We went to Tahiti for our honeymoon! After we got married and had our wedding dinner, we drove up to LAX and left for the islands. We flew into Papeete, Tahiti (the main island) and took a small plane to the tiny island of Fakarava where we spent four days. We stayed in a bungalow right on the beach just feet from the ocean. We went snorkeling, ate amazing fish and gastronomique type foods (where the food is arranged on your plate like art) for every dinner, biked to a gorgeous remote beach with not a person in sight, and just relaxed in the sun. This island might have been my favorite because of it's untouched beauty. It is so small, there is only one hotel on it (the one we stayed in) and only one road. There are trees and flowers everywhere. Since it is a donut shape, you are never too far from the ocean. I absolutely loved it here and my heart aches to go back.
From Fakarava we flew back to Tahiti and took a ferry to Moorea where we spent 3 days. We stayed in an over-water bungalow this time. Our room was so amazing and it had a glass window in the floor so we could see all the tropical fish swim by. On this island we mostly hung around our hotel. The hotel grounds were absolutely breath-taking. I have never seen anything like it. We ate more amazing food, went canoeing in a Tahitian canoe (we saw a manta ray!), and did more snorkeling. This small island was not quite as primitive as Fakarava but still stunningly beautiful.
After Moorea, we took the ferry back to the island of Tahiti and stayed in Papeete for 2 days. The big island is a little crowded and somewhat dirty, but I still loved it. We stayed in a regular hotel this time but it was still really nice. We went to the marche (market) and got cool souvenirs, ate french food at McDondalds, swam in the ocean, went to the roulette (where a bunch of vans set up little food places and you go and eat), and went and saw all Tena's family that lives there. It was neat to meet them all. I saw where Tena lived, went to school, went to church, where he used to play, etc. It was a cool experience. The sand on Tahiti is black because of the volcanoes. It's pretty cool to see black sand.
In Tahiti, a few of the older people still speak Tahitian, but most people speak French. I loved it cuz I took French for 5 years. I have such a passion for the language and it was fun to be able to communicate with people and read the signs. After about 9 days in paradise, we had to come home. I didn't want to so bad, I considered doing something that would make us miss our plane...but I didn't. Should have though ;) It was an unforgettable experience and I really hope I get to go back. I would love to live there someday... We'll see if I make it ;)
