FP Postcards: RAIATEA

If Tahaa's adventures were primarily in the water, Raiatea's were primarily on land.

I said I'd limit explanatory text, but this magnificent historical area merits some detail. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Taputapuatea is the most significant religious site in all Polynesia. Every sacred temple had to incorporate a stone from this exact place in order to be legitimate--even as far away as New Zealand and Hawai'i. There are three enormous marae (open air temples) and multiple other stone platforms, all carefully maintained and still used for ceremonies. It was, in the best sense of the word, awesome.

On a dinghy river excursion we met James,
who enjoys telling people about local flora and fauna;

and Andres,
who sells produce directly from his
small riverfront farm
(here he is using a tool he devised
to snap limes off of high branches)

Andres cut a stalk of bananas for us,

and gave us "Polynesian tattoos"
by slapping the spore side of ferns on our arms

(Andres and Art, not Art and Nancie)

Oh goody!
When we don't get to shore, we get to have adventures on the boat!