Tahiti Intercontinental

We are staying at a beautiful resort in Papeete, Tahiti with a view across emerald green water to Moorea, a sister island crowned with billowy white clouds. The view is amazing, but it also means that we are on the third floor.  This means 54 steps for the trip, so my knee is getting its exercise. 

On the walk to breakfast this morning (after the 54 steps down - the preferred way!), we discovered that the island is dressed up in Bougainvillea and lot of tropical flowers.  

Tahiti has a population of around 184,000 people and the culture is a mixture of Polynesian customs and the impact of the French colonization in 1880.  French is the primary language spoken. 

 

View of the pool from breakfast.

The breakfast buffet overlooks a beautiful pool with the infinity edge so you can wander in like it was at the beach. We spent the morning swimming and enjoying the water in this paradise.   At one is a crystal clear waterfall with a seat at the edge for a fun place to take a little break.   We also watched some storm clouds showing a dramatic weather pattern, but the all blew away before there was any rain. 

There are mangrove trees with walking stick roots that help them breathe.  The species that grows in Tahiti is call the Avicennia Marina and it has beautiful variegated leaves.  We also found what they called a vanilla plantation.  This was a well irrigated plot growing vanilla bean vines on uniform columns.