French Polynesia

Raetea

	Raetea and Taaa are a pair of islands which share many interests. They are largely agricultural. Taaa is the source of much of the vanilla in the area. The islands are only two miles apart and enclosed in a common barrier reef.
There are no towns on Raetea as such. This is Uturoa, the largest commercial center on the island		Raetea has the only river large enough to hold a small boat. This is the Faaroa river.
	Our tour of Raetea and Taaa was by motorized outrigger canoe. Juice and beer as well as music were provided. We met this old man on the river.
		We had a picnic on a small motu. The menu included grilled mahi-mahi, breadfruit and poisson cru, an elegant raw fish salad.
Recipe for poisson cru 1 kg. fresh tuna cut into cubes, 2 grated carrots, 2 cut up tomatoes, 8 limes, 3 green onions, a cucumber and the pressed cream of one coconut. Soak the tuna in seawater for 30 minutes then in lime juice for 5 minutes. Discard the lime juice, add the vegtables and coconut cream, toss and serve.
		On a motu near Taaa, they had penned areas with turtles, black finned sharks and rays where you could pet and feed them.
	While the weather was bright and clear most of the day, a storm moved in late in the afternoon with heavy rain and lightning.