As the sun timidly rose behind clouds, National Geographic Orion arrived at one of the best kept secret of French Polynesia, the enchanted Huahine Islands. With so much publicity about the likes of Bora Bora and Moorea, Huahine is not as visited, but it will cast a spell over you from the moment you arrive. Lush forests, untamed landscape, picturesque villages, tropical beaches and colorful reefs are all part of the scenery. Relatively untouched by the modern world, the island offers the unhurried and more serene pace of old Polynesia. Huahine was one of the first islands to be colonized by the ancient Polynesians, with records dating back to the 9th century AD. There seemed to be something special about this place to the ancient Polynesians, as Huahine has the largest concentration of ancient temples, marae, in all of French Polynesia. While Raiatea is home to the most important marae, the ones in Huahine are a lot more diverse. Once the home of Tahitian royalty, Huahine is considered the cradle of Polynesian culture. This is not surprising, as Huahine is gifted with a rich and fertile soil providing bountiful harvests and is surrounded by plentiful and generous seas. Huahine’s secluded nature and natural beauty enchanted and charmed us all.
9/20/2022
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Tahanea Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia
Entering the pass of an atoll in French Polynesia is always a beautiful way to start the day. This morning we arrived at Tahanea, a small island with no permanent population. The water here is some of the clearest our staff have ever seen in this region. With winds and currents to contend with, our divers found a beautiful site to spend some time underwater. They enjoyed a healthy coral reef, some sharks, and large fish. On their way back to the ship they even found some manta rays and jumped in the water to snorkel with them. The rest of us split into two groups: the hikers and the swimmers. The hike ashore was full of birds and plants to observe and photograph. The swimmers launched from the snorkel platform into crystal water where they poked around the coral heads and grew even more comfortable swimming with reef sharks. We had an afternoon aboard. We began with a presentation by our guest speaker Tom Ritchie about the most useful plants in Polynesia. At tea time, the hotel team put out 13 different sweet treats, not to mention the sandwiches and fruit. Before recap, undersea specialist James Hyde gave us a condensed history of the natural world—starting with the big bang! Tomorrow will be a busy day for us as we transit to some islands we have never visited before. So it’s quiet on board this evening as we all head to bed to rest up for whatever tomorrow has in store.
