February 18, 2026
We docked at Pape’ete, which is the capital of French Polynesia, on the island of Tahiti. Here’s a view from the balcony of our stateroom. It does look a lot like paradise.
We were greeted by several Tahitians as we went ashore, including this lady.
Our first stop ashore was at the Museum of Tahiti, a modern, air-conditioned building, whose collection came from the early people of Tahiti.
Like Hawaii, Tahiti is volcanic, which results in interesting shapes of its mountains
We stopped at a park, which had these interesting volcanic rocks, a breadfruit tree,
and this tiki.
by this tiki.
We had lunch back in Pape’ete, where we ate local dishes that included Poisson Cru au lait de coco, which is raw tuna mixed with a sort of cole slaw, and sashimi, both very good.
We then went back on board, but not before Dottie had her picture taken with one of the locals.
A few words about Tahiti. It’s much like a paradise. The climate, mountains, foliage, and beaches are very, very good. On the other hand, development appears to be a mixed blessing. There is pretty much one road on the island, which circles it along the shore. As a result, rush hour traffic, yes, rush hour traffic, is very bad. Children get up at 3:00 in the morning to be able to take a three-hour bus ride to school, and have another three-hour ride home. Most business along the road appear to be small and informal. If you were to live here, you’d need to be comfortable with a simple, informal lifestyle. Which might not be all that bad.
Tomorrow, Mo’orea, an island about fifteen miles away,
Dottie and Mal
