A new start in the Tuamotus
And now for something completely different! French Polynesia in the Tuamotus. The coral, the palms, the secrets they keep.
What stories will we find here? I am listening.
My research has attuned me to the power of invitations. They make us feel seen, included, valued, and welcome. They are free and low risk! So who could you invite to dinner, to the dinner table, to a weekend adventure, to a phone call or a cup of tea? Perhaps someone outside of your norm.
We first visited the community of Hapatoni, on the island of Tahuata, aboard a ship called the National Geographic Orion. The village has a population of about 100 people, and many people of all ages took part in welcoming our vessel. This place made an immediate impression on me, and I resolved to return later…
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…
Teiki Pao gathers coconut from the hills of Nuku Hiva. Dried coconut, called copra, is sold to make coconut oil, and it is an important industry here. Teiki works with his horse, Légende, and when I asked Teiki about his tattoos, he told me some of them represent the horse that he spends so much…
Our first story about the French Polynesian island of Makatea came out on May 4, 2021 with Hakai Magazine. There’s also an audio edition, which was a lot of fun for me to read! Now the story is running again, this time in French, with Courrier International. This will make the story more accessible for…
I stood on the deck for a long time last night as we left Pape’ete, Tahiti’s big city. I couldn’t get used to the warm air. After three years visiting the Arctic and Antarctic, I kept waiting for a blast of cold to hit me. I gripped a cardigan thinking that – any minute –…