Huahine – February 10, 2013

We anchored in a lovely lagoon at about 8am.  Huahine is actually composed of two islands connected by a short bridge.   It is very mountainous, lush, green, and sparsely inhabited.  We had signed up for a tour that focusedon the anthropological and archeological history of these islands.  Huahine, it seems, was the home to many of the royal families in this area of French Polynesia and therefore has the ruins of many temples and buildings, some of which have been carefully restored. 

Our tour guide, Paul, greeted us at the pier and led us to a very unusual vehicle.  It has a truck cab which is attached to a bus-like trailer with backless padded benches running along the sides. We and our fellow passengers climbed aboard and Paul began to tell us about himself and his qualifications, which include advanced degrees in Polynesian history and anthropology.  He has worked with some of the better known experts in his field, and by living here is fulfilling his boyhood dream.  Paul is American by birth and also a citizen of both the US and France. 

As our bus took us around the island, we learned about the government and economy of this island today before we reached the ancient ruins.  Huahine has 7000 residents, it is a French protectorate and as such receives financial support from France which allows for a high standard of living.  Prices, however can be high for certain things-for example, a nice size watermelon costs $20!  People can and do raise their own food.  Medical care and education are also subsidized by France, so they are excellent.  Tourism is another important source of income, but recently has declined.  The land is family owned, so no one is truly poor.

After about a half hour, we arrived at the site of an ancient temple that has been restored.  We learned about the gods the people worshipped, the offerings they made to these gods, including human sacrifice, and how the first Europeans were thought to be gods when they arrived because they brought things with them that were unimaginable to the natives.  Metals were a huge surprise, because they did not exist here.  People used coral, shells and stones for tools, but no metal.  As Paul put it, when the people were invited onto Captain James Cook’s ship, and into his quarters, what they saw there must have seemed like a hallucination.

We spent quite some time in this area, learning more about the plants, animals and people, and especially about how the first contact with Europeans altered both cultures forever.  Paul also drew a map in the sand to show how the first humans settled in the Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian islands and discussed the origins of the different peoples who populate this very large but scattered part of the world.  He repeatedly emphasized that, since the time of Captain Cook and the extreme culture shock of first contact, we are more connected and interdependent than ever as we move into this era of globalization.

We got back on our bus, and went to visit a vanilla plantation,  where we saw the plants growing and learned how the beans are picked, dried and packaged.  After that, we stopped at a riverbank to see the blue eyed eels that live in the river. They are long  and graceful, and are almost like pets to the inhabitants who feed them but don’t eat them!  After that we drove back to the dock, and returned on the tender to the ship. Despite the heat and humidity, it was one of the most unusual and best tours we’ve ever experienced.