#tuamoto

[pazifik-querung]

Die Südsee mit ihren vielen Inselgruppen, Atollen und Vulkanen ist auf dieser 52-Tage dauernden Kreuzfahrt unser nächstes Ziel.

Unterwegs in der Weite des Pazifischen Ozeans - Neu Kaledonien (Nouméa, Easo), auf den Fidschiinseln (Lautoka, Dravuni, Savusavu, Vanua Levi), Samoa (Apia, Upolo, Pago Pago), den Gesellschaftsinseln (Raiatea), Französisch-Polynesien (Moorea, Huahine Iti, Papeete, Bora Bora, Fakarava, Tuamoto, Avatoru, Rangiroa, Atuona, Hiva Oa, Taioha’e, Nuka Hiva) und den Hawaiiinseln (Lahaina, Kona, Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului, Maui; Nawiliwili, Kauai). Der letzte Abschnitt (6 Seetage im Nordpazifik) endet in Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C, Canada bzw. in Vancouver.

The Seabourn experience is unlike any other form of travel. It is luxurious, yet relaxed … elegant, yet casual.

Congratulations on Sailing 100 Days on board Seabourn!

[aquariuminfobureau]

The saddled sharpnosed puffer

C. valentini, the saddled or black-saddled, banded, striped, or Valentini's pufferfish, is the most often traded member of a genus known as the sharpnose pufferfishes or tobies. Sharpnose puffers are named so, because their snouts are pointed for selective feeding, and the gut contents of Canthigaster include varied small items of snipped off animal and plant material. This petite species grows only to 11 centimeters at the longest. or about 4 inches, and the species is most typically closer to 8 centimeters or 3 inches long.

C. valentini inhabits reef and lagoon habitats, as far west as the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, to as far east as the Tuamotos archipelago. This species is also recorded in mangrove environments, where it is associated with Rhizophora mangle, and may in fact be common in such habitat. Juvenile C. valentini are found only in particularly shallow and sheltered envirinments, whereas the older fish of the same species, have much broader preferences of habitat.

With their unusual looks and peculiar swimming mode, and their great personalities, the pufferfishes have found their way into the hearts of numerous aquarists. Other than the basal diodontids, or porcupine fishes, all pufferfishes belong to a subclade called Tetraodontidae. Tetraodontid puffers tend to have only a few external characters usetul to taxonomists, and a number of puffer genera in common use today, were formerly lumped into Tetraodon itself.

Puffers are closely related to the pelagic ocean sunfishes, or molids, the balistoids or triggerfishes, and the boxfishes or ostracoids. These fishes together comprise the tetraodontiform clade, which is marked by tendencies of morphological reduction, simplification, and loss of osteological elements. Puffers and molids share faces that are unusually modified to form a beak-like structure, whereas balistoids and boxfishes possess individual teeth protruding from sockets in their jaws. Pufferfishes also possess dermal spines, the distribution of which on the body, varies between the pufferfish species, and they are most developed in the diodontid puffer clade.

Puffers alone are able to inflate their bodies by a rapid intake of seawater, making themselves too large and difficultly shaped for predators to handle. Although only pufferfishes can inflate in this way, their ability to do so is because their ancestors had already lost their pelvis and pleural ribs. Some other tetraodontiforms can alter the external shape of their bodies, by moving their pelvis, although they do not inflate like the members of the diodontid and tetraodontid clade.

Most species of pufferfish are found in marine environments, but many species are present in estuaries and freshwaters. Marine pufferfishes are present at depths beyond 350 meters deep, and a few species of pufferfish are pelagic. But most marine pufferfish inhabit shallow, tropical seas, and these are the species exported for saltwater aquarium retail The appealing C. valentini is perhaps the most commonly traded of these pufferfishes today.

Unlike typical pufferfishes, Canthigaster have unusually narrow bodies, and fish of this genus are not as well able to self-inflate, as are more typical pufferfish species. Instead their defence relies on potent toxins that are present within their tissues. People have actually died after attempting to eat pufferfish, a phenomenon that is known medically as tetrodotoxin poisoning. In addition to the notorious tetrodotoxin, C. valentini possesses saxitoxins, and both are concentrated primarily in their skins and ovaries, but also in other tissues.

Canthigaster puffers have toxic eggs and larvae, and they remain poisonous to eat when they become adults. Their bright coloration in fact advertises their toxicity, informing predators that the puffer is dangerous to consume. Both juvenile and adult confidently swim over open sand, out in the open, being quite immune to predation. High toxicity arguably affords C. valentini its bold and inquisitive nature, which is beloved to so many aquarists. These diurnal fish practice courtship and spawning throughout the day, and there is no postpartum care of their eggs by either parent fish.

C. valentini have social and mating systems, in which both the female fish guard territories, and the males have harems of females. Female C. valentini chase away other females, whilst the territories of the mature males monopolise their visiting access to a few females. Because C. valentini is so dangeously toxic when eaten, another tetraodontiform species, the boxfish Paraluteres prionurus, has evolved to mimic C. valentini, in order to convince potential predators not to attack. Aquarists, too, might easily confuse these two species, which are so similar that the boxfish is sometimes mislabelled as the puffer. Some juvenile groupers also imitate the toxic C. valentini, and other members of its genus.

Because of its small size, some aquarists have attempted to maintain C. valentini in aquariums with live corals, and other sessile and motile benthic animals. This cannot be encouraged for the simple reason that wild C. valentini and its relatives, consume stony coral polyps as a part of their wide, natural diet. Although at least some of the tissues might be ingested incidentally, when nipping at organisms on living corals, there is no reason C. valentini should not be expected to purposefully bite corals themselves, and this is reported to occur in aquariums.

The gut contents of wild C. valentini demonstrate that its dietary spectrum is broad, including both plants and animals, and different Canthigaster species tend to consume the same categories of food, though they do so in differing proportions, so that the diet of one Canthigaster species bears relevance to that of another, without it matching. When it is compared to some other Cantnigaster puffers, C. valentini shows a particular preference towards nipping fleshy red macroalgae and tunicates, at least in Micronesia where members of the sharpnosed pufferfish guild show niche partitioning.

The organisms nipped by Canthigaster often have chemical defences of their own, which explains why these pufferfish merely nip a little off a growing animal or plant, and then moves along insteat of consuming them in bulk. Such feeding behavior in grazing and browsing animals, helps them by preventing poisoning by any one food source in great ammounts, wether the animals in question are sharpnosed pufferfish, or big, herbivorous land mammals such as elephants.

Members of the Canthigaster genus are known to nip at algae, big foraminifera, and sessile fauna, but also to consume motile benthic animals, such as gastropods, arthropods, and even echinoderms. Contrary to some claims, wild gut contents indicate the sharpnose puffers do not attack other fish in order to devour their scales or fins, a feeding behaviour reported in certain other tetraodontids. C. valentini are often housed with other fish species without incidents, it is true their territorial nature can cause some C. valentini be a little nippy to other species.

The breadth of their diet makes Canthigaster puffers easy to feed in the home aquarium. Foods of both animal and vegetable origin must be given to these fishes, and their diet ought to be varied for the sake of their health. C. valentini are territorial, with their territories centered upon a crevice in a hard substrate, and as might be expected, this species can be pugnacious to their own and other Canthigaster species. Maintaining this species in groups is definitely not recommended.

C. valentini are a small pufferfish suited to a 30 gallon aquarium, making then easier to accommodate than larger puffer species, which might be purchased young by the unsuspecting aquarist, then subsequently outgrow their tanks. But a lot of information about this species with other tankmates is contradictory, which is partly because of personality and habit variation between the individuals, and because their territoriality increases with age, and it is females that are most guarded, at least towards their own or similar species.

[1weltreisender]

Tahiti im Überblick: Fast Facts - ein Steckbrief

Inhalt:Die fünf Archipele Die Gesellschaftsinseln – das Herz Französisch-Polynesiens Die Tuamoto-Inseln – das Wunderland für Taucher Marquesas-Inseln – Action pur Austral-Inseln – abseits der Pfade Die Gambier-Inseln – das traditionelle Polynesien Aktivitäten wie Tauchen, Segeln, Golf Tauchen Segeln Golf Surfing Wandern Unterkünfte Hotels und Resorts Kleine Hotels und Pensionen In tahitianischen Gästehäusern die Südsee-Kultur hautnah erleben Events Anreise Verstärkte Reinigungs- und Desinfektionsmaßnahmen Filtern der Kabinenluft: Auch interessant Französisch-Polynesien liegt etwa 17.000 Kilometer von Europa entfernt im Herzen der Südsee und besteht aus insgesamt 118 Inseln und Atollen. Diese erstrecken sich über ein Meeresgebiet von vier Millionen Quadratkilometern, was ungefähr der Fläche Westeuropas entspricht. Die Fläche aller Inseln und Atolle zusammengefügt wäre nicht viel größer als Mallorca. Die 118 Inseln verteilen sich auf fünf unterschiedliche Archipele: Gesellschaftsinseln, Tuamotu-Archipel, Marquesas-Inseln, Austral-Inseln, Gambier-Inseln. Die nördlichsten Inseln liegen auf etwa 5° südlicher Breite, die südlichsten auf etwa 23° südlicher Breite. Von diesem zu Frankreich gehörenden Überseeterritorium kennt man oft nur die legendären Inseln Tahiti (Archipel der Gesellschaftsinseln, Inseln über dem Wind) und Bora Bora (Inseln unter dem Wind). Doch jeder Archipel besitzt einen ganz eigenen Charakter bezüglich Geographischer Lage, Klima, Geologie, Wirtschaft und Kultur. Die Einwohner von Tahiti und ihren Inseln (245.405) bestehen zu 83 Prozent aus Polynesiern, zu 12 Prozent aus Europäern (meistens Franzosen) und zu fünf Prozent aus Chinesen, die gegen Endes des 19. Jahrhundert einwanderten. 75 Prozent der Bevölkerung wohnt auf den Inseln Tahiti und Moorea. In der Haupstadt Papeete und dessen Einzugsbereich leben allein 127.600 Einwohner. Französisch und Tahitianisch sind die beiden offiziellen Sprachen in Französisch Polynesien. In Gegenden, die von Touristen besucht werden, wird häufig Englisch gesprochen.

Die fünf Archipele

Die Gesellschaftsinseln – das Herz Französisch-Polynesiens Von der Hauptinsel des Landes, Tahiti, über ihre charmante Schwesterinsel Moorea bis hin zum paradiesischen Bora Bora – die Gesellschaftsinseln versprechen nicht nur Idylle und Romantik pur, sondern bieten auch abwechslungsreiche Über- und Unterwasseraktivitäten. In den Städten der Gesellschaftsinseln können Besucher über belebte Märkte schlendern, die tahtitianische Kultur und traditionelle Feste hautnah erfahren sowie in hervorragenden Restaurants köstlich dinieren. Im Inneren der Inseln können Abenteurer durch die nahezu unberührte Flora und Fauna wandern, die Natur mit dem Fahrrad erkunden oder auf dem Rücken eines Pferdes genießen. Abends dürfen sich Besucher dann bei einem traumhaften Sonnenuntergang zurücklehnen und bei tahitianischem Tanz in den Hotels entspannen. Auf den Gesellschaftsinseln kommt jeder Geschmack auf seine Kosten – ein wahres Allrounder-Archipel. Zur Inselfamilie gehören neben Tahiti, Moorea und Bora Bora auch noch die Inseln Tetiaroa, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a, Tupai und Maupiti.

Foto: tim-mckenna.com Die Gesellschaftsinseln bestehen aus insgesamt 13 gebirgigen Vulkaninseln - den windzugewandten östlichen und den windabgewandten westlichen Inseln - die im Schutz vorgelagerter Korallenriffe liegen. Tahiti ist die größte und bedeutendste aller polynesischen Inseln mit ihrer Hauptstadt Papeete, die zugleich Verwaltungssitz ist. Tahiti besteht aus zwei mächtigen Vulkanmassiven: das große, über 2000 m hohe, in Wolken gehüllte Gebirgsmassiv des Orohena im Zentrum von Tahiti Nui, und das kleinere mit dem 1300 m hohen Mairenui in der Mitte von Tahiti Iti. Die beiden durch die Landenge von Taravao verbundenen Halbinseln erinnern an einen smaragdgrünen Kometen im türkisfarbenen Hof ihrer schmalen Lagune. Finde Dein Hotel in Tahiti* Zum Archipel der Gesellschaftsinseln gehören außerdem das nur 17 km von Tahiti durch einen tiefen Meeresarm getrennte Moorea mit seinen hoch aufragenden Vulkangipfeln, die sich im ruhigen Wasser der Lagune widerspiegeln, sowie Huahine, eine zauberhafte, wilde, 175 Kilometer nordwestlich von Tahiti gelegene Insel, geheimnisvoll mit ihren noch sehr lebendigen Traditionen. Das in einer gemeinsamen Lagune liegende Inselpaar Raiatea und Taha'a, heilige Inseln mit fruchtbaren Tälern und einem herrlichen Wassersportgebiet. Die berühmte Insel Bora Bora, die sich über die fischreichen, unwirklich schönen Gewässer erhebt mit ihren kleinen Inseln und den von weißem Sand und Korallenbänken gesäumten Kokospalmenhainen. Und schließlich die ursprüngliche Insel Maupiti im Herzen ihrer jadefarbenen Lagune. Die Tuamoto-Inseln – das Wunderland für Taucher Die Tuamoto-Inseln bestehen aus 76 Atollen, verteilt über 1.497 Kilometer. Hier bedecken Kokospalmen die kleinen Inseln des Korallenriffs inmitten der kristallklaren Südsee. Die Lagunen und die Unterwasserwelt der Tuamotu-Inseln sind unübertroffen. Hier können Besucher Wale, Mantarochen, Delfine und Haie beobachten oder an sagenhaften Sandstränden spazieren gehen. Zwischen Rangiroa, Fakarava und Manihi bietet sich ein unverfälschter Blick in die Meereswelt. Der Tuamotu-Archipel ist das größte der polynesischen Archipele. Es liegt nordöstlich von Tahiti und erstreckt sich über ein Meeresgebiet von mehr als 20.000 Quadratkilometern. Zu den wichtigsten Atollen - das sind ringförmige Korallenriffe mit einer zentralen Lagune - zählen Rangiroa, Manihi, Tikehau und Fakarava. Der Archipel ist bekannt für seine phantastischen Tauchgründe und die Zucht der schwarzen Tahiti-Perle. Eine eigene Welt zwischen Himmel und Ozean bilden die Tuamotu-Inseln, eine Gruppe niedriger, durch einen Korallengürtel in ihrer Lagune eingeschlossener Inseln oder Atolle. Blau, weiß, grün sind die beherrschenden Farben des Archipels, schlichte, wie zwischen Himmel und Wellen schwebende Korallenringe.

Wer solche Aussichten zu Weihnachten bevorzugt, kann nach Bora Bora fahren. Foto: St. Regis Bora Bora Kommt man näher, verwandelt sich die feenhafte Erscheinung in eine Explosion von Farben: die Lagune in mannigfaltigen Türkis-Schattierungen, die unter der schillernden Oberfläche des klaren, jadefarbenen Wassers liegenden Korallenteppiche in Lila und Malve, die gelben, roten, orangefarbenen, schwarzen und rosaroten Tupfer der Unterwassergärten und die silbernen Pfeile vorbeiflitzender Fische. Regen ist selten. Ein idealer Lebensraum für die Perlmuttmuschel, in der die Schwarze Tahiti-Perle wächst. Rangiroa, Tikehau, Manihi und Fakarava sind die am meisten besuchten Inseln. Marquesas-Inseln – Action pur Die Inselgruppe der Marquesas-Inseln besteht aus zwölf Inseln, von denen allerdings nur sechs besiedelt sind. Hier können sich Besucher vor actiongeladenen Erlebnissen kaum retten. Dazu trägt entscheidend bei: Die Natur auf den Marquesas-Inseln ist einzigartig. Umrahmt von steilen Klippen, schwarzen Sandstränden und umwerfenden Buchten befindet sich ein Regenwald, in der Abenteuerer nicht nur Relikte aus der Vergangenheit entdecken können, sondern auch Wildpferde, Ziegen und Loris in freier Wildbahn begegnen können. Entlang der endlosen Wanderpfade und Reitwege, die sich über die gesamten Inseln erstrecken, finden Entdecker Spuren traditioneller polynesischer Schnitz- und Handwerkskunst. Falls zwischendurch für eine kurze Abkühlung gesorgt werden soll: durch die geografische Isolation, insbesondere der Insel Nuku Hiva, treffen Taucher auf eine phänomenale Artenvielfalt. Der Archipel der Marquesas-Inseln liegt in Äquatornähe. Die Natur der Marquesas-Inseln ist geprägt von steil aufragenden Vulkanbergen, tiefen Schluchten und von schroffen Felswänden. Die wilde Landschaft dieser Inseln, auf denen Pferde und Ziegen frei leben, gehört zu den unvergleichlichen Schätzen Polynesiens. Auch der Maler Paul Gauguin und der Chansonier Jacques Brel haben sich in die Inseln verliebt. Zu den wichtigsten Inseln zählen Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, Ua Huka und Hiva Oa. Der Archipel der Marquesas oder auch "Land der Männer" (auf polynesisch "Enua Enata"), ist eine Gruppe von Gebirgsinseln, die wie dunkelgrüne Trutzburgen aus dem großen indigoblauen Ozean aufragen. In unmittelbarer Nähe des Äquators und 1500 km von Tahiti enfernt sind von den zwölf der Marquesas-Inseln nur sechs bewohnt. Das Haupttransportmittel ist das Schiff. Da die Marquesas nicht von Lagunen umgeben sind, verfügen sie nur über wenige aber umso kostbarere Sandstrände. Ziegen, Schweine, Schafe und Pferde bewegen sich frei in den großartigen Landschaften. Austral-Inseln – abseits der Pfade Der Archipel der Austral-Inseln besteht aus sieben Inseln, wovon fünf bewohnt sind: Rurutu, Tubuai, Rimatara, Raivavae und Rapa. Sie liegen mehr als 600 Kilometer von Tahiti entfernt und befinden sich daher wahrlich abseits ausgetretener Pfade. Berühmt sind die Austral-Inseln vor allem für ihre Landwirtschaft. Aber neben den atemberaubenden Landschaften beheimaten die Klippen und Höhlen auch uralte Legenden und unbekannte archäologische Funde. Auch sehenswert: Vor Rurutu tauchen jedes Jahr Buckelwale auf. Von August bis Oktober treffen sie sich zur Paarung und Geburt ihrer Kälber und lassen sich exzellent beim Getummel im seichten Wasser beobachten. Die Insellandschaft ist geprägt von sanften Bergformen, die im Durchschnitt kaum höher sind als 300 Meter. Am Wendekreis des Steinbocks gelegen bilden sie den südlichsten Teil von Französisch Polynesien.

Am Heiligabend bietet das St. Regis Bora Bora Resort die Möglichkeit, im Te Pahu oder im Lagoon by Jean-Gerges Restaurant ein Festtagsmenü mit internationalen Spezialitäten zu genießen. / Foto: St. Regis Bora Bora Die Austral-Inseln sind die letzte Bastion bewohnter Erde im Südpazifik und liegen außerhalb der klassischen Fremdenverkehrsrouten. Die ehemaligen Vulkane sind sanfter geschwungen und weniger hoch - ausgenommen Rapa - als die der anderen Archipele. Ihre "Marae", alte Kultstätten, ihre großen, Jahrhunderte alten steinernen Tiki-Figuren und die noch erhaltenen Mauern der "pa", militärischen Festungen, haben noch nicht alle ihrer Geheimnisse freigegeben. Ihr Klima, das kühler und trockener ist als auch Tahiti und in dem zugleich Pflanzen tropischer und gemäßigter Zonen wachsen, eignet sich besonders für den Gemüseanbau, welcher zusammen mit dem Kunsthandwerk die hauptsächliche Einnahmequelle der Bewohner ist. Die Austral-Inseln sind außerdem ein Treffpunkt für Wale, die man dort jährlich zwischen Ende Juli und Oktober beobachten kann. Die Gambier-Inseln – das traditionelle Polynesien Mehr als 1.600 Kilometer von Tahiti befinden sich die einsamen Gambier-Inseln. Hier treffen natürliche Schönheit, jahrtausende alte Geschichte, religiöses Erbe und französisch-polynesische Tradition aufeinander. Auch wenn einst vom Katholizismus geprägt, kehrten die Einwohner der Gambier-Inseln zu einem eher traditionellen, polynesischen Lebensstil zurück. Auf der Insel, Manareva, können Gäste faszinierende Bauten aus vergangenen Zeiten bestaunen und die Perlenzucht bewundern. Der perfekte Ort, um eine authentische Südseeerfahrung zu machen und die Inseln von Tahiti von einer anderen Seite zu erleben. Der Archipel der Gambier-Inseln liegt unmittelbar nördlich vom Wendekreis des Steinbocks. Er besteht aus 14 kleinen, gebirgigen Inseln. Die Landschaft ist geprägt von ausgewaschenen Bergflanken und weitgeschwungenen Buchten. Die Lage weit im Süden führt zu einem kühleren Klima als auf Tahiti. Die Lagunengewässer der Gambier-Inseln stehen im Ruf, die hochwertigsten schwarzen Perlen hervorzubringen. Der Archipel der Gambier-Inseln mit der Berginsel Mangareva und ihrem Gürtel kleiner Inseln, den Überrresten der eingebrochenen Steilhänge des ehemaligen Kraters, liegt im äußersten Osten des polynesischen Territoriums. Besucher sind dort selten, dafür florieren die Perlmuttkultur und die großen Perlenfarmen. Das kannst Du in Tahiti erleben*

Aktivitäten wie Tauchen, Segeln, Golf, Surfen

An erster Stelle der vielfältigen Aktivitätenliste steht natürlich das Tauchen. Die weltweit einzigartigen Großfisch Reviere der Tuamotu Inseln Rangiroa, Fakarava, Manihi und Tikehau begeistern selbst welt- und weitgereiste Sporttaucher. Aber auch Wandern durch das Inselinnere - für eine einzigartige Aussicht und Kontakt zu den freundlichen Tahitianern – beflügelt mit neuen Eindrücken. Lassen Sie sich über die schönsten Lagunen der Welt schippern und picknicken Sie auf einer Robinsoninsel. Oder setzen Sie die Segel - entweder selbst oder von einer Crew. Den Golfschläger können Sie auf dem 2004 fertiggestellten The Jack Nicklaus Design Platz auf Moorea und auf dem Olivier Breaud Platz Tahiti einsetzen. Surfer eröffnen die Wellen ein Paradies auf Erden – nicht umsonst finden hier zahlreiche Surfwettbewerbe, unter anderem das Billabong Pro Surfing statt. Tauchen Die Südsee mit ihren seichten Lagunen, großartigen Riffen und den farbenprächtigen Korallen ist für ihre außergewöhnlich schönen Tauchreviere und die vielseitige Meeresfauna bekannt. Flaches Wasser, warme Temperaturen und mehr als 30 Meter Tiefensicht machen die Inselwelt Tahitis zu einem der besten Tauchreviere weltweit. Die Auswahl an unterschiedlichen, kaum überlaufenen Plätzen ist groß: Tauchgänge sind das ganze Jahr über in Lagunen, an Riffkanten und in den tieferen Fahrrinnen möglich. Bunte Schmetterlings- und Napoleonfische, Mantarochen, Riffhaie, Barrakudas, Wale und viele weitere Meerestiere bieten Tauchern ein einzigartiges Erlebnis. In den rund 40 Tauchzentren auf 13 Inseln finden Sie professionelle Betreuung. Die Sicherheitsstandards sind sehr hoch und die Ausrüstungen unterliegen ständigen Kontrollen. Die Ausrüstung wird meist gestellt und braucht nicht mitgebracht zu werden.

Bildquelle: Depositphotos Viele Tauchzentren bieten Kurse an. Eines der renommiertesten Tauchreviere der Welt ist Rangiroa (Tuamotu-Archipel), das größte Atoll Polynesiens und das viert Größte der Welt. 240 Motus (kleine Inseln) bilden ein ringförmiges Korallenriff mit mehreren Passagen. Manihi, Tikehau und Fakarava reihen sich als außergewöhnliche Tauchreviere mit ein. Der Fischreichtum und die beeindruckende Vielfalt der Meeresflora und -fauna in der Lagune und am Außenriff bieten Anfängern als auch erfahrenen Tauchern ideale Bedingungen und unvergessliche Erlebnisse. Eine ganz andere Taucherfahrung bietet sich auf den Marquesas Inseln, zum Beispiel an den felsigen Küsten von Nuku Hiva mit zahlreichen Höhlen und Grotten. Ohne schützendes Korallenriff ist hier die Tiefseefauna besonders ausgeprägt. Der Melonenkopf, eine mit dem Zwergwal verwandte Delfinart, Hammerhaie, Silberspitzen- und Krokodilhaie sowie Mantarochen, Marmorrochen und riesige Langusten haben hier ihren Lebensraum. Bei Rurutu (Austral-Inseln) sind von Juli bis Oktober Buckelwale anzutreffen, die hier ihre Jungen zur Welt bringen. In der Bucht von Moerai bietet sich die seltene Gelegenheit, mit den riesigen Meeressäugern zu schwimmen. Segeln Eine wunderbare Art des Reisens in einem Revier von traumhaften Inseln mit Buchten die an Schönheit kaum übertroffen werden können, ist nach wie vor das Segeln. Kann man einen Tag in Französisch Polynesien schöner verbringen als an Bord einer Yacht aufzuwachen, noch vor dem Frühstück eine Runde vor atemberaubender Kulisse schwimmen zu gehen und im Laufe des Tages zur nächsten Insel zu segeln? Marinas befinden sich auf Tahiti, Moorea, Tahaa und vor allem der Segel-Hauptinsel Raiatea. Charterfirmen stellen Katamarane und Monohull-Segelboote zur Verfügung, auf Wunsch auch mit Skipper und Hostess. Die Navigation in den Lagunen und zwischen den Inseln ist meist einfach, dank der von Ost nach West wehenden Passatwinde. Von Juli bis September kann der Maaramu (Südostwind) eine Stärke von 6 bis 7 (25 bis 30 Knoten) erreichen. Der Nordwind Toerau kann von Dezember bis Februar zwischen 20 und 30 Knoten erreichen. Eine Herausforderung ist das Segeln durch die Passagen – die Übergänge vom offenen Meer zu den geschützten Lagunen. Die Kombination aus seichten Gewässern und hohem Seegang erfordert Erfahrung und Konzentration. Kenntnisse von Seezeichen sind zudem unerlässlich. Die meisten Inseln im Archipel der Gesellschaftsinseln bieten tiefe, geschützte Buchten. Die Außenriffe besitzen auf Lagunenseite oft ausgedehnte, seichte Flächen mit weißem Sandboden, übersät mit Korallenriffen. Das macht sie zu paradiesischen Ankerplätzen. Read the full article

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[kehnure]

Solomon Islands Tourism Industry in Mourning as Jo Tuamoto Passes Away

Solomon Islands Tourism Industry in Mourning as Jo Tuamoto Passes Away

(23 Sep 2021) The close-knit Solomon Islands tourism industry is in mourning following the death of Tourism Solomons CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto who passed away in Suva, Fiji, on Tuesday, 21 September. Mr Tuamoto had recently returned to Fiji to be close to family while he recuperated following a recent bout of ill health. Chris Hapa, Tourism Solomons board chairman, said the national tourist office…

[sophielambert91]

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1' In the company of Shark (Fakarawa) . . . #underwater #diving #ダイビング #tauchen #buceo #дайвинг #plongeesousmarine #plongee (à Fakarava, Tuamoto Islands, French Polynesia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CS2Luo8KgGV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[vayoperls]

Buy the Best Tahitian Pearl Jewellery Online

Black pearls or Tahitian cultured pearls have been farmed or cultivated from the 1960s in the black-lipped pearl oyster, also known as Pinctada Margaritifera in Latin. They are found amongst the islands and atolls in the archipelago that makes up French Polynesia.

French Polynesia contains around 118 islands in the South Pacific Ocean, stretching over more than 2000 kilometres about 1200 miles. Its total land is just over 4000 square kilometres, and it is divided into Marquesas, Austral, Tuamoto Archipelagos, Gambier and Society. Tahitian Pearl production in the Fiji and Cook Islands produces pearls from the same oyster.

Before the cultured pearl farming was set up, a vast natural pearl and pearl shell business centred around the Tuamoto Archipelago. Throughout the 1800’s and 1900’s trade-in, the shells were predominantly for mother of pearl, which was made into pearl inlay for cutlery and buttons and other artifacts like hand mirrors, bible covers and pistol handles.

Though Tahitian Pearl Jewellery Culturing started in the 1960s, the first recorded official export of Tahitian cultured pearls was in 1972 with a value of US dollars 3,663. The US exported 150 million dollars per annum by 1996, principally to Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States and Europe. However, by 2019 this figure had dropped due to diminished production to nearer 70 million dollars. Today many trade organisations and pearl farming collectives band together and sell at auction to choose pearl wholesalers worldwide.

Notable names and giants of the business consists Coco Chaze, Jean Tapu, Jean Claude Brouillard, Jacques Brannelec. Boris Norman, David Norman’s father, traded and transacted in Tahitian pearls since 1967 with the Rosenthal family business. David also has a long association with Robert Wan, whose company, Perles De Tahiti, is one of the largest trading companies in the Tahitian wholesale and retail business.

The creation of Tahitian pearls nowadays midpoints 8, 9 and 10 millimetres in size and the states of the pearls are transcendently round, off-round, drop, semi drop, button, circumnavigated, and semi ornate and florid. Most cultivators keep the cultivating to collecting cycle at one year, consequently the somewhat more modest sizes (The average size of the Australian south ocean refined pearl is 12.5-13). Therefore, the cost of 11 millimetres or more estimated pearls is strongly higher for Tahitian pearls.

At Vayo, our aim is not only to bring the perfect jewellery for your requirements, but our focus is also on making sure it is also affordable. So we wait for you to try what we have to offer and buy our Tahitian Pearl jewellery.

[fivestarmodeltv]

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[tripstations]

Solomon Islands dive operators to establish formal association

A major step forward for the future promotion and development of the Solomon Islands dive tourism sector, the destination’s main dive operators have agreed to combine resources to create a formal representative body – Dive Operators Solomon Islands (DOSI).

The move follows a recent forum in Honiara facilitated by Strongim Bisnis, an Australian government initiative working in partnership with local companies and operators to promote business growth.

All participants unanimously agreed on the need for a formal association to champion issues affecting the local dive industry in relation to the overall growth of the tourism industry.

Forum attendees included Tulagi Dive, Raiders Hotel & Dive, Driftwood Solomon Islands, Biliki Cruises, Dive Munda/Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions, Yawana Dive, Dive Gizo and Uepi Island Resort

Gizo-based Sanbis Resort and Solomon Dive Adventures are also expected to become DOSI members.

Other stakeholders taking part included the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Tourism Solomons, Solomon Airlines, and the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Representatives from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and NZAid also attended.

Welcoming the development, Tourism CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto underlined the important role a strong, united dive operators’ association can play in helping to shape the country’s tourism future.

“This has certainly been the case in several of our neighbouring destinations where dive operators have combined resources to form industry bodies and in the process taken action in helping to propel increased international visitation numbers,” Mr Tuamoto said.

“From our perspective, tourism is ever growing in importance as a key economical driver for the Solomon Islands and with international divers making up a large percentage of the 28,000 international visitors we host every year, we need to do all possible to ensure we maximise the opportunity.

“Having a strong, uniform voice with the ability to help raise and tackle pertinent issues affecting this key sector is timely.

“This voice in synch with stakeholders will enable us jointly to drive what has the potential to act as a very powerful industry lobby.”

The Solomon Islands is renowned as one of the world’s foremost dive locations.

Just last December the Solomons Islands was named one of the world’s top 10 dive destination’s in the prestigious annual ‘Dive Travel Awards’ conducted by the world’s largest dive publication, British-based Dive Magazine UK.

In 2017 CNN Travel ranked the Solomon Islands as one of its 10 best snorkelling locations.

The destination’s 992 islands and unspoilt coral reefs literally teem with huge numbers and unique varieties of marine life.

Add to this the dozens of WWII shipwrecks and downed aircraft that litter the seabed, so much so that in one area just a short journey from the country’s capital Honiara has been renamed ‘Iron Bottom Sound’.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Original Article

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[bloggingaffiliatemarketing]

Maldives Culture And Lifestyle – Best Country In The World

Maldives Culture And Lifestyle

Well if I had to use any language to describe the Maldives, it would be a tropical paradise.

I mean come on it looks like a scene from a Disney movie, with crystal blue waters, sandy beaches white coral beaches.

lush green gardens, and friendly dolphins swimming in the gorgeous ocean surrounding the islands.

As far as island hopping is concerned, the Maldives has it all: the Baa Atoll (only 10 minutes from the mainland) and the more traditional Hulhumale on the island of Maumoona in the North and a second smaller island, Giraavaru on the island of Fariha.

There are a bunch of other islands as well; Nungahe (I think my favorite one), Tuamoto, Paravati, and then the very popular Abukahailu (Biri Island). All are very private in nature, with their own distinctive colors, cultures, atmosphere, and pristine white beaches. The green of the green ocean, bright red sand, and smooth white beaches will make you wish you had a yacht so you could just relax and have a good time all day long.

And if you are looking to get away for a couple of months, then the Maldives is definitely the place to go.

Maldives Island Vacations

The island vacation options here are amazing. You can have an island experience or a tropical island experience or a destination island experience.

The only requirement for the island experience is that it is a 5-star hotel (I think that is fair) and that you pay a higher-than-usual amount for it.

The resorts here really seem to do all the work themselves.

Every island and beach gets all its own activities and amenities including an island safari boat tour, turtle watching, snorkeling, diving, archery, sunset sailing, water sports, and even a lighthouse watch tour. I don’t think you could find a more relaxing island getaway.

You can have a week on each island or you can have a one-week island vacation where you just stay on one island. At the one-week option.

you do have to leave the island for only a couple of hours every day but that is perfectly fine, you can rent a car and go explore a nearby island or beach or get a boat tour to the other island.

The destination island experience is very similar to the island vacation except that you stay on a destination island for a longer period of time. At this option, you get to spend a few weeks or months on the destination island. At this option, if you want to leave the island for just a few hours or for the day, you can leave with a driver to go explore the neighboring islands.

For Other Related Blog’s Visit Here

[bernddavid-blog]

Tourism Solomons CEO invited to join PATA Board

Strong recognition for the Solomon Islands on the international tourism stage and huge kudos for Tourism Solomons with CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto invited to join the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) executive board.

The move follows Mr Tuamoto’s attendance at the ‘PATA Annual Summit 2019’ in Cebu, Philippines, last week where, taking part in a leadership debate, he gave an impassioned presentation on the United Nation Sustainable Development Goal 8 – ‘Sustainable economic growth and decent jobs for all’.

The presentation, delivered in conjunction with his counterpart from the Guam Visitors Bureau, received a standing ovation from the hundreds of delegates attending the event.

Following this at the organisation’s annual general meeting, Mr Tuamoto was invited by PATA chair, Dr Chris Bottrill and the executive to join the board as a director, in the process becoming the first-ever Fijian to achieve the honour.

Describing the invitation as a “real feather in the cap” not just for the Solomon Islands but the entire Pacific region, CEO Tuamoto said he was extremely humbled by the invitation and to have so much trust placed in his hands by the leadership of the Asia-Pacific’s most highly respected travel industry organisation.

“This is indeed a prestigious honour and I would like to express my extreme gratitude for being given this amazing opportunity,” Mr Tuamoto said.

“Being appointed to the executive board and being able to contribute further to an organisation that does so much to help develop tourism-oriented opportunity for the Solomon Islands and beyond, to the entire Pacific region is indeed a privilege.”

The invitation to join the PATA board represents yet another major career milestone for Mr Tuamoto.

Prior to joining the then Solomon Island Visitors Bureau in 2013, he already had a strong profile on the international tourism scene.

As former CEO of Tourism Fiji, his vast overseas experience with the Fijian national tourist office included stints as Regional Director for both Australia and The Americas prior to his appointment to the dual CEO and international marketing director roles in 2008.

While with Tourism Fiji Mr Tuamoto was the catalyst and took personal management responsibility for the international repositioning of Fiji’s international tourism profile under the highly successful ‘Fiji Me’ branding.

He replicated that success on behalf of the Solomon Islands in mid-2018 as the driving force behind the move to rebrand Tourism Solomons and the concurrent launch of the extremely well-received and highly distinctive ‘Solomons Is.’ branding.

Mr Tuamoto’s activity on the regional tourism landscape includes the role of deputy chair for the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.

On the commercial front, his experience includes Director of Commercial Operations and a managing director role with the iconic Fiji-based Blue Lagoon Cruises.

He has also acted as a senior consultant to government bodies and major private sector organisations in several countries across the South Pacific region.

A graduate in mathematics and physics from the University of the South Pacific, Mr Tuamoto holds an MBA from the University of Wales in Cardiff.

He has also completed management studies at Harvard Business School in Massachusetts, the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania, and the University of Hawaii.

[fiji-hotel-tourism-assocation]

Tourism Solomons chief executive calls for additional accommodation

Tourism Solomons chief executive calls for additional accommodation

Blue Swan Daily – 5th June, 2019

Tourism Solomons chief executive Josefa Tuamoto reported wholesalers need to increase the number of hotel rooms available from 360 to a minimum of 700 to meet the country’s target of handling 60,000 visitors p/a by 2025 (Radio NZ, 29-May-2019).

Mr. Tuamoto said the main issues are the limited number and quality of rooms in the Solomons, and the “Government is…

[travelworldnetwork]

By Andrew Evans

20 March 2019

Lord Byron’s grandfather was having a bad day.

Scurvy had taken down his crew on the HMS Dolphin, forcing them into their hammocks where they swayed in the sticky heat of the tropics as their ship listed slowly across the Pacific.

Eager to control the South Atlantic, the British Navy had tasked Admiral Byron with settling an island off the South American coast where ships could resupply, and then finding an alternative route to the East Indies. By the time he finally returned to England, he had set a record for circumnavigating the globe in less than two years; claimed the western Falkland Islands for the Crown; and nearly started a war between Great Britain and Spain in the process.

Byron sailed away, marking his frustration onto a new map of the world by naming these atolls the ‘Islands of Disappointment’

But after rounding the tip of South America, the explorer confronted the world’s largest body of water: the endless Pacific Ocean. After a month of empty blue horizon, a tiny island appeared. Byron noted the date (Friday 7 June 1765), and joyously described the island’s “beautiful appearance – surrounded by a beach of the finest white sand – and covered with tall trees, which… formed the most delightful groves”.

View image of Tall coconut groves fill the interior of Tepoto, in French Polynesia (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

The naval officer watched as his crew crawled onto the deck, “gazing at this little paradise” that was green with abundant young coconuts whose vitamin-rich meat and milk could heal their bleeding gums. Alas, Byron quickly ascertained that it was impossible to land. “I could not forbear standing close round the island with the ship,” he wrote in his daily log. With the high surf and a shallow coral shoreline that dropped starkly into the bottomless blue, there was no safe anchorage.

Then there were the natives, noted Byron, who showed up on the beach brandishing 5m-long spears. The islanders set massive signal fires to warn a neighbouring island of the impromptu invaders. “The natives ran along the shore abreast of the ship, shouting and dancing,” Byron recalled, waving their long spears as a warning.

“They would kill us… if we ventured to go on shore,” wrote Byron, who attempted one more landing in a longboat before giving up. “[They] set up one of the most hideous yells I had ever heard, pointing at the same time to their spears, and poising in their hands large stones which they took up from the beach.” The British made a go at frantic diplomacy by throwing old bread at the islanders, who refused to touch the stale food but instead waded into the water and tried to swamp the longboat.

Byron backed off and instead set sail towards the larger neighbouring island, but he again failed to anchor along the ringed coral atoll. Meanwhile, natives armed with spears and clubs followed the longboat in the surf, using “threatening gestures to prevent their landing”. Byron only convinced the islanders to back off when he shot a 9lb cannonball over their heads. Less than 20 hours after arriving, Byron sailed away, marking his frustration onto a new map of the world by naming these atolls the ‘Islands of Disappointment’. The map was published following his round-the-world journey, and the moniker has stuck ever since.

Rediscovery

I laughed out loud when I first spotted the name in Byron’s sea log during a bout of insomnia, and was instantly hooked, reading line by line through the night until dawn. The name, now commonly listed as ‘Disappointment Islands’, sounded more like the title of some back-shelf Tintin comic than a real place on Earth. But the name checked out online, pointing to Napuka and Tepoto, a pair of far-flung dots in the South Pacific, etched upon the blue surface of the Tuamotu Archipelago, the largest group of coral atolls on the planet.

Peering down on Google Earth, the smaller of the two Disappointment Islands resembled a single-cell organism floating alone in the ocean. Measuring just 4 sq km, Tepoto is one of the smallest of the 118 islands and atolls that comprise French Polynesia. This green teardrop banded by sandy beach upon a deep blue ribbon is also the tiny island where Byron failed to land. Could I get there, and would I be disappointed, too?

No hotels, no restaurants, no tourist industry – it sounded like paradise to me

And yet, 254 years after Byron’s attempt, the Disappointment Islands still proved difficult to access. Flights to the larger atoll of Napuka are not even listed on Air Tahiti’s international website. I spent three weeks making cold calls before I got hold of an agent.

“You can fly to Napuka in February,” she explained in French, “but then you have to stay a full month.” And so I travelled in the better weather of May, when scheduled flights still gave me a minimum eight-day stay. Located nearly 1,000km from Tahiti’s capital, Papeete, Napuka is one of the most isolated islands in French Polynesia, and a quick stop on a larger circular air route. Once I stepped off the plane, I would have to stay.

“You should arrange a place to stay beforehand,” my friend Celeste Brash recommended. She had never been to Napuka, but as the author of Lonely Planet’s Tahiti & French Polynesia guidebook, she spoke from personal experience: “Those really remote atolls in the Tuamotus don’t really know what to do when visitors show up.”

No hotels, no restaurants, no tourist industry – it sounded like paradise to me. This was my ultimate desire as a traveller: to show up unannounced like those ailing British sailors, open to the naked fate of true exploration. I opted out of scurvy and long months at sea in favour of the 18-hour flight to Tahiti from Washington DC, measured out in cups of fresh pineapple juice poured by flight attendants wearing floral prints. After a night in Papeete, I boarded a two-hour prop plane to Napuka.

Journey

For the first hour, I watched the empty ocean far below me. The blue intensity astonished me as much as the immensity of the water. Polynesia is believed to be one of the last areas on Earth settled by humans, and that ancient people sailed across this void in narrow canoes from places like Indonesia and the Philippines seemed nearly impossible. Resting my forehead against the vibrating window, I studied the leathery surface of the mid-morning Pacific, basking in that rare moment when stark geographic truths confront you: Polynesia is more ocean than anything else.

View image of The Disappointment Islands are part of the Tuamoto Archipelago, a chain of nearly 80 islands (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

Faint white rings of coral atolls appeared – les îles basses, or ‘low islands’ of the Tuamotus. We dropped in tight circles and landed on the atoll of Fakarava, where at least half the 20 passengers departed. Ten minutes later we were back in the air, hovering over an even longer stretch of blue.

Another hour passed before I recognised tiny Tepoto – alone in the ocean, single and miniscule, exactly like on my computer screen back home. The plane veered right and the larger atoll of Napuka filled my oval window view, like a turquoise boomerang encircling a long necklace of white coral islets. Right before we landed, I saw a flash of metal rooftops and green palm groves, a few dirt roads and a pointed church steeple.

As the doors opened, thick, hot air saturated the plane and I dashed across the tarmac and into the shade of the Napuka Airport – a small, open-air shelter just off the runway, stacked with luggage and cargo. It seemed as if the whole island had come to meet the plane – the first flight to land in weeks. Families rushed towards us and flung fragrant flower leis around the necks of loved ones. As the lone foreigner, I stood apart, awkwardly watching the ritual of welcome, already feeling invasive and uncomfortable. Though I had travelled 12,000km, a great divide remained. I did not belong in this scene, and everybody there knew it.

“Are you here on holiday?” a younger man asked me in French, heaving a duffle bag into the shade.

I smiled and shrugged. “Oui.” It was easier than explaining how late-night Googling and reading the diary of an 18th-Century sea captain had led me to embark on this indulgent quest.

We chatted. His name was Jack, and he and his colleague Evarii were electronic technicians from Tahiti, servicing all the tsunami warning sirens in French Polynesia. They had come to repair the siren on Tepoto, which is only accessible by boat from Napuka, and like me, they would have to stay eight days before the next flight back. But why had I come? Jack asked me. Where would I stay? Did I understand that there were no ‘services’ on Napuka?

Evarii seemed annoyed by my presence.

“Do you do this often?” he asked. “Just show up in a place without any plans?” Before I could tell him yes, in fact, this was my favourite way to travel, Jack intervened.

“I’ll talk to la mairesse. We’ll figure something out.”

View image of The only way to Napuka is aboard an irregular two-hour prop plane from Tahiti's capital, Papeete (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

As if stepping out of a Gauguin painting, a woman soon approached me with a flowing bright skirt and a wide straw hat pinned with flowers that shaded her face. Her name was Marina and as tavana (‘mayor’, in Tahitian) of the 300-person atoll, she oversees everything that happens on Napuka, including every flight that lands at the airport.

“Why did you not contact us to let us know you were coming?” tavana Marina asked me. “We have made no arrangements!” I fumbled an unconvincing response, saying that I didn’t want to be a burden.

“Do you want to visit Tepoto?” tavana Marina asked, because a boat had already been organised for the technicians. Yes, I wanted to visit Tepoto. That was Byron’s first elusive island, and aside from the once-a-month supply boat, there was no way to reach it. I jumped at the chance.

“Come with us,” said Jack, smiling. Evarii huffed.

“You know there’s no water over there!” Evarii mentioned as he looked over my meagre luggage. I knew. I had practically memorised the Wikipedia entry: ‘These islands are arid, and are not especially conducive to human habitation’. I had a few litres of water in my bag, but it was barely enough for one day, let alone a week.

“We can share,” Jack said. We drove in the back of tavana Marina’s pickup truck to the short cement dock, where a small metal skiff was hanging by steel cables from a front-loading tractor. I helped load the tiny boat with supplies, including a massive cooler of drinking water the technicians had checked as cargo from Tahiti. In a flash, the front loader dropped the skiff into the water, and two drivers jerked the outboard motors to life. The three of us hopped inside, and with a burst of engine, broke through the surf.

Arrival

Out past the reef, the sea was calm with a light swell that rapidly pushed us north-west from Napuka towards the vague horizon. Aside from the wind, the only sound was the buzzing of twin outboard motors that carried our tiny party out into the heart of the ocean. In all my travels and ocean crossings, I had never felt this vulnerable on the water. I was seated on a boat the size of a kitchen table, floating atop the bluest and emptiest part of the globe without a speck of land in sight. The fringe of palms on Napuka had disappeared behind us, and for a solid 10 minutes, the blank horizon met my gaze from every direction, blue upon blue.

And yet I felt an inherent trust towards my Polynesian crewmates. I had dropped my life into their hands and watched as they read the changing currents like road signs. Their eyes focused on the horizon and their fingers twitched the angle of the motor by half an inch, this way and that, steering us towards the invisible target of an island so tiny you could miss it and not even know.

View image of A front-loading tractor must use steel cables to raise and lower boats into the surf (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“No GPS!” cried Evarii, shouting over the engine. He nodded to the drivers and tapped the side of his head. “They just know where to go.”

Twenty minutes and 10km later, a thin green stripe of land pushed up from the water, followed by the white coral beach against the blue-green surf. After another 20 minutes, the island came into full view: coconut palms waving left and right, just as Byron had seen so long ago.

Unlike the admiral, I landed successfully on Tepoto. In time with the rising and falling waves, I hopped onto the short dock and watched another front loader pluck the boat right out from the sea. It made perfect sense that an 18th-Century British tall ship would fail to find harbour here. The island was nothing more than a sharp and shallow reef that dropped off starkly into the dark blue depths, just as Byron had described.

“Welcome to Tepoto,” a man in his late 30s said as he shook my salty hand and introduced himself as Severo, the island’s one and only policeman and the son of tavana Marina back on Napuka. She had called to tell him that I was arriving, and now a party of islanders was coming out to greet us. At the helm was a woman wrapped in a purple muumuu who dropped a string of white Tahitian gardenias around my neck, dousing me in a honey-vanilla perfume.

“Bienvenue,” she said, kissing me on both cheeks and introducing herself as Louana.

“Maururu,” I replied in Tahitian. Thank you.

View image of There is only one road on Tepoto and it's paved with crushed coral stone (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

Louana was the tavana of Tepoto, and she led us up from the beach, past the leaning palms to the single row of pastel bungalows that lined the island’s only street, paved with crushed coral stone.

“Have you ever seen a four-headed coconut tree?” a young boy asked me in French, running alongside me.

“No, I have not,” I answered.

Have you ever seen a four-headed coconut tree?

“We have one,” an older boy piped in. “It’s a coconut tree… with four heads!”

I struggled to follow the excited rush of voices that came at me, each one a weird puzzle piece of information concerning this remarkable four-headed coconut tree – how nature made it comme ça – and how originally the trunk was split into seven heads, but those extra three broke off in a typhoon long ago. Several islanders offered to show me the arboreal wonder.

Two hours after dropping into the Disappointment Islands without water or plans, I had a place to stay with the visiting technicians in a peeling-pink shack with plywood walls and cut-out squares for windows. Red-orange curtains printed with white hibiscus flowers flapped in the breeze as I sat sweating on the bed, adjusting to the 38C heat. Not only had I landed in Tepoto, but I had been welcomed.

Tepoto

Minutes later, Severo buzzed by on his scooter with lunch cooked by his wife Tutapu: pan-fried snapper with rice, peas and coconut bread. The fish had been caught that morning and was more delicious than any I had ever eaten in a restaurant.

While we ate, Severo sussed me out. As the island policeman, his job was to keep the peace and look after the welfare of the few dozen inhabitants, he explained.

View image of Most of the homes on Tepoto are wooden bungalows with cut-out windows (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“It’s very tranquil here,” he said. “No real problems.” But now I had shown up and he kept looking into my eyes, as if trying to read my intentions. “I can’t remember the last time we had a visitor. Not for as long as I’ve been here – over 20 years now.”

In fact, Severo said that no-one could recall the last time a non-Polynesian had come to Tepoto – certainly not in their lifetimes. Then, he told me that what I had read on Wikipedia was wrong: there weren’t 62 residents on the island, but closer to 40 now, 13 of which were children under the age of 12.

“Young people leave,” he explained. Once they turn 12, the French government sends them to boarding school in Hao, another atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago 390km away. For high school, teenagers go to the main island of Tahiti. Severo had grown up on Napuka and returned there after high school, then married a girl from Tepoto and moved here.

“What will you do while you’re here?” Severo asked.

“Explore,” I answered, though I had made no real plans. I had not really thought past the possibility of getting here. Now that I had actually made it, the coming days confronted me. “Wait until it’s cooler,” he advised.

View image of Tepoto's residents are predominantly Catholic and often attend mass in the island's one church every day (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

I dozed through the hot, humid afternoon and heard no other sounds except my own slow breathing that seemed to follow the rhythm of the whispering surf and listing palms. At 16:00, I followed the sound of a tinkling bell across the road, where most of the islanders sat on outdoor benches facing a shrine covered in garlands of flowers and chains of seashells. A musician played a guitar in one corner while the island’s nurse stood up and led the congregation in a strong and harmonious hymn.

Still singing, a woman moved to one side, offering to share her bench with me. The Catholic mass lasted a full hour, rotating through chants and readings and hymns – all in Tahitian. Afterwards, the lady explained that this was the holy week of pilgrimage when islanders gathered twice a day before the Virgin Mary, the angelic figurine at the centre of the elaborate floral decor.

“We are lucky here on Tepoto,” she said. “There is no war. No crime.” There were no real problems at all, she mused, lighting a hand-rolled cigarette. She also told me there was no running water or internet, and very limited electricity. Tepoto received its first solar panels and electric power in 1995, and a mobile phone tower within the last five years.

“Have you ever seen a four-headed coconut tree?” she asked me, point blank.

“No, I have not.”

“We have one here, maybe the only one in the world,” she said with an air of mystery before saying goodbye and returning to her bungalow to untangle a hairy pig tied by one leg to a palm tree.

Night fell fast and the stars blew me away. I gawked upwards from the empty beach as if catching the night sky for the first time, the Milky Way scrawled like a diagonal swath of pink gauze.

The bell woke me before dawn, calling believers to another Catholic mass. This time I opted out and walked to the end of the one road, past the fanning palms and out to the coral shoreline. The sun rose behind me and lit up the sea like silver. I continued southwards, walking the length of the 2.6km island and admiring the tidal pools that housed tiny worlds of maroon-speckled crabs and green fish. Blue-eyed clams lay cemented in the rust-coloured coral and seabirds soared overhead.

Massive white-stone crosses marked the cardinal points of the island, while the windward stretch of beach showed a collage of remnants that had floated in from the outside world: a whisky bottle; Chinese pharmaceuticals; a cracked CD case; a bottle of Japanese salad dressing; and a barnacled tennis shoe. I considered the long journey of the driftwood that now rested on this bit of shore. Where had it come from – Asia, the Americas or New Zealand? Tepoto was like some forgotten punctuation mark between all three.

View image of Massive white, stone crosses mark the four cardinal points of Tepoto (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

In three decades of travelling, I had never encountered such a raw and solitary place. The empty beaches and silent palm groves seemed timeless, as though a mirage of Byron’s ship still hovered somewhere off in the warm, salty breeze. I had seen this island depicted on old atlases and my grandfather’s globe and had somehow transported myself here – and yet, even my own footprints seemed implausible, as if I had stepped from my own reality into some far-flung dream state.

Within days, I fell into the forced simplicity of the island: sleeping under a single cotton sheet; sipping instant coffee made using rainwater drained from the roof; eating raw clams; and then exploring every short footpath on the island. I bathed with a dipper of water from the rain barrel. Under the shade of trees and front porch roofs, I talked with the islanders and listened to their stories. At times I grew painfully thirsty, but kept silent, never asking for a drink. Yet somehow, the islanders always knew, sending their kids to gather fresh coconuts and then chopping them open and urging me to hydrate. I offered to pay and was always refused. In fact, I only handled money once, to pay Severo for my room and board.

News that a foreigner had landed and was staying in the pink bungalow near the dock drifted across the tiny island. Occasionally, a few people stopped by in the evening to say hello, offer me a tour of the island or to ask me earnest questions. “How many houses do you have you in your town?”. “Are you a Christian?”. At times when I went off to explore, I caught glimpses of watchful eyes, peering at me through the palm fronds. They knew I was under the policeman’s care but remained on alert. I reacted by living with total transparency, down to my underwear drying on the clothesline.

When it grew too warm, I swam in the ocean, the islanders watching from shore. Wearing goggles, I caught the flash of colour and life that swam beneath the waves – pastel fish whose scales matched the row of humble houses on Tepoto. Mounds of spiky coral glowed neon-like, healthy and unbroken, spared from the careless destruction of men.

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Perhaps Byron’s disappointment had sheltered this place from the rest of the world, preserving it to this day. I’d seen the bleached and broken coral reefs of Bora Bora and Tahiti, where too much love has ruined the natural paradise that first put Polynesia on the tourist map. But here, halfway between the Marquesas and the main Tuamotu island groups, Tepoto has remained comparatively unblemished. I felt lucky to glimpse the vibrant and teeming underwater life, knowing that millions of tourists would visit the rest of Polynesia and never see this kind of virgin reef.

Nor would they ever see the four-headed coconut tree. After days of anticipation, I received a personal invitation from three schoolboys – Tuata, Tearoha and Sylvain – who escorted me to the mayor’s office where the technicians were finishing up their work on the tsunami warning signal.

A stumpy tractor with a wide shovel (the island’s only vehicle) had been dispatched for our adventure. Sylvain’s father André drove, while I rode inside the shovel with the technicians. In all, there were eight of us clinging to the tractor as we manoeuvred and bumped our way into the dense coconut grove at the island’s centre.

Coconuts are the only cash crop on Tepoto, and as we pushed through the forest, I noticed small piles of halved coconuts, thick with hairy husks, drying in the sun. The oily white flesh, called copra, earns a fixed rate of 140 local francs (about £1) per kilogram, and is carried away once a month aboard a supply ship. Every islander has the right to collect and sell copra for cash, but André explained that the coconut trees had begun to die. A small invasive beetle was killing them, he said, making the leaves fall off and leaving bare, toothpick trunks poking into the air.

After 20 minutes driving through the grove, the tractor stopped and the engine cut. I looked up and there it was, skinny and circumspect, barely noticeable except for the four branches that spun out from its base. The long fronds waved back in the wind.

View image of The residents of Tepoto are incredibly proud of their four-headed coconut tree (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“It’s the four-headed coconut tree!” Tearoha shouted like a carnival barker. I stood in awe at the oddity before us and wondered how it came to be. By now I had heard the story from nearly every human on the island, how there had been seven branches, but three had broken off in the last major typhoon. The men began to recall different storms that had flattened the forest of trees in hours, and how the old people could predict a typhoon just from watching the birds. In the past, the islanders latched themselves to coconut palms to keep from being blown away by the gale-force winds. Now they had a siren triggered automatically from hundreds of kilometres away and the stone church to protect them.

We took the long way back to the village, continuing first to the southern tip of the island. André pointed towards Napuka in the east, and standing on land instead of crouching in a boat, I could barely see it over the waves. A baby black-tipped reef shark hunted in the shallows, zipping after the schools of smaller fish.

We followed the beach around towards the pink sunset, and I caught sight of my own footprints from days before ­– the only footprints on that side of the island. Just like Byron had marked his disappointment on a map of the world, I had left my own impressions in the sand of Tepoto. Another tide and my trail would be erased and redrawn with the winding trails of seabirds and coconut crabs.

André stopped the tractor in front of his turquoise bungalow and leaned against a palm trunk. With a few swift chops of his machete, he hacked down fresh coconuts for all of us and handed me a whole litre of coconut water.

View image of Coconuts are the only cash crop on Tepoto and are hauled away once a month on a supply ship (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“We may not have water,” said André, “but we can always drink coconuts.”

That night, André, Severo and some of the other men of Tepoto gathered outside our pink house to drink beer and talk fishing. They spoke a mix of French, Tahitian and the local Tuamotuan language of Paumotu. I strained to fully understand their epic tales of catching bonito by the hundreds – the same bonito I had been served that day for lunch, raw, but with chopped onions and coconut milk.

“Here, a gift,” said Joseph, a fisherman who handed me a handmade lure that he used to catch bonito. The sharpened metal hook was decorated with a carved mother-of-pearl spinner and a wild pig’s tail. In return, I gave him my goggles.

This was a tiny solar-powered island without internet, cars or Starbucks. The technicians and I were the only outside influence, and I tried to make it count. During my last two days on Tepoto I taught Tuata and Tearoha how to play chess. The elementary school had a chessboard, but none of the children knew how to play. After hours of instruction, I had them play against one another. That night, Evarii challenged me to a game and we played into the evening. One by one, the Tahitian technician killed my pieces until only my tall white king remained, chased in circles by the black king and bishop.

“Checkmate,” Evarii said.

“No, wait,” Jack intervened in French. “C’est la nulle.” It was a draw. Neither of us had won. My plastic king was destined to wander the board aimlessly, and Evarii would never have the satisfaction of killing me. He went off to sulk in the last sunset I saw on Tepoto, when the sky lit up blue and green, then peach, rose and orange. Wood smoke scented the air and shooting stars lit the night. Jack played the ukulele, singing lovelorn Polynesian songs along with our hosts until well past midnight.

View image of Sunsets on Tepoto light the sky in blue, green, and then peach, rose and orange (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

Napuka

The next morning, the men launched the boat into the surf, lowering it with the tractor and plopping it into the turquoise shallow at just the right moment. Severo’s in-laws came with us. From time to time, they liked to visit family on Napuka.

“You are welcome anytime,” said tavana Louana, dropping a string of polished cowrie shells around my neck.

“Yes, come stay with us again,” said Severo, adding another necklace. André and the other islanders came and added their own hand-strung necklaces. By the time I climbed into the wobbling boat, my head bowed forward with the weight of shells around my neck. Five minutes later, Tepoto was nothing more than a whisper of green on the blue ocean.

I spent three more days on Napuka, adjusting to the sudden noise and crowds of this 200-person metropolis. Severo’s mother-in-law had warned me, “On Tepoto, we don’t lock our doors, but on Napuka, we lock them.” Two hundred people were too many to trust, and unlike Tepoto, there were cars and at least three streets including the road to the airport.

View image of Fishing on Napuka with Evarii, Jack and Marama (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

Whether he was assigned or volunteered, the island’s fireman became my escort on Napuka. His name was tattooed across his muscled chest – Marama – and within an hour of landing, he had me knee-deep in the lagoon while he cracked open a live clam.

“Eat it,” he said. “You need to taste how good our clams are.”

I reached into the shell and pulled at the cool, gelatinous animal. Then I plopped it in my mouth, squishing down and biting through the salty and slimy flesh.

“More. You left the best part,” Marama said. I cleaned out the shell and then slurped the juice like an oyster. Marama beamed. Was this some kind of test?

“Most foreigners would never agree to eat a raw clam like you did,” Marama said. “But this is our culture. This is how we survive out here. You showed that you respect us.”

I did respect them, but on Tepoto, I had also been eating clams for every meal – raw, pickled, cooked and curried. I never foraged on my own; to take anything from the island would be stealing, I thought. The islanders enforced their own quotas, but shared whatever they pulled from the sea with me.

Marama told me he was on the Napuka island council that regulated the gathering of clams and coconuts. When there was no other food to be had, there would always be clams, and it was his job to maintain a sustainable population of both clams and coconuts.

View image of Frangipani grows wild on Napuka; the smaller, star-shaped Tahitian gardenia is a symbol of Tahiti (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“How did you hear about Napuka?” Marama asked me, as we walked back towards town. I told him that I had read about the islands in a very old book.

“Byron?” asked Marama with a smirk.

“Yes,” I answered. “Byron came here in 1765.”

“You know,” said Marama, “the people here are not very happy with Byron. He called us ‘The Islands of Disappointment’, right?” He laughed, “I wish people knew the truth about this place. You really have to know the people to understand.”

“I know,” I said. “And now that I’ve been here, I know that Byron was wrong.”

Indeed, it seemed impossible to feel disappointed in the scene that enveloped me at that moment. The sky seemed Photoshopped with evenly-spaced clouds, and the lagoon glowed the colour of California swimming pools. Twenty metre-high coconut palms danced slowly, and I had just made a new friend who would take me fishing the next day and then swimming at his favourite beach. He would introduce me to dozens of new friends, including Maoake Tuhoe, one of the oldest men on the island, who claimed I was the first foreigner he remembers coming to Napuka since, “those Peruvians passed by in that boat.”

Upon further questioning, I discovered ‘those Peruvians’ were, in fact, a group of explorers aboard a raft led by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 that washed up in the Tuamotus 72 years ago.

Marama would be there on the day I left, gifting me a necklace he had strung with large, fragrant flowers and kissing me on both cheeks like a brother. And I would leave him my favourite cowboy hat, the one that kept me from getting burned in the scorching South Pacific sun. He wore it as he waved to me on the plane.

Back

It took a day of island hopping to get back to Tahiti, where I felt overwhelmed by everything: the traffic, the streetlights, the tourists and even the hot running water in my hotel bathtub. I had filled notebooks and hard drives with words and images from Napuka to Tepoto and back again, but I wanted a more professional opinion.

“The Byron story is the only recorded account we have in which the Europeans arrived, yet failed to make contact with the natives,” said Jean Kapé, who grew up on Napuka and now serves as director of Tahiti’s l’Académie Paumotu, which is dedicated to preserving the language, culture and environment of the Tuamotu Islands. I had met Kapé’s brother in Napuka, and he had connected the two of us.

Responding to Byron’s sense of disappointment, Kapé said: “If someone from somewhere else gives their opinion about a place, it’s already false, because that opinion is only based on what they know.”

Byron’s unsuccessful landing represents the ultimate missed connection – a spark of static that failed to ignite. And yet, his failure may have spared Napuka the same fate as many islands in the South Pacific.

View image of Measuring just 4 sq km, Tepoto is one of the smallest and most remote of French Polynesia's 118 islands (Credit: Credit: Andrew Evans)

“Napuka [and Tepoto] are the last places where you can witness the original vegetation of the Tuamotu islands,” Kapé said. The Paumotu language, which is only still spoken by an estimated 6,000 people, is also alive there, along with their customs – one of which is unbridled hospitality towards the rare visitors they receive from nearby islands.

“[Welcoming others] is sacred to Polynesians. It is the soul of all humanity,” Kapé said. “But too often with history, foreigners are the ones holding the pen, hence a name like ‘The Disappointment Islands.’ But even Napuka and Tepoto are just nicknames. The islands’ real names tell a much fuller story of the place you just visited.”

I cannot pretend to fully understand, or worse, attempt to convey such a beautiful and complex history

We talked for hours, Kapé and I. Over and over, he tried to explain the islands’ many Polynesian names, like Te Puka Runga, “The Tree Where the Sun Rises” (Napuka); and Te Puka Raro, “The Tree Where the Sun Sets” (Tepoto), deciphering the complex dialect and the multiple hidden meanings behind each name. It encompassed centuries of stories that stretch back to the original inhabitants and their worldview when their universe was nothing more than the two islands, the surrounding ocean and the big sun that moved overhead.

I listened carefully and took notes, but I cannot pretend to fully understand, or worse, attempt to convey such a beautiful and complex history with my own words. Rather than repeat Byron’s mistake of trying to name them from my limited understanding, I will keep silent – not from disappointment or neglect or laziness, but out of respect for this little piece of the world, unknown to so many, even in French Polynesia.

I thanked Kapé for his generous time and shook his hand. Then he gave me a lift back into the centre of Papeete, where throngs of French and American tourists dug through racks of floral print shirts and souvenir tribal tattoos.

“I forgot to ask,” Kapé said as I opened the door of his car. “On Tepoto, did they show you the four-headed coconut tree?”

Travel Journeys is a BBC Travel series exploring travellers’ inner journeys of transformation and growth as they experience the world.

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