Tahiti is certainly beautiful as all these South Pacific islands are, however I was not quite prepared for the busy port city of Papeete (capital of Tahiti).
We were greeted at the dock by music and woman with flowers.
Initially when we started out on our snorkling and swimming adventure there was some confusion and a little tension over bus schedules and directions. We managed to overcome it all and decided to hire a taxi to take us out to the Venus Point Lighthouse where we were told there was a black sand beach.
Kathleen gave me my first snorkling lesson and I was sold, what a marvelous experience.
We then had a little picnic and walked around the bay that the Bounty first docked at.
When we returned to Papeete, I did some shopping (a beautiful Paro for myself and gifts for grandson Sam) A Paro is one of those gorgeous flower printed sarong type of cloth that a woman wraps and ties around herself. Later on in Boro Boro I get a lesson on how to do that. Anyway, I then returned to the ship to get my laptop so that I could get WiFi at the visitors center. It was there that I met a delightful, friendly young Tahiti man, Tamatoa. He was outgoing and very interested in this blog. So I gave him the blog address and I do hope to hear from him again, so that we can discuss politics more. He was waiting for his girl friend, Manuia. He waits for her every day at the Visitors Center because it is air conditioned. She arrived and joined us in our delightful conversation, one thing led to another and the next thing I know is that we are walking back into the center so that Manuia can show me the store where I can buy a black pearl ring. This is that generous hospitality of the Polynesian people that we have always heard about. It is so true and real. So once again I find myself having a difficult time saying good-bye to people that I would like to get to know better.
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