Paradise on Earth

This is how an early European explorer described Tahiti, because of its warn, sunny climate and the extremely friendly native women.  I do know that a number of beautiful flowers grow here.  We took a drive along the southern and western side of Tahiti Nui, the larger of the islands, to a botanical garden.  I will leave it to the botanists to give you the names-- I just thought they were beautiful.

The next stop on our bus tour was to visit some caves. They reminded me of the Fern Grotto on Kauai, but on a smaller scale.  The tropical vegetation was lush, with long ferns hanging over the openings to the grottoes.

Even though the sign said "No Swimming" there was a man in one of the pools.





Some of the trees were clinging to the rocks as little streams cascaded by.























This post is getting a bit large, with all the pictures, so I will save the rest of our visit to Tahiti for the next blog.