Tahiti – Magical Island of the South Seas

Tahiti

DAY 22 – We arrived at sunrise in Tahiti’s Papeete harbor on this gorgeous French Polynesian island that rose above the turquoise ocean with emerald green mountains and magnificent cascading waterfalls.

Artist Paul Gauguin was fascinated with the brilliant colors of the flowers, trees, and festive clothing of the Tahitian islanders and his paintings became famous 100 years later long after he had died.  Author Herman Melville also was in Tahiti for years and his books on South Pacific islands have added to the intrigue and fame of this island.

We arrived at Tahiti on a balmy Wednesday, January 26th, and we toured the entire circumference of this island discovering botanical wonders, waterfalls hundreds of feet tall, and we fell in love with the warm, welcoming Tahitian people.  One day in Tahiti was just not enough!

Below are a few selected photographs of our visit:

The beaches on the island of Tahiti are black sand, caused by the younger age of this island with volcanic rock forming the color of the sand.

The waterfalls roar out of the high mountains and crash down into pools in the deep jungle-like tropical forest.

There are so many flowers that it is hard to select one photo…this flowering bush was something I’d never seen before…multiply this by the hundreds of other colors and types of flowering plants that are all over Tahiti and let your imagination go crazy!