Tahiti was a disappointment. We docked at Papeete, the main town on the island. Our impression: dirty, overdeveloped, heavy traffic, ugly concrete buildings, litter, lots of graffiti, stray dogs – not at all the postcard paradise we had imagined. I’m sure the fancy resorts are little oases (if you can afford them) but the rest of the island is less than inspiring. Still, we disembarked in the morning and found a bus tour that circled the island (for half the price of the shore excursions offered through the cruise line). The tour guide was an American, originally from Hawaii, and he was quite good and informative. The sites included a couple of nice viewpoints, a seaside blow hole which was less than impressive with the current water conditions, a waterfall, a cave, and a crappy museum. The latter was the Paul Gauguin museum, devoted to the famous French painter who spent many years in the islands. The museum had no originals, only faded reproductions arranged haphazardly in open air displays. This was not the Louvre. Our hope is that the remaining islands will be more like Rarotonga and less like Tahiti.
Here are a few photos which I’m sure will put a more positive spin on the place because I tend not to photograph the ugly bits.
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Papeete - it looks better from the waterfront.
While docked, our cruise ship was the highest “building” on the island. There is a local law forbidding the construction of anything taller than a coconut tree (about 5 storeys).
A grotto or cave.
