Apataki atoll

Racing the pass at Apataki on the National Geographic Orion.
The 14th of July is a national holiday in France, often called la “fête nationale” or simply “le 14 juillet.” In English, we call in Bastille Day, and it is named for a major event during the French Revolution in 1789. As a French Overseas Territory, this holiday is also celebrated in French Polynesia. These…
Matt has been making films for over a decade. His feature film, Chasing Sarasota, had a theatrical tour in over 30 cities on four continents. Matt was also a writer and producer for the Showtime documentary, Glena, where he helped take the no-budget, indie feature from a living room in Portland, Oregon to a major…
Sarah Kester Digital EditorSarah is a digital editor and a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She graduated from the University of King’s College in Halifax – twice – where she took philosophy and creative writing before studying journalism. You can find her work in The Globe and Mail, Metro and Quill & Quire. Sarah is…
Smoke from burning leaves lifted into the morning sky. Two custodians had arrived before us, though it was still early, to continue the endless work of carving this site out from the surrounding forest. Debora Kimitete explained that the name of this site, Koueva, refers to dancing that begins in the evening and goes right…
Many outsiders think of these islands, the coral atolls of French Polynesia, as paradise, but there is no escaping the harsh conditions here. Although I LOVE to swim, I have never really explored the underwater world. Here, it was more than beauty that called to me from below the surface, it was a curiousity about…