Not just one, but many dreams of mine came true during the two weeks that we explored French Polynesia. Like my dream to see a black sand beach, to swim with sharks or to hike in the jungle (that one I imagined without me turning around in tears because of the countless spiders along the trail). I got over the little bugs getting into my nostrils the entire time and the eels splashing the water under your feet every time we had to cross the river, but the spiders climbing spider webs right in front of my face I couldn’t get over. But when I remember these slightly negative parts of the hike, I also remember the positive ones. Like the blue pool in the middle of the river where we swam, the enormous amount of fruit trees we saw on the way, including seeing my first Jackfruit tree (some of its fruits were almost as big as I am) and all tropical flowers hanging along the river. All of these things and the fact that we were the only ones on the trail made it another unforgettable experience.
French Polynesia provides the ultimate paradise vacation with its deep green rainforests, diverse sandy and rocky beaches, as well as turquoise blue lagoons. One of the days we were given the unbelievable opportunity to go paddle boarding above the crystal clear water while not too far away behind the reef, surfers were catching some of the most powerful and deadly waves in the world!
We did not sleep in a 5-star resort over-water bungalow, but we had a private charming one in the sweetest people’s property.
We did not spend most of our vacation on Moorea (the heart of French Polynesia) like most people do, but we had the most unique experiences driving around the island of Tahiti for 8 days, staying in places with view’s that would take your breath every morning, every sunset or any other time of the day!
We did not spend more than a day on Tamae Beach (most popular beach with its sugar white sand, blue water and view of the Sofitel Resort bungalows) but we got to have beautiful beaches, waterfalls and hiking trails to ourselves.
We started by renting a car at the local rental place, EcoCar, then headed from the airport down the west coast of Tahiti to our first Airbnb which was located on the hillside overlooking the ocean.
We split our trip up by renting a total of 4 places, making a loop around the island of Tahiti and then taking the ferry to Moorea where we were able to swim with sharks and feed stingrays by hand.
- Teahupo'o (Village on the south-west coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, southern Pacific Ocean. It is known for the surf break and heavy, glassy waves offshore, often reaching 2 to 3 m, and sometimes up to 7 meters.)
- Water Gardens Vaipahi
- Plage de Taharuu
- Pineapple fields of Mo'orea
- And along the way we ate some GOOD food (lots of raw fish tuna tar-tar)..
Highlights of the trip:
The kindness of the people
At the fruit stand, on the street, in the grocery store, in the restaurant, at the bakery or the places we stayed at, everyone was extremely happy to communicate with us and help us with whatever they can. We learned that apparently the locals haven’t really had the chance to interact with tourists visiting the island due to the expensive flights and the fact that most everyone who chooses Tahiti as their vacation spot, stays within their resort grounds. That changed recently when a few new airlines launched flight paths to Tahiti and even backpackers started to visit the island.We still wonder if our Airbnb hosts thought we were on a honeymoon since they would always greet us with flower necklaces, welcome drinks, bring us fresh fruit every morning or decorate our whole bungalow with flowers. Or maybe that was just normal hospitable and friendly behavior of the local Tahitians!
Black sand beaches
Tahiti’s east coast is famous with its black beaches and beginner’s surf spots. So something for each of us. While I was collecting some Tahitian sun Garrett got to shred some waves (kind of.. :D).
Snorkeling is so good that you won’t need to go scuba diving to see Nemo.
Looking for good snorkeling spots we realized that literally every lagoon is a good snorkeling spot. We were fortunate enough to have kayaks in two of our Airbnbs and had access to the water right outside of our bungalows. In Tahiti, we kayaked to a beautiful sand bar a couple miles from the beach and snorkeled around it in the coral reef. In Moorea, we kayaked to a shallow spot near our bungalow, jumped from the kayaks and dived into the colorful underwater world.
Swimming with sharks and stingrays
There is this famous spot in Moorea where sharks and stingrays like to hangout because they have constantly been fed there over the years by sailors. To get there and also explore the nearby small islands and snorkeling spots we rented a boat. No words can explain the experience and feelings we had.
There are two things I didn’t know and think you should before you go there:
Bring a generous amount of raw fish because stingrays won’t bother coming to you if you don’t have anything to give them. We had some tuna tar-tar leftover from dinner the night before so I got to pet a few stingrays. However, if you want them to come closer and rub into you, you should have some fresh catch cut into pieces too.
Make sure you go when the ocean is at low tide. That way the water will be up to your waist and you will be able to be closer to the sharks and stingrays since they mostly stay down near the sand.
The incredible beauty of these islands takes your breath away and makes you forget all your worries. In my case, thankfully it made me forget my worries and that I'm waiting for my passport to arrive in time before we have to leave or I will get deported.
Long story short, this is why you should never lie.
When I learned that I would need a new passport in order to get the student visa for the US, I felt like by giving back my passport I am going to be giving away part of the memories I have collected in the past 5 years. So in order to keep it, I decided to say that I lost it. I was happy I found a way to keep my passport in exchange of a fee of 30 leva and a little lie.
I was happy to have my old visas which reminded me where my life made a turn and I started heading an opposite direction of what I used to know. I was happy to have it until the moment I picked it up from my bag at the Denver Airport to check in for my flight to Tahiti. Then I hated it. I thought I ruined our vacation and by trying to keep my old memories I prevented us from creating new ones.
A minute later though, I was checked-in for my flight to LA and headed to our gate. (For some reason the self check-in did not recognize that this passport was not the one which I used to buy my ticket.)
Two flights later I ended up in the immigration room in Tahiti with stress level 100 and thinking about the beautiful beaches and how heartbreaking it would be if I got that far but never saw them. It was even worse that I used to speak French and was getting half of what the immigration officers were saying to each other..
I was there pretending I did not know that this was the wrong passport until the girl at customs asked me if I had lost my passport before. After two hours of checking if my name is in Interpol and any other database the lady said to me: "We are sending your old passport to Bulgaria and please let us know when you receive your new one. You are lucky to be European otherwise we were going to send you back! Enjoy your time in Tahiti!"
So three hours after we landed in Tahiti we were finally ready to rent a car and begin our adventure. My old passport was on it's way back to Bulgaria, where it actually belonged and my new one was on it's way from the US to French Polynesia. Thanks to the beauty of these islands I pretty much forgot about the passport I desperately needed to arrive on-time and I was able to completely enjoy my time in Tahiti. Luckily the passport arrived a day before we were taking off back to LA.
Well I'm sure you got my point why lying is never a good thing. I believe in karma and that whatever you do, good or bad, it comes back to you!
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