Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia 1/15/18 & 1/16/18

Aquarium in  the ground and as you walk along the sidewalk in the harbor,  you look down through glass.

Papeete, Tahiti sunset 

                     The view about thirty minutes outside of the city of Papeete.  There were surfers here and there in the water, but as you can see there is no beach.  

Dancers and music as I returned to the ship after an excursion walking around the downtown on Day 2.

This was another picture of the surf. I was in a parking area and took pictures to the right and to the left.  

Ship decor for exiting and entering the ship.  Floral arrangement and grass skirts tied around each post.  

Beautiful water lilies in the yard of the Town Hall, a replica of the former Royal Palace

Government Building - Assemble de la Polynesia. Papeete is not the quaint South Polynesian town I imagined.  It is a very busy city and you need to take care crossing the street.  I took the advice given, follow a local across the street.

Papeete

O Tahiti E on board entertainment on the end of Day one and Day two.

Surf about 30 mins outside of Papeete.

O' Tahiti E

Catholic Cathedral of Papeete  1875  Belfry is 39 meters high.  Took 19 years to build due to conflict between the government and the church officials.   

Tahiti Jeep Adventure? no jeep, no adventure.  Pick-up truck.  Uncomfortable bench in back.  Couldn't see out of canopy.  Torture.  No ascending to a crater.  Driving along on a horrible, road full of potholes along a stream.  No abundant wildlife.  

Yacht transport

Coxed eight.  Sweep rowing.  One oar per person.  All you need is a racing shell and oars.  

On our walk by the pier, we passed several carvings.  There was a memorial site dedicated to those who lived through 30 years of nuclear testing conducted by France, US and UK.  One hundred ninety-three atomic bombs were tested here.  Health and environment of the people have been impacted.  

Yacht Transport

Surf about 30 minutes outside of Papeete on the way to Papenoo Valley

On board entertainment - O Tahiti E

Jeep Adventure?

FACEBOOK  On day one in Papeete, Tahiti, we went for a walk around the waterfront esplanade.  Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia and is located on the island of Tahiti. It is a busy city.  The temperature is usually between 71 and 88 and is rarely above 90 degrees or below 68 degrees.  The ocean water is a beautiful blue.  As we walked along the esplanade, we passed native carvings and a Memorial Site for Nuclear Testing.  From 1966 - 1996, France, US, and UK detonated 193 atomic bombs affecting the environment and health of the people.  We saw coxed eight racing in sweep rowing boats where each person of eight rowers has one oar.  The sunset in the harbor was lovely.   As we walked along the sidewalk in the harbor,  we could look down through glass and see fish swimming below.  After that, we enjoyed an excellent show of professional dancers performing native dances in the theater on board the ship.

The next morning we did a walking tour of Papeete.  Highlights included Polynesian Parliament, the Town Hall which is a replica of the former Royal Palace, the Papeete Market, the Bougainville Garden, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Papeete.  The belfry is 39 meters high.  Construction took nineteen years as the government and church officials had many conflicts. At the market, we enjoyed singers playing ukuleles.

In the afternoon, I went on a tour called Tahiti Jeep Adventure.  It was the most misleading description.  There was no jeep, it was a pickup truck with uncomfortable and unsafe benches in the back.  There was a canopy over the truck bed, but it was not raised and you couldn't see out.  The description said we would experience thick rainforests and deep valleys with lush landscapes, cascading waterfalls and ascend to a volcanic crater.  We would see abundant birdlife in the canopy above and wild flowers on the forest bed.  Well, none of that was true.  We drove on a pothole filled road along a stream and never ascended anywhere.  We did not stop to see the waterfalls.  There was no wild-life or flowers because we were never in the rainforest.  So beware of descriptions when choosing excursions.  Not all guides are good. Not all tours are good.  This was one of the worst because the description was so glorified.