The Society Islands - Taha'a

Taha'a

The Islands of Taha'a and Ra'iatea are around 25nm from Huahine. Due to unfavourable reports of unfriendly local fishermen cutting the anchor chains of visiting cruisers at anchor in Ra'iatea, we decided to bypass that island and just visit Taha'a. 

Taha’a in the foreground with Bora Bora in the distance

We made our way to Hurepiti Bay on the west coast as we had booked a tour with a Noah Plantier from Vanilla Tours, who are based in the bay. Noah has 3 mooring buoys for yachties who wish to take one of his tours. The entrance into the bay was challenging due to reefs and shallow water on either side. However, once at the mooring buoys there was plenty of depth and room for boats to anchor.

Taha'a is nicknamed the 'Vanilla Island' as three-quarters of French Polynesian vanilla is produced here. We had read great reviews of Noah's tour so we were excited as we went ashore the following morning to meet him. Noah's parents were French yachties who arrived in Taha'a around 25 years earlier. They loved the island so much they never left, and have a beautiful house set in lush gardens on the bank of the bay. They offer ethnobotanic-orientated tours of the island. Noah is passionate about the island and its flora and fauna.

We started the tour in his garden where he pointed out various species of plants and trees. Many of these were planted specifically for medicinal use. He showed us some Noni fruit which he had fermenting in a glass jar. The noni fruit has a vomit-like odour but is said to have healing properties and in recent years has become a popular export to the USA in juice form. The Polynesians drink the juice to fight off infections. 

One of the trees was the Calophyllum tree, which bears a nut, which when pressed makes tamanu oil. The oil is good for insect bites, cuts and abrasions. In India the oil is used for skin diseases and is topically applied in cases of rheumatism.

Once we left the garden we made our way to a local vanilla farm. On the roadside next to the farm we saw what looked like a long postbox. It was, Noah informed us, a baguette box. There is no postal delivery service on the island but you can get baguettes delivered fresh to your door each day!

On the vanilla farm we learned that the vanilla plants are fertilised by hand because the insects that do the job in other regions are not found in French Polynesia. In order for a pod to develop, the male and female plants need to be 'married'. This involves carefully collecting the pollen from the male plant using a small twig and inserting it manually into the bud of the female plant. This is achieved by gently squeezing the bud until it opens wide enough to insert the pollen. As you can imagine, it is a fairly lengthy process to 'marry' all the plants on each farm! Nine months later, the pods are harvested and put out to dry. They turn brown over 4-5 months. Due to the length of time it takes to reach the finished product, you begin to understand why vanilla is so expensive to buy. The best way to preserve your vanilla pod is to keep it in an airtight place. Some locals like to place a whole pod into a bottle of rum to give it extra flavour.

After the farm we visited a pearl farm and then the Pari Pari rum distillery. We watched as the sugar cane was pressed to extract the juice for the rum. A guide from the distillery then went on to explain what happens to the pressed sugar cane juice and how the rum is made. We were offered free samples of rum. They also produced 100% natural Tamanu oil, so we bought a bottle to use on insect bites.

Before driving back to Noah's house at the end of the tour, he laid out a platter of fresh fruit for us all to enjoy. All of them came from his garden. The pamplemousse (grapefruit) was particularly good. The purple coloured fruit was a star apple and was the first time we had tried one. They were a firm favourite too. 

We stayed a couple of nights in Taha'a before setting sail for Bora Bora with its iconic rainforest-covered basaltic peaks, surrounded by a turquoise lagoon and a ring of sand-edged motu (islets).