Tahiti

Twelve days to get from Ecuador to Tahiti – not eleven days like originally planned. True to form we got about a day and half out of Ecuador when we had yet ANOTHER medical emergency. We had to turn around and head back towards the Galapagos Islands. So I can now say I have seen the Galapagos – not been there but seen them from a few miles off shore. You could see sting rays practically jumping out of the water – it was pretty cool.

Unfortunately that delay meant that it was going to take us an extra day to get to Tahiti. Originally we were supposed to arrive at 8am on October 29 and leave at 10pm on October 30. Instead we arrived at noon on October 30 and left at 6pm on October 31. It was a real bummer to lose some of our already short time on land.

So Tahiti – very beautiful place but SUPER expensive. I don’t think I’ve been to a place more expensive. It was ridiculous. Even though it was sad to have to leave land I have to admit it was good that we weren’t there any longer – we all would have gone broke. I think I spent more money during our day and a half in Tahiti then I did in any of our seven days stretches in Ecuador, Panama and Portugal (and I didn’t even spend any money on the second day!!).

During our first half day there I stayed in Papeete – walked around the city and the waterfront with a couple students. Had a great dinner in a French restaurant with a few of the professors on the ship. It was during our second day that I really got to see the beauty of Tahiti. I went on one of the Shore excursions that took us over to Moorea Island (about a 30 minute ferry ride from Tahiti) and after a short drive through the island we got on another boat that took us over to a very tiny, remote island. On the way over to the island our tour guide told us some history of the islands and he spotted a huge sea turtle along the way. I caught a nice glimpse of him before he swam away – biggest turtle I ever saw.

We first stopped in a very shallow area (a little higher than waist deep) and jumped in with our snorkels and masks. Within minutes we were surrounded by gigantic stingrays. They swished around our feet and swam right up to our waists. They were beautiful and their bodies were so smooth and silky. Some of the females were as big as 3 ½ feet across and the males were 2 to 2 ½ feet across. There were also a lot of reef sharks swimming about. They too were about 3 to 3 ½ feet long. Very cool

Next we headed over to the smaller island – just tables, chairs and a couple thatched roof pavilions. Here is where we got to get even more up close and personal with the sting rays. As soon as we arrived the sting rays approached us as friendly as could be. Oh for you environmental and animal friendly folks – no worries they don’t feed the rays – occasionally they will hold fish in their closed hand to lure them with the smell but for the most part they were friendly and social on their own with no prompting. Very tame. If you knelt down in the shallow water the sting rays would come right up and over you – got a couple nice pictures of that. We also did some snorkeling and saw a few cool fish but it wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve ever done (of course I’m spoiled because Belize and Thailand were the first two places I ever snorkeled).

Then came lunch – fabulous bbq chicken, fish, rice and a delicious native dish – Tahitian coconut marinaded tuna. Our guide made it right in front of us – sushi grade raw tuna marinaded in lime juice then a whole bunch of veggies and coconut milk added to the mix. Toss it all together and voila! It was great – I have the recipe and can make it at home.

A couple more hours of lounging and then we headed home. The feel of that tiny island reminded me a little bit of my amazing trip to Boipeba Island in Brazil – ahhhh so great. Just relaxing and carefree.

So I have been to a few tropical places – Belize, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, St. Thomas (just to name a few) but I have never in my life seen water more brilliant and striking than I did on Moorea Island. It was absolutely breathtaking – the most vibrant blue green color that you can imagine – it was just gorgeous.

Tahiti was a beautiful, nice distraction from the daily routine of work and life on the ship -- all be it expensive and a tad too brief a visit. Glad to say I have been there but doubt I would ever go back. That’s my view on Tahiti and I’m sticking to it. Onwards to New Zealand – only five days away (really only one day away – I wrote this four days ago)!