“We could go to London?” said my husband. “How about Mexico?” I countered.
“How about Tahiti?”
“Yes, I think I could go to Tahiti.”
And with that we packed up our infant, sunscreen and sarongs and flew to Tahiti.
It was a long flight: ORD to LAX, grab bags at LAX and walk outside to the international terminal and then catch a long flight via Air Tahiti Nui to Papeete. (Pronounced pa-peh-yet-eh)
Papeete is the capital of Tahiti and the last real “town” that you will encounter on the islands. They have a thriving Municipal Market to purchase your scented coconut oils in jasmine, gardenia or plumeria. They refer to coconut oil as Manoi and it’s produced on island and protected by an appellation d’origin, similar to Champagne. They also sell insect repellant that is the only potion strong enough to deter the native mosquitos. Buy the large bottle.
We stayed at the Intercontinental Tahiti Resort near the airport and it was divine. It was near enough to paradise without having to endure a long ride after being on a plane for half a day. The hotel was clean, the pool was nice…but the VIEW. Well, have a look:
This is what you wake up to every morning in paradise.
We hit the market but also stopped to see the Museum of Tahiti and her Islands. It’s my inner nerd talking, but I think the best part of travel is discovering new places and learning about the people inhabiting that place. Tahiti met the same fate of colonization that affected the rest of the South Pacific, but they do have their own story and it was fascinating to learn about it.
And finally we hit the local waterfall and hiked some light trails before retiring back to our beautiful hotel to enjoy some local cuisine.
We recommend the fish and don’t forget to tip the in-house band. 😉
Until next time, bon voyages!
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