Our
last stop in the Tuamotu, Ahe was one of the first places the famous
Tahitian black pearl was farmed. Though once again we were the only
cruising boat in the atoll, the place felt busy: most motu are
inhabited by pearl farmers, and there is quite a bit of small boat
traffic going out to fish and check oyster nets.
The
process: after seeding each oyster by hand,
they are strung on a line
through holes drilled in their shells
 |
| That line is wrapped around a cord, |
 |
| which is placed in a protective plastic netting. |
Those
strands hang from nets suspended by floats (keel boats, beware!)
We
could only buy 2 pearls, but the family went out to their “fish
park” (weir),
and
brought back a fish for us as part of the bargain
In
addition to our repertoire of American folk songs and dances,
we
learned the popular Polynesian song “Bora Bora”--
and
those kids sang their hearts out with us!
No
scooters, few bikes, and only one car in Ahe’s village;
transportation
of choice is the 3-wheeler
(note
the solar panels, which power everything here)
Albert,
the lone resident of Motu Kamoka, brought us freshly husked coconuts
not long after our anchor was set.
We had had him over for coffee and
freshly baked English muffins the next morning— and he came with
even more coconuts!
We
had our first meal off the boat in over a month at Chez Raita, a
small lodging on the more remote NE part of the atoll. Who knew that
in an isolated location on a speck in the Pacific ocean was a woman
with the voice of an angel?
After
dinner we got to watch their resident manta ray—named Samanta—feed
at the end of their little pier. (not a great photo because Samanta
was constantly moving, but we couldn’t resist including this)
Farewell
to the Tuamotu
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