Tahiti

Arrived on Novembre 9th 2024.

la Orana = Bonjour . Nana = Au revoir. Maeva = Bienvenue (généralement utilisé pour les personnes de haut rang ou que l’on veut mettre sur un piédestal). Maitai (prononcé Maytay) = Je vais bien. Mauruuru = Merci.

In Tahiti, they speak French. I've brushed up on my French, but they don't understand me, I wonder why ;)

Tahiti is one of those places where if you arrive with the images posted online in mind, you'll be disappointed. That's what the Tahitians told me. Around Tahiti, there are spectacular islands, but in general, the island of Tahiti is mistakenly associated with images of white sandy beaches and palm trees, but Tahiti isn't like that. It's certainly not an ugly island, but the common image is wrong. Firstly, many beaches have black sand. I didn't have any particular expectations, I knew that there is super luxury, but that's not what I wanted to see. So relaxed and open to new adventures, I arrived at a lodging run by two very kind people, Stefan and Maeva, two locals.

Everything unfolds slowly, you wake up calmly, in the afternoon after lunch you rest, and then calmly prepare dinner... Of course, the Tahitians work, but this is the atmosphere.

I took two wonderful tours, one to Moorea and the other to Tetiaroa. These two islands are amazing, especially Tetiaroa. The sea and nature are breathtaking; for me, Tetiaroa is the most beautiful island regarding nature and colors that I've seen so far. Moorea is urbanized, unlike Tetiaroa. In Tetiaroa, there is only the Brando family house, a super luxury resort, and a landing strip for the planes of the super-rich, all grouped on one of the atolls. For the rest, nothing is urbanized (no shops or similar, no streets, no cars, nothing), everything is left in nature's hands and protected. We arrived by catamaran after 3 hours of sailing and crossed the coral reef with tenders, two by two, to avoid weighing too much and to be able to glide over the reef. Then, once we reached the beach, we walked 30 minutes to reach the isthmus between the two atolls. To admire one of the atolls with its fauna and flora, you have to walk in shallow water at a certain distance from the beach and tour the island, it's not possible to get close to the beach.

There were no tourists apart from our group of 25 on the tour. It is really spectacular to see nature in its purity. There are lots of birds, and we saw one in a tree, walking to reach the isthmus. It seemed very soft and frightened without its mother and with us watching it (the mother had surely gone to get some food because the little one was chubby).

It was an amazing experience, and even though there are many contradictions about the super luxury (Tetiaroa is private), it's also true that allowing small groups a few times a week to visit at normal prices is fantastic. Otherwise, I would never have been able to see it. To reach it and return to Papeete, we did a total of 6 hours of sailing on a fairly large catamaran, but with rough seas, the high waves showered us the entire time. In total, it was an 11-hour excursion. It's not a walk in the park, but it was absolutely worth it. The tour team was very kind, offering us lots of fresh fruit and a delicious lunch of local fish! We also saw a whale with its calf :)

Moorea is a different story. You can get there by boat in half an hour from Papeete. I went twice, the first time with a tour that took us by boat to visit the stunning lagoon, where we swam with rays and the harmless blacktip reef sharks, and another time I rented a scooter and toured the island on my own. In Moorea, there are super luxury resorts, some of which are closed and abandoned. Locals tell me that hotels suffer from a drop in bookings due to competition from private rentals. It doesn't surprise me as it's the same everywhere in the world. The island is beautiful, corresponding to the images known from the web. However, by touring it on a scooter, you can also see how and where the local people live. There is naturally everything, from richer houses to smaller and modest ones. In any case, everyone is close to the sea on the lagoon, and nature is democratic, so for everyone, there's the same wonderful sea!

In Tahiti, you eat excellent fish, especially raw fish, usually tuna, cut into pieces with lemon, fresh coconut milk, carrots, cucumbers, salt, and pepper... delicious. The recipe is similar to what I ate in Rarotonga but not identical, although I couldn't say what changes.

I ate fish every day, usually raw, but also cooked, fried, or grilled, whole fish or fillet; in short, there's plenty of choices. White tuna isn't expensive, and the quality is superb. Besides fish, there's lots of delicious fresh fruit, with trees of mango, coconut, papaya, lychee, pineapple, and many other tropical fruits whose names I don't know but are fantastic. There's no need to go to the supermarket to buy fruit; just take a walk and buy directly from the locals who set up stalls in front of their homes. Anyway, there are so many fruit trees that you can even find them directly from the tree while walking.

To get around Tahiti, you can use the bus. There are various lines; the service respects the place, so it's calm (there aren't many runs, and on Sundays, it's better to avoid it; there will be at most two buses running). It seems that each bus is always driven by the same driver as they are each decorated differently. They usually have pareos with flowers behind the driver's seat, and there are flower garlands hanging from the mirror; they are very personalized ;) They each have their personalized music with their own box placed on the ground next to the driver. There are many female drivers, and one out of two sings. They also have very colorful uniforms, also personalized ;)

Many women in Tahiti wear a flower in their hair. The typical Tahitian flower is the Tiàre, small, white, and very fragrant. This is a custom throughout Polynesia. Polynesia is enormous, with a surface area similar to Europe but almost entirely ocean (Moana in Maori).

Yesterday, I went around on a scooter and ended up in a place where they do diving more by mistake than on purpose. Anyway, I rented a SUP and had a lot of fun. I paddled to a shallow area where there were corals with lots of tiny blue fish (half a centimeter). On the way back, I was against the current, and crossing the channel was tough, but really invigorating.

In short, I enjoyed Tahiti and its islands. There's so much history to discover. The Maori culture is present in all the countries of Oceania. The Maori were great navigators and started sailing when we didn't even know what a boat was. They come from Asia and spread throughout Polynesia to Tahiti, reaching Hawaii and South America. In Tahiti, there is also the tattoo culture, similar to that of the Cook Islands but different, as the guys who hosted me pointed out.

The temperature is always constant throughout the year. If it drops to 21 degrees, the Tahitians feel cold; they don't know winter, so even at Christmas, it's hot, which is unusual for me. Seeing Christmas decorations from the beach in a swimsuit feels strange ;) The humidity isn't very high, so it's comfortable, but the sun is very strong, and you have to be very careful.

Now I'm on a plane to San Francisco, returning to winter and the city after several months in less urbanized places. I think more than the cold, the city's smell will welcome me back!

There are turbulences, uff.