Taha'a ~ Where are the Jays

Taha'a is a small agricultural island and is known as the vanilla island since most of French Polynesia's vanilla is grown here. The ship was moored in such a way that we were also close to Motu Mahaea a VERY small island that Windstar owns so we could also experience a private beach and a barbecue.

Since it is the vanilla island, one of our excursions included a tour of a vanilla plantation. I knew vanilla had beans, but I have to confess they looked completely different than I expected. I thought something like a lima bean when in fact they look more like big green beans! Vanilla is a very hands on plant to grow. It has to be protected and it has to be manually pollinated. Uh yeah you read that correctly each flower has to be pollinated by a human being. The French spread vanilla around the world as they explored. They planted the usual variety in Tahiti, but the climate was not quite right so the plant adapted to the local climate and thus the variety in Tahiti is only found in Tahiti. It is different from the vanilla you get in the Caribbean or elsewhere.

The first week we did an excursion that combined a tour of the vanilla plantation with some snorkeling. While the vanilla plantation seemed small to me, it was actually a pretty good sized one because they had racks where they dried the beans for other growers too. We had a presentation under a tent and then we walked around some and just like Disneyland ended up in a little shop. I bought some dried vanilla and a small packet of beans.

Carol and Kathy checking out the drying vanilla beans

Then it was time to snorkel. Since I had not snorkeled in a few years, I had practiced at the pool before we left so I felt confident I knew what I was doing - um no. I put my equipment on and got in the water and was having some problems so took a life vest to hold on to as I tried to swim around. With my blessings, Jeff had already gotten in the water. We passed a few times, but it was not till our guide decided he was going to get me out to some coral did anyone realize I had the snorkel on wrong which was a big part of my struggles. Let's just say it is not easy to try and change the side of your head the snorkel is on while wearing it. I saw the coral and pretty much said I had enough and went back to the boat. Shortly thereafter it started to rain - not a drizzle. Guide struggled to get everyone back on the boat so he could take us back to the ship. Guess who was the last one to get back aboard - Jeff of course. The rain lasted long enough that there was no lunch on the island, but it did clear up enough in the afternoon to go to the motu so Jeff and I did and hung out for awhile.

The second week it rained hard in the morning and again lunch was on the ship. This time it cleared up early enough in the day that the Motu was the place to go - hey we had all been cooped up all morning! We actually had to take numbers to get on the tenders to go to the island there were so many of us wanting to go. The afternoon was great. I practiced snorkeling and got to see some fish. I also successfully paddle boarded. I had tried a couple of years ago in Panama but had never got past my knees. This time I stood up - full disclosure a crew member held the board steady while I stood up and then off I went. It was a good afternoon. Back to the ship so we could head off to Bora Bora for a 2 day stay!