Tahiti

Tahiti is the capital of the Society Islands, one of the five archipelagoes that make up French Polynesia.  Most of the islands that comprise French Polynesia are reef-fringed "high Islands" with jagged green mountains reaching to the clouds.  The rest are "low islands" -- atolls built by coral growth surrounding submerged craters.  The majority of the population of French Polynesia lives on the island of Tahiti, which is the largest island in the archipelago. The people of Papeete are a colorful blend of native Polynesians, Chinese, and mostly French Europeans. French is the official language. 

Papeete is the capital city and suffers from the burdens of modern civil action such as traffic lights, parking meters and congestion, and is the commercial center of the Society Islands. The harbor and waterfront is where all the action is. Once you get out of Papeete, you see the beautiful emerald green hills and mountains dotted with numerous waterfalls. 

The big attraction for tourists is the covered market, just steps away from our berth in the harbor. The first floor is filled with fruit, vegetables, tropical flowers and fresh fish.  The upper level is reserved for arts and crafts. The prices here are absolutely outrageous -- one cucumber costs $3!  Most people on the island fish and grow their own fruit and vegetables. 

Images of Tahiti conjures up tropical paradise with palm trees, crystal clear warm water and perfect sand beaches. Well keep on dreaming because there aren't that many palm trees and there are no perfect sandy beaches that the public is able to use. If there is a beach, one of the large hotels owns it.  Last year, we paid $90 EACH for the privilege of using the Hotel Intercontinental's version of a beach (OK, so the price included lunch).

Today was not a great beach day anyway.  The weather was threatening with heavy dark rain clouds that obscured the jagged mountain tops. Michael and I each had escort duty on the same excursion except he went in the morning while it was still sunny and I went in the afternoon while it poured down rain.  The tour description was thus:  "explore Tahiti's beauty from above and below sea level during this relaxing sailing and snorkeling excursion aboard a catamaran."  One person described the tour as "a very expensive swim."  Michael did snorkel and did see a few fish. I did not.  I mostly huddled with the group trying to keep from getting soaking wet. Who wants to get in the water in a heavy rain?  I know that sounds crazy, but swimming in the aquamarine waters with black clouds overhead just doesn't work for me.  The scenery was not worth taking pictures. This was a very disappointing trip that had us going by two airports (general aviation and commercial), one falling down abandoned hotel, and the Hotel Intercontinental's infinity pool that we swam in last year. 

Michael met me at the dock and we walked over to the market. Crossing the main street is pretty simple and safe:  drivers stop for pedestrians!  Every time!  The market was closing so we didn't see very much of it. By this time (4pm), the sun came back out, along with the suffocating humidity. I didn't get wet swimming, but I sure did get wet walking. We decided a dose of A/C and a shower were calling our names so we headed back to the ship to get ready for our evening of hosting a dinner table.