It was 2010, just a year after selling our business, and our boys were 16 and 17 years old at the time. On our way to Bora Bora, we spent a few days in Tahiti. Tahiti is in French Polynesia, halfway between the USA and Australia.
If you zoom in, you can see that Tahiti looks like an infinity symbol. The left part of the infinity symbol is Tahiti Nui and the right part is Tahiti Iti.
Tahiti was settled in about 1,300 BC by Southeast Asians wanting to expand east. It is part of the “Polynesian Triangle” which includes Hawaii to the north, Easter Island to the southeast, and New Zealand to the southwest. Tahiti has lush rain forests, waterfalls, lagoons, and black-sand beaches.
This was the view from our hotel room, the island you see in the distance is Moorea.
During our stay, we took a bumpy ride deep into the rain forests in a 4-wheel drive.
Along the way, we stopped at massive waterfalls, water vapors filled the air as we got closer.
We visited several swimming holes where the boys and I practiced doing cannon balls after hurling ourselves off the rocks.
As we ventured deeper into the jungle, we arrived at a mountain home owned by a friend of our guide. We took that opportunity to learn more about their culture and to take in the views.
Our guide was Polynesian. He sported many tattoos, each thoughtfully inked based on family stories. He told us that he continues to expand his tattoos as he ages and accumulates more life experiences.
The word tattoo originated in French Polynesia. The legend of Tohu, the god of tattoo, describes painting all the oceans’ fish in beautiful colors and patterns. In Polynesian culture, tattoos have long been considered signs of beauty, and in earlier times were ceremoniously applied when reaching adolescence.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this little blast-from-the-past of our trip to Tahiti. If you are not subscribed to our blog and would like to subscribe so that new posts come directly to your email, scroll up to the right top section of this page and type in your email address.
I’ll leave you with a final picture taken on the flight from Tahiti to Bora Bora. If you would like to see more pictures from our Bora Bora trip, click here.
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