Not all parents are familiar with the islands of French Polynesia as a travel destination for families. After all, we hear little about it beyond tabloid references to honeymoons in Bora Bora.
A paradise for experiential learning for children of all ages, French Polynesia may be one of our age’s best kept secrets. I wrote this on the last day of my family’s eleven day excursion to the far Pacific. We would describe our time spent here as magical and educational — both for us and the children. Mistaken for pure romantic bliss or retirement paradise, Tahiti and Mo’orea have much to offer families. And in the hope that more Indian families would consider this as a travel destination, I’m writing this.
Admit it or not, all parents, especially Indian moms like me, revolve around their kids’ meals like the earth revolves around the sun. The not-so-good news, first — there is no Indian restaurant on these islands. Now the good news though is that local Polynesian food is uncannily similar to that in coastal Maharashtra and coastal Kerala, sans the spice. With coconut and fish available in plenty, introduce children to dishes such as Taioro and Poisson Cru. Taioro is shredded coconut, fermented and then served with minimal garnishing. Poisson cru is raw tuna salad in coconut milk, sounds strange but it is delicious and my two year old took to it surprisingly well. Fried Tahitian sardines are a great source of protein, and because they are fried they can be a good alternative for meat loving kids. Most roulottes (food trucks) serve roast chicken too. A real surprise is that there is a significant Chinese community in French Polynesia, so lip-smacking Chinese dishes like chicken stir fried noodles are available. Cooked food is pricey but this place is a haven for tropical fruits — mangoes, papayas, oranges, bananas, tender coconuts, rambutans and so on are freely available, even by the roadside (purchase or forage!). And if you or kids crave good old dairy, plenty of it is imported from New Zealand and Europe, and for a slightly higher price is available in Carrefour. Kids won’t go hungry at all!
Hoping I have created some comfort in your mind around kids’ meals — next up, activities. The kind of experiential education we can impart our kids here is unparalleled. We live in Toronto and are devout fans of the Ripley’s Toronto Aquarium. We took their family membership and our quartet made over a dozen trips to Ripley’s in the last one year. They have a fabulous touch pool where we can touch Stingrays. Inspired by how much S&S loved this experience, we decided to go for the swim with the sting rays and sharks experience in Mo’orea.
I was quite hesitant, there seems something recklessly daredevilish about letting your little ones swim as wild black-tip sharks circle them in the Pacific Ocean. And while sting rays are known to be friendly— they have a sting and they are part of the shark family, and a shark is a shark… so went the voice in my head all night and morning of the trip. But I signed up on the condition that I could stay with my kids in the boat while the others snorkelled if I didnt feel comfortable. There were ten minors on our boat, the water was chest deep and I saw people frolicking away with the beautiful fish and rays. So I get in the water with my kids and husband, our isnstructor feeds the rays some fish he’s carrying, which makes them come closer to us and before we could caress the rays, the rays were all around us playfully caressing us with their wings. We were pleasantly surprised to see that instead of being annoyed or wary, the rays welcome us so warmly into their natural habitat. It was one of the most affectionate experiences, and my four year old wanted to play along with the rays again and again. Soon enough we could see little black fins above the surface circling the group…. looks like a messenger ray had quickly relayed information on fish availability to these cohabitants of the reef. A group of ten sharks made its way to our location. Shy, swift and focussed on food, the sharks kept swimming underwater as we snorkeled turn by turn to look at their exquisitely designed sleek bodies that were so light grey that they almost looked white. These sharks are the most elegant marine animal I have seen. My two year old was super fascinated by all of this but she chose not to get close to any of the rays. She was more interested in fish whose colors she could identify — so blue fish around corals and rocks shining through the clear ocean waters were her favourite. Personally, as their mom, I found the experience unexpectedly touching (pun, not intended again), eye-opening and almost spiritual.
The food, people, marine life in Moorea has stolen my heart and made me aware of a playfulness in me which I didn’t know existed. Moms and dads (Indian and others), let French Polynesia in! Maeva!
