Tahiti with the volcano still there in the center covered with vegetation to the older islands where the volcano has collapsed, leaving just a ring of land and reefs with a central lagoon. (That describes an atoll such as Rangiroa, where this entry is being written - our next stop after Tahiti.)

Part of the contentment we see must come from the easy availability of fruits and seafood.This becomes evident when one visits a recreation of an ancient ceremonial site and finds an abundance of ripe mangoes fallen on the ground and available for consumption. Here we met the Marumaru, head of the ancient Polynesian religion, the equivalent of Pope Francis or the Dalai Lama, except more spiritually powerful. He wears a hai, made from leaves and imbued with great significance. He is the only Polynesian allowed to wear glasses hanging from his neck.

The Marumaru

We left the site after a short ceremony in which the Marumaru donated his hai to the small Tiki presiding over the tall boards sending messages to heaven from the site.

As we drove along we saw many people swimming in the ocean or at points where rivers entered the ocean, and other surfing or fishing.


We visited the quite enjoyable Botanical Gardens. A silly Polynesian superstition says that if you touch your tongue to the "Red Tongue" flower you get enhanced sexual power.

Another myth of that type is connected to a round fruit, whose name I do not recall.

Many high, thin waterfalls were visible in the distance as we drove but we could not get close to them without serious hiking. However, the Botanical gardens had a nice one which was accessible. It can be seen above the head of the native woman serenading me with an ancient, honorary song.

The toughest of the Polynesian men have the label of a popular local beer tattooed on their massive arms.

On our rest stops, Emma, my girlfriend and guide, usually did exercise, such as straightening up the palm trees.

And so to bed.