Huahine, French Polynesia

The second island we visited was Huahine the "Wild Island".  Huahine lies 100 miles from Tahiti. These first three pictures were taken from the Belvedere de MAROE.

Huahine consists of two islands that are connected by this bridge.  There are four villages on each island. 

The MAROE lookout provided some awesome views of the lagoon. 

The Ocean Princess anchored in the lagoon.  

Huahine has only one waterfall and we got to see it. I love waterfalls!

400 year old stone fish traps still in use today.  

 The rainy season runs from November to April. A lot of rain fell while we were there, but sometimes it felt really good in the 90 degree heat with 85% humidity.

  

We visited a vanilla plantation.  The coconut shells visible at the bottom of the first picture keep the sun from drying out the roots.

This is a good picture of the vanilla bean while it is still on the vine. The vines grow on an orchard, the flower of which has no color or perfume.  The flower is pollinated by hand to produce the bean.  I brought home some vanilla beans, extract and vanilla coffee from the plantation.

Many years ago, a lady who lived on Huahine loved the fresh water blue-eyed eels.  She fed them and took care on them while the rest of the people didn't care about the eels.  When she passed away the village decided to continue caring for the eels and now they are a major tourist attraction.

 There were many eels swarming around to get some of the mackerel that they were being fed.  I took many photos trying to get a good picture of their blue eyes and just could not catch one in the right position.  I purchased this photo on the ship.

At the end of the day, some of the local dancers and musicians came onboard the ship to entertain us.  

Next up is Rangiroa.