Day 15-16 - Tahiti

Weather
80-84 - Cloudy with some rain

Map

First Impressions
Tahiti is much more cosmopolitan than Bora Bora with a bustling main street that had a lot of traffic. The weather didn't cooperate for much of our time there. Mostly cloudy with occasional drizzle and a few downpours. Clouds surrounded the volcanic mountain tops and at times not visible at all. Still, a great place to visit.

What we did
We had an overnight stay here and arrived first thing in the morning. After breakfast on the first day, we departed the ship which is just a few minutes walk into town. We went to "Le Marche" the municipal market where they sell fish, produce and locally made products including black pearls. It was quite hot and humid and so we did not venture long especially since we signed up for a catamaran/snorkel excursion at 1pm.

The catamaran was very enjoyable and though at times we experienced a little drizzle, towards the end of our trip the sun came out and the vistas were beautiful. We encountered a pod of spinner dolphins who put on quite a show for us! We learned that Tahiti is only 3 million years old compared to Bora Bora (7 million) and so the lagoon does not circumference the entire island like Bora Bora. After about an hour and a half of sailing we managed to stop for an hour of snorkeling in the calmer waters protected by the lagoon on the western side of the island seeing many small and colorful fish.

After dinner, Viking arranged for a special performance on board by a local dance group who entertained us with beautiful traditional song and dance, "O Tahiti E." The auditorium was packed.

The next day, we did the included excursion which was a 2.5 hour walking tour around the city of Papeete. As we were leaving for the tour, it was pouring. Thankfully the rain let up for most of our tour and we learned a lot about the history and culture of where we were. "Papeete" means basket of water. They have a rich and beautiful culture and we learned about the plants that are native to the island. We visited the city hall, the big market, the church, the assembly and a park.

Cultural Highlights/Local Flavors
The fresh fruit was amazing. On our catamaran tour the crew served us fresh pineapple, mango, papaya, passion fruit and bananas. On the 2nd evening in Tahiti as we departed they had a "Tahitian Grill" themed menu in the world cafe which had an incredible display of fresh fruits as well as grilling steak, fish and chicken on the back deck.

Travel Tips
Make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen. We learned that we need to be more thorough with our application, even on cloudy days.