Tahiti greet us

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It’s true what they say about Papeete, Tahiti; it is not the tropical paradise one imagines. This large city (by Polynesian standards) has about 20,000 inhabitants and plenty of city sounds and traffic. Sitting on the balcony, drinking our morning coffee as the ship pulls into port after another day at sea, we notice the car-jammed streets. But, it is an exotic place to us and we can’t wait to get out in the very hot and humid weather to explore.

After walking down the gangplank and across the dock to a walkway that skirts the water, Alan and I are quickly soaked in sweat. We pass by another cruise ship and continue for a while along the pathway. Changing sides of the street, we walk back towards the ship looking in shops along the way. We take a detour up one street and discover the Cathedral de Notre Dame, a yellow colonial-looking church sitting in the middle of a busy intersection surrounded by modern stores.

We walk another block and find the city market. This two-story building with a covered roof and open sides displays a variety of Polynesian products. The first floor houses the flower market and food vendors plus some craft booths. Upstairs are more booths with mainly jewelry, paeros and wood-carved items. It is open to the downstairs level and standing along the rail, we can look down on a colorful scene. It is also hot and extremely humid, not good buying conditions for me. After leaving the market empty-handed, we walk back to the ship, ducking into a couple of pearl jewelry stores just for the air conditioning.

Back at the ship, we cool off from the hot morning and prepare for our afternoon excursion. Along with 40 other passengers, we cram onto a bus to view “Tahiti’s Natural Treasures”. This drive circles the big island of Tahiti-nui (there is also a small island called Tahiti-iti). We stop at Point Venus, Arahoho blowhole, a waterfall at the end of a winding garden path, a grotto and a Marae outdoor temple. As we drive around the island, we get a look at Tahitian living. The houses sit close to the water and usually have tropical plants dotting the yards. On the other side of the road, the landscape rises to tall mountains. Each village has a church, school and city hall clustered together. We pass several picturesque bays and also the Noni production plant. Noni juice supposedly has medicinal and rejuvenating properties. You can buy it at Costco.

The outdoor temple proves to be our most interesting sight except for the buzzing mosquitoes. We drive up a lane edged with private homes and come to a parking area. Then we walk up a grassy hillside passing stone sculptures. Our guide, who is funny as well as informative, explains the religious rites performed there including human sacrifice. Although we enjoyed the sites, our advice to others is to skip the ship’s tour, ignore the tour desk’s warnings of expensive fares and take a taxi. We had been warned that the bus would be hot and it was and also more crowded than a typical Radisson bus tour.

We dock in Tahiti for the night. This evening, the show, “O Tahiti E,” puts us in a tropical mood. The group of men and women sing Polynesian songs and perform dances in various costumes. Of course the men in the audience enjoy the beautiful women with their long hair, grass skirts and swaying hips. The guys in their loincloths aren’t bad either! The highlight of the evening occurs when we return to our cabin. Two blue boxes are sitting on our bed, a gift from Radisson. A note encourages us to enjoy the Polynesian views and inside each box is a pair of binoculars.

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