Tahiti, beyond the legend

Tahiti and the South Pacific.

Mention that to a friend and their mind might be filled with images of turquoise lagoons and swaying palms above a white coral beach. But Tahiti and the islands of Polynesia are much more than that.

Picturesque beach at Bora Bora in French Poylnesia. Photo by Steve Feld

Nearly a thousand years before Europeans ventured onto the open seas, the sea-faring Polynesians had colonized the islands of the Pacific, the last area on Earth to be settled by humans. Think of greater Polynesia as a triangle encompassing some 12,000 miles from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island off the coast of Chile. The Polynesians settled lands 2,000 miles apart and islands that today are uninhabited because they are so remote and inhospitable. And they accomplished all of this without a written language or the use of metals.

In the 1800s, England and France contested ownership of the Polynesian islands with their Protestant and Catholic missionaries. During this time, missionaries and the diseases they introduced destroyed the fabric of Polynesian society and decimated their populations. The final insults were slave ships that carried off thousands of natives. Some islands today are still far below their populations in the 1700s.

Most likely, you've seen Survivor (filmed on Nuku Hiva) or at least one of Hollywood's three Mutiny on the Bounty films, but many others traveled here besides Fletcher Christian and Hollywood production crews. Artists Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse and author Herman Melville came here as well. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island called Polynesians 'God's best, at least God's sweetest work' after visiting the islands. Count also W. Somerset Maugham, Jack London, and James A. Michener, whose work was made into the Broadway musical South Pacific.

French Polynesia has been a very expensive place to visit, since nearly everything must be imported to this remote locale. It is even more expensive today with the U.S. dollar's downward slide against the Euro. Because the local currency is pegged to the Euro, prices have increased for U.S. residents by 30 percent in the last two years. For example, the thatched bungalows on stilts over lagoons that you've probably seen in pictures cost over $500 per night. Budget accommodations are over $150 per night. Meals could easily cost you $100 per day.

But we have a solution. For $1095 (plus port charges and government taxes) you receive 10 days' cruise transportation, all meals, accommodations, entertainment, small ship ambiance, and the knowledge that proceeds will go to help the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club.

You will not find a lower price for this cruise, online or through a travel agent. The trip is Dec. 10-20, 2005. Please contact the Group Division of Montrose Travel at 800-301-9673 or visit www.montrosetravel.com/sierraclub for brochure and details as soon as possible. Also see the Calendar section of this paper.

We believe this trip will sell out quickly like this year's Costa Rica trip and Alaska Cruise.

Tahiti 10-Day Cruise
December 10-20
C: Angeles Chapter fundraiser aboard Princess Cruise's Tahitian Princess with all-day port calls of Pape'ete, Mo'orea, Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, Rangiroa, Ra'iatea and Bora Bora. For $1,095 see French Polynesia, with optional day tours in the ports. First-class small ship features all dining room meals, entertainment, transportation, and lodging, all included in price. (Taxes and port charges are extra.) Contact Cheryl Wada of Montrose Travel at 800-301-9673 or cwada-at-montrosetravel.com for cruise booklet/information. Leader: Bob Thompson, 818-249-1237 or bobcat237-at-sbcglobal.net.