MOOREA-TAHITI, A PARADISE ISLAND

Is it possible to leave your heart in San Francisco? I think so, like the song says, because we seem to have left our hearts in Moorea-Tahiti. I suspect my wife Cinzia and I have fallen hopelessly in love with Moorea.

Even a week after our return to (sunny and warm) southern California, from the hot and humid paradise island, we are still having flashbacks. Frozen in our memory are the smiling faces of the lovely Tahitians, the wonderful aqua-blue lagoons with colorful fishes and coral, the coconut palm swaying, coral white beaches, flowers and hibiscus in bloom everywhere, delicious seafood... Even waking to the crowing of wild roosters, annoying at the time, now seems a pleasant reverie. When there is not much to do, except have a cup of tea or coffee at the cafe overlooking the blue Pacific waters, which are a deep sapphire blue when out to sea, then the day is taken up by lazying on the beach (with lots of sunscreen!) and snorkeling the blue lagoons. In the evening, watching the sun set over the horizon, over a glass of wine, as billowing clouds turn golden, signaling some distant downpour. The deep green of the island is a sharp contrast to the languid aquamarine blue of the lagoons circling the entire island of Moorea. Everyone was so pleasant, the air so warm and fluid, occasionally broken by a quick tropical shower, that it was easy to fall in love.

After a brief overnite in Papeete, Tahiti's capital port city, we took the ferry to Moorea visible in the distance. The fast ferries, Moorea Express or Aremiti 5, both cover the 15 miles distance over the deep blue waters in about 30 minutes, a fun ride, and frequent enough to be reliable for both passengers and cars. We arrived without invitations nor reservations, so headed out to catch a local bus called "le truck" to some hotel destination. The driver, a reserved tall gentleman by the name of Mr. Hiro, said he could take us to a bungalow we had found in Lonely Planet, called "Fare Maeva", which was off the paved road past the high end Sofitel complex, where they have cabins over the lagoon, and down a pitted dirt road. The driver did not hesitate to take us, though we were the only two passengers aboard, and gave us door to door service by asking locals for directions. We later learned this is not normal and he went out of his way to help us, for which we are very grateful. At Fare Maeva's we found that one of the three bungalows had a cancelation, so the artistic and lovely Miss Maeva and her little daughter greeted us and made us feel welcome. The bungalow was a Japanese-like open design with sliding doors overlooking the tropical vegetation gardens, a very lovely breeze coming through, but a mosquito net over the bed hinted even paradise is not totally perfect. In fact, there were some mosquitoes but not so much as to make sitting outdoors too unpleasant, evenings usually accompanied by a citronella coil. Maeva was also gracious to take us into town for shopping (for a small fee) and was generally a lovely hostess, showing us how to open coconuts with a large knife, or offering us precious vanilla beans in our sugar jar. The beach was a short walk down a small lane, we could hear its waves at night, but swimming was only wading in a small coral enclosed pond, just knee deep and nearly perfect for children (with supervision for the occasional large wave), since on this north-eastern end of the island the lagoon is rather short and close to shore. This beach is also where lots of wonderful white coral can be found scattered about. After two days of just relaxing we opted to explore more of the island with "le truck".

The small town of Vaiare where is the ferry landing, has a couple of markets, one of which is substantial as a supermarket, a gas station, but not much except for some cute goats and geese which manage to sneak out of someone's yard, and a few dogs. People gather for the island bus, which actually has a schedule tied to the ferry's, but not always available. We headed out towards the southern part of the island, while the other le truck headed for the northern, and all aboard mostly native with a few tourist travelers were in high spirits. One elderly gentleman sitting next to me who looked European, with whom I spoke some French, I later learned was an American expat who had been in Tahiti for over 50 years, by the name of Homer Morgan, and now writes a column Tahiti Beach Press titled "Dinosaurs in Paradise". He never let me know he spoke English, which now I find lovely since with a twinkle in his eye he let me practice my bad French, to the amusement of other passengers, and he had the serene elegance of a gentleman who had seen much of land and sea, a native. Round about where the island hospital is it seems to rain a lot, then rounding past the southern tip of the heart shaped island, we come back into a drier area. After finding the village of Moorea, Tiki village, and the small shopping area where Ciao-Moorea shop was, run by an expat and affable Italian married to a Parisiene, we thought to relocate for the remaining three days on that side. The beaches had a much greater lagoon here, so swimming was more easily enjoyable, especially since the old Club Med had been closed for three years, though not abandoned, and their beaches were empty. So, upon our Italian friends' recommendation, we checked into the Hotel Hibiscus Moorea, which happened to be adjacent to the now shuttered Club Med. In fact, this was a low season, January being high summer south of the equator, so there were not so many people around and we got a fairly good deal on the rate. The directeur general Jean-Claude Perelli was very charming also. The typical polynesian bungalows were larger than at Maeva's but not as romantically stylish, comfortable with a verandah in front. Geckoes ran up the palm thatched roof, and the mosquitoes were something of a problem, which made us wish we had more geckoes to catch them. Otherwise, the grounds were well maintained by friendly staff, and the white beach overlooked a most beautiful vista over the blue lagoon, offering delightful sunsets from the restaurant overlooking it. That was where the wild chickens also woke us in the morning, the rooster hanging out on the verandea looking for breakfast crumbs, and one chicken nesting just under the bungalow, another parading around with her chicks. We didn't care, we loved it all. Here are some pix of the place. We'll post some of our own pix once they're ready... still on "paradise time".

There are good restaurants on Moorea, except that they tend to be pricey, as are most things in Tahiti. It costs more than Hawaii, in my opinion, and the locals are not fond of bargaining, so you pay the posted price. We ate well at the Mahogany, but our favorite place discovered too late, alas, was at Chez Capo Restaurant, going towards Nelson Camping, which was wonderful food and not too expensive. The owner is a Tahitian woman who loves to cook, her daughter manages the restaurant with a very friendly and cheerful atmosphere, and her father is a florist, so lovely flower arrangements too. We tried the goat in five spices and mahi-mahi in both coconut and vanilla sauces, and it was absolutely delicious! With taro chips, baked breadfruit, manioc, fresh island fruit, we can't wait to go back and try more. Walking back to our bungalow in the late evening we were greeted by small land crabs by the side of the road with claws raised in salute, or maybe warning, very cute. A specialty of the locale is "poisson cru au lait de coco", which is raw fish in coconut milk, and we had occasion to try it at some newfound friends' house, who happen to live directly behind Capo's, and are retired French, Georgette and Michel. We visited with them at their lagoon side modest home with their sweet dogs and near tame birds visiting, while we enjoyed Hinano bierre after having tried the poisson cru, and discovered the island from their point of view. They had been there over two years and will return to France in another year or so, after Michel's heart operation has fully healed, it was performed at a Tahiti Nui hospital, and they also graciously took us around in their three color Rasta car, Michel spent many years in Afrique. Though la voiture was 20 years old, it did the trick of taking us up to the Agricole college and high mountains. There we saw archeological sites from long ago Polynesia and found the water spring where Georgette and Michel get their drinking water, which is sweet and pure. (Local tap water is not everywhere for drinking.) From the high vantage point of Le Belvedere, at the heart of this heart shaped island, we could see high mist gather into clouds in the mountain peaks to precipitate on the other side. The distant mountain mists looked like a movie backdrop for Bali Hai. We talked late into the night, though Michel and Georgette spoke little English and Cinzia spoke little French, mine was rusty at best, but we all managed chatting like old friends. I must admit I already miss these new friends, another reason to go back.

So we daydream of our short visit to Paradise, almost not believing we were there only a short time ago. The men wore a flower in their ear if in love, or taken, as did the women, but on the other either if not taken, or so we believe. It was all beautiful, never hard angles but soft curves everywhere. I can see why expats end up in Tahiti, the way Gaugain did, it's not hard at all. We found Moorea-Tahiti a very soft place, though we had thought of going to Bora-Bora as well.... another time.

I should also mention that Cinzia absolutely loved watching fish swimming in the colorful reefs just yards off shore, some coming up to her mask to let her know she's in their turf, except for one morey eel that came swimming after her to give chase. She jumped up in the water, splashing about 30 yards from the beach with a yelp, when the morey eel decided not to bite her, much to her relief. There are no sharks in these waters, except for harmless small sand sharks, plenty of manta rays, but over all the waters are very snorkel friendly, and warm.

"Maeva" means Welcome!

Ivan & Cinzia

SAVE THE OCEAN CORAL

CO2 emissions put corals at risk, BBC News.

Without coral our ocean ecosystems are at risk. Without our oceans, oxygen production is damaged. Without oxygen.... It's not just the beauty of coral that must be saved, but our whole oceanic ecosystem.

We must save our oceans, or we're dead.

Ivan

MOOREA, TAHITI PIX, January 2005.

These pictures cannot fully capture the mood of paradise, but it will give you an idea.
It was even more beautiful. I don't think we'll ever be the same after Tahiti.

Here are some pix near the Hibiscus Resort, next door to the old Club Med:

boat over lagoon waters	Cinzia and I at lagoon
me in the water	our ami from France- Michel -almost native
Cinzia with boat	feeding our rooster at Hibiscus

The ocean lagoons were so beautiful, water warm and inviting.

MORE PIX OF MOOREA

We stayed first at Fare Maeva's, near airport, where Maeva was the owner, whose charming hospitality and lovely open air cabins was a real treat. The cat adopted us, and he loved eating fresh coconut.

approach Moorea by boat	and take 'le truck' bus
eating fresh coconuts with Maeva	Cinzia in blue waters
at our open air cabin with cat

It was very peaceful, you could hear the ocean waves over the lagoon down the lane, flowers everywhere.

FINAL PIX OF MOOREA

Maeva's little girls, perhaps a future dancer, like her mother?

	(a local postcard)

...and the cat, with my lovely Amore.



... Cook's Bay, farewell Bellevedere, until next time, a bientot.

Here is Fare Maeva's email: faremaevamoorea@mail.pf

Bon Voyage!

NOTES FROM TAHITI

As you can see from the pictures above, the place is beautiful. But it was also one of the most relaxing places I had been, languishing in blue lagoons, walking the paths, eating, sleeping, you know... So here were some of my thoughts, when I could muster enough energy to think of anything...

1. Paradise is so incredibly complex that it appears both chaotic and simple, as the living coral, or Moorea's white beach coral sands, infinite yet understandable, inviting, beautiful, clean and pure, just like the smiles on faces of the people.

2. smiles on human faces are deeper than mere intelligence, and the Tahitians smile a great deal, it is natural for them.

3. not all sensible things are smarter, nor intelligent, for some heart things are better, and we will see that only with time and distance... alas...

4. distant deep blue sapphire waves over the coral of azure blue lagoons, under a hot sun in a great cloud painted sky, just lying in the water, manta rays gliding by, time standing still... why leave?

5. every fish guards his or her territory fiercely, except in times of stress, then they share it, at least temporarily, and uneasily until danger is gone, then they claim it home again with vengence... just like humans?

6. money makes no sense in Polynesia, gift giving is better understood, and the prices of everything are out to lunch, but they take the money cheerfully, not really thinking of what it means, just money...

7. lying on the beautiful beaches of Moorea is like dreaming, where love and beauty and truth are illusions are all rolled into one, a happy whole that makes no sense, and you love it.

8. going home from paradise is difficult, but too much paradise is difficult too, for it is a place easy to fall in love with, and become really a beach bum!

9. Cinzia got chased by a morey eel and grew wiser for it, she splashed vigorously to let it know she was much afraid, and the big eel believed her, so returned into his private lair... but she loved every moment, even being scared, in those blue lagoon waters, especially when the fishes gave eye contact through the mask, of like minds touching across a great barrier of time... we know this, and they know us.