hello,
i just returned from a 2.5 month adventure around French Polynesia.
i went over there with the intentions of fully diving head first into the polynesian lifestyle and soaking up their peaceful vibes...
from eating raw live mullet (heart, liver and eyeballs included), sleeping on palm fronds under the stars at the mouth of a beautiful reef pass, listening to old skool traditional polynesian ukulele circles and diving surfing and photographing some of the worlds most beautiful water was just another day in the life of a floridian photographer living tahitian lifestyle in 2011 in the out-islands of the tuamotus.
check out some pics from my exploration.
my cozy living arrangements in rangiroa on a secluded motu called oteppe
was an old black pearl farm suspended over the water on concrete pillars. accommodated with small mattresses, open air walls and a burnt hole in the floor for the toilette (with a stack of soft leaves to do you know what with) this was where i was during the super bowl!
my boys inside our "beach house"
fresh mullet
fresh mullet heart
my polynesian family in rangiroa leaving the MAKIROTO JOSEPHINE (poisson sale'- salt fish) ...a small house with a husband and wife team catching, filleting, drying and salting a fish called O'EO, which is then exported and sold around the world.
poisson sale' drying out
dried salted O'eo being packed and weighed for shipment
traditional polynesian dinner and tunes
walking through the knee deep tide pools of oteppe, we stumble upon a small crevasse in the rocks. three of us had our masks and i had my camera in its housing ready to go! u never know when i might need to take a dip!
bellow is what we saw...
nai, observing bellow
checkin out the fish hole...
o one days catch from the underwater cave...can anyone say poisson cru for dinner?!
MIRI MIRI, RAIATEA...
LOCALS OF MIRI MIRI PASS U DONT WANT TO MESS WITH...
1.URCHIN
2. SUN BLINDNESS
1 bowl of red sugar and water...really?
dunk...eyes open...
and repeat...for 1 hour...
then cover eyeballs with cloth.
...spending too much time on the water i guess.
LOCAL SHAPER IN THE MIDDLE OF A BOATYARD
so, the day after i got to rangiroa i was driven out to a isolated motu on the other side of the atoll by a nice local kid. after about a 2 hour drive over flooded rock road, i was dropped off by my lonesome on a small beautiful pristine private beach where a small hut made its home. the small motu consisted of the hut, small fire pit and barbeque station, small hut for cleaning your fresh catch of the day, and 2 dogs that survived off the land. i thought i was just going to spend the day here, chillin out and snapping some pics and get scooped up later on...three days later...living off one box of spaghetti, fresh tomatoes, fresh coconut milk and meat, crackers and pate...check it...
road to nowhere...
"my" home for three days...
"my" beach...
"my" hut...
"my" view...
dinner...barbeque spaghetti n grilled tomatoes
chef leidy...
the spread!
DONE!
