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Tahitian
Windsurfer in the Harbor as seen from the Sheraton Hotel Papeete, Tahiti.
click
pic and see a sailboat and some locals in an outrigger canoe with the
Island of Moorea in the background.
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The
overwater restaurant of the Sheraton Hotel. This is where we ate breakfast
every morning while on Tahiti and watched the fish come up looking for handouts.
Birds also enjoyed a walk through the open room looking for crumbs. click
pic and see one of the many fine examples of coconut trees that grow on
the Islands. |
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The
Reception area at the Sheraton Hotel Tahiti with it's beautiful floral arrangement.
While in the town of Papeete we went to Market and these beautiful floral
arrangements with the Bird of Paradise flower sold for around $20.00 CFP.
The polynesian franc is the local currency and the exchange in October was
for every U.S. dollar, You received $1.30 CFP. Great Rate. click pic to
see the swimming pool at the Sheraton. It looks as if you could swim into
the Harbor. It had an underwater sitting ledge on the Harbor side of the
pool, to sit and watch the Windsurfers and other happenings. |
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A
local church in Tahiti. We walked home from town while Church was in session.
It looked filled to capacity and all the Locals were wearing White shirts,
dresses and white hats. It looked very pristine from our vantage point.
At the Market alot of locals were selling their wares in a big open walled
building. We saw chapeaus (hats), purses, carved shells, fruit, pareos,
and lots and lots of the fresh catch of the day. If only we had an outdoor
grill while in Tahiti. It would be fun to buy a huge blue green parrot fish
and throw it on the grill for dinner.
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A
view
of
the Harbor from the Sheraton Hotel Tahiti. Although the camera brought this
shot in really close, we never heard any noise from the shipyards but we
got to watch all the cargo ships and ferrys going out to sea. It was very
exciting as we had never seen any ocean going vessels before. |
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This
part of the Harbor in Tahiti is where the passengers board the ferrys to
Moorea and others catch their cruises to the outer Islands. It is said that
many of the locals on Moorea work in Tahiti and they offer a fast ferry
service for them to get back and forth between the Islands. If your vacation
takes you to Moorea you might catch one of the ferrys for passage over.
On saturday the Paul Gaugin Cruiseliner was in port. This day the Hanseatic
was readying itself for departure. Click Pic to see it. |
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We
took
a jungle safari while in Tahiti and this is the first stop as You ascend
the Mountain. A park and lookout point there was much to see here. The flower
Bougeonvilla is in the lower left of the pic and grows wild here in Tahiti.
We were awed by the view here and even spotted our hotel along the coast.
Behind us there was a very old Banyon tree that is part of the Parks attraction.
The black sands look quite lovely from this high spot. Click Pic to view
the mountain stream shorline. |
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Half
way to Our destination on the mountain safari, the mountains of Tahiti seemed
to close in all around us. Only one road leads into the mountains and there
is a hotel somewhere along in here but we never got that far. We did pass
an orphanage nestled amongst the jungle trees. One of the many highlights
was an acient Sacrifice Alter. Click Pic for a view of the altar. It is
rumored that anyone stepping inside the stone wall would die, perhaps on
the spot! Nobody took the chance this day. |
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After
a couple hours travel into the steamy jungle Our guide offered to let us
dip into a mountain stream which all of us gladly accepted. He informed
us that no eels would be found in this area, but relunctantly he stayed
out of the swimming hole anyhow. Even this river has clear water like the
rest of the waters around French Polynesia. You could see the bottom of
the stream but You couldn't touch so no one knows how deep it was. Click
Pic to see one of the many feeders to these streams. |
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This
is one of the 3 major waterfalls we saw on the journey. The pool itself
offered an amazing reflection of the surrounding jungle. Click Pic and see
for yourself. We saw perhaps a dozen or more assorted waterfalls while on
the safari but many were alot smaller or very high up in the mountains for
a good view. The ones we saw were breathtaking. |
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This
is the largest waterfall on the safari and if you Click the Pic you can
see a beautiful shot Dave got with it reflecting into the stream. You can
see the clouds that descended onto the mountain tops in each of these pictures.
We were caught in a spring shower twice on the adventure. Our guide didn't
enjoy the rain but all of us found it quite warm and refreshing. |
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Well
this was the high point of the safari, reaching the crater. It may not look
high from this shot but our guide, "Ativa" proved it to us by
throwing a large rock over the edge which took quite a few seconds to hit
bottom and the sound was not very loud. The road continued on from here
to some villages and a hotel. We were content to climb back into the Land
Rover and head toward the showers and dinner. Click Pic to see our Tahitian
Guide, Ativa. |
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another
view of the crater |
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another
Magnificent waterfall |
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Next are some of the ships
we saw in the Harbor coming |
to port and going to sea. |
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These photos to the
right were all shot from our hotel in Papeete. Can't wait to go back.
Some information about the places we visited follows. A constant breeze
was blowing, more so on Bora Bora, but also in Tahiti. Our room in Tahiti
was air conditioned but the reception area is all open as is the restaurant
and bar so the breeze was very refreshing. Floating on the breeze in Tahiti
and Bora Bora was the scent of the Gardenia. It grows wild all over the
Islands.
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We found
no need to take Travelers Checks on vacation since it is better to convert
any cash you may want to spend or put it on a charge card. This way you
get the best possible return on U.S. dollars. In October 2000 the conversion
was $1.30 Polynesian francs on the U.S. Dollar. The food was excellent and
a typical buffet breakfast was about $24 per couple U.S. |
| If You want information about a vacation in Tahiti or Bora
Bora just e-mail us and we will try and answer your questions. info@peoriaboats.com
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