Papeete, Tahiti

 Tahiti

Jen here:

What picture forms as you think about Tahiti? 

For me, I had pictured exotic flower- or leaf-based hair accessories, lots of music and dancing, lush greenery heavily blanketing the volcanic formations, and a small island “hakuna matata” atmosphere.

My stereotypes are being upgraded.

 The humidity and heat drenched us first.  (Yes, Iowa competes with this…but, sadly, not in late January.) Our ship docked on the pier of Tahiti’s metropolitan capital city of Papeete (pah pay EH tay).  A half dozen large cranes and stacks of containers dominate the shoreline to our left and the four-lane highway scurries small cars and scooters ahead and to the right as the greenery softens the ever-expanding business district.  We can walk less than a block from the ship and be immersed in local artisans selling everything possible made from sea shells, thumb through colorful fabrics whipping in the wind, and watch as they plait dried leaves into baskets, hats, and other designs. 

 Our tour was scheduled to begin at 1, so we had the entire morning to look around, acclimate, and begin to shop.  First stop, the pharmacy just to see what they had and to perhaps cross a couple items off our short list.  Unlike Walgreens or CVS, this is pretty much what it says with extra lotions, a small arm of hair products way overpriced, hand sanitizers in various shapes and sizes, and a well-stocked first aid area.  Next was the half-hearted search for some sort of a sports place to purchase snorkeling gear (no rentals due to Covid.  Duh.) knowing that if we didn’t find the right place, we could ask our afternoon tour guide.  Walked into a couple stores in what must have been Chinatown.  I found a Chinese gown that will be fun to add to the collection.  Too bad they had few sizes for American bodies.  Ahem.  Treasure trove:  found the open-air indoor market that is about the size of a major convention center teeming with meats, vegies and fruit on one side, fresh flower arrangements of all shapes and sizes on another side, and more shops than one can see in a couple hours marketing black and rainbow cultured pearls, more baskets and fabrics and seashell artistry, and scents of Polynesia like natural vanilla, sandalwood, native flowers, and I’m not sure what else.  We took our first haul back to the ship, changed out of sweat-drenched clothing, and repacked for a five-hour tour around what looked like Gilligan’s Isle.

Our tour guide was Japanese, via Hawaii, and was as close to Polynesian as possible, having lived here 15 years.  He has learned the native dances, is studying the language and dialect, checks the surfing forecast every morning over a cup of coffee, and is joyfully in love with Tahiti.  We were his only passengers, so we settled in to learn and absorb.  The island has one road that runs the circumference and takes about 3 hours if driving nonstop.  Ancestry of these beautiful people is southeast Asian before sending their ancestors to Hawaii and Maori from New Zealand dating back 1500 years and 800 years for each.  They are very proud that Paul Gauguin painted here and he is venerated on street signs and business titles. We toured another sacred community area and some tiki which had been moved closer to the road from way up in the hills for convenience.  The peacefulness settled upon us as we meandered and noticed the plumeria trees, pineapple, the hibiscus and African Tulip trees, breadfruit trees, and many others.  We enjoyed the botanical garden, “Actually,” our guide Yota said, “all of Tahiti is a botanical garden,”  hiked a short trail to a tremendous waterfall made even more plentiful by the afternoon shower, watched locals flock to the water to surf as soon as school was out and businesses closed, marveled at the high-tech and lightweight outrigger canoes, saw their sole lighthouse that had two new stories added because the trees kept growing and covering it, were astonished at the pagoda flower (you’ll recognize it!), and learned that the upcoming Paris Olympic games will host the newest sport of surfing on the island.  They are giddy about that! 

There are many stories about explorers finding Tahiti.  Venus Point on the northern end of the island is where Captain Wallis from England arrived first in 1767.  Eight months later, Captain Louis-Antoine de Bougainville arrived.  (yes, the flowering shrub/tree is in his honor) thinking he was the first European to find it.  His ship was immediately surrounded by small native vessels who connected him with their tribal chief.  Using hand motions to signal the sun moving across the entire sky for one day, the captain and chief negotiated how long the welcome mat would be extended.  Captain B made the “day” gestures for each of 20 stones.  The chief removed 11 of them.  Not much negotiation, but communication happened.  One year later, Cpt. James Cook followed Captain Wallis’ directions and stopped by to chart the area.   Three ships in three years from Europe.  Even the fabled story of the Bounty has a placard here.  Tahiti is where the ship stopped to take forests of fruit bread trees back to Jamaica to feed the slaves there.  The mutiny happened offshore.  You may know the rest of the story, but the mutineers returned here to Tahiti. 

After Pt Venus it was time to go back to the hubbub of the city and the sanctuary of the ship.  What a great day!

 Our guide was born in Nagoya, Japan, home of Toyota and his father worked at Toyota for a number of years.  Hence the name Yota.  You will also notice the similarity to the name of a Star Wars character.  Tahitians have a word for life force, mana.  Our guide has heard more than once, "may the mana be with you." 

Day two was a shopping day.  We got the snorkeling gear.  We went back to the market.  We went to the pharmacy.  We returned to the ship and had another covid test along with all the passengers who will be continuing on the cruise.  Down to about 300 passengers for the next leg back to LA via several more of the French Polynesian islands.  Tomorrow is the island of Moorea which is just across the way from the ship.  The ship leaves port tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM and docks in Moorea at 8:00 AM.  

The Papeete market

Pagoda Flower