Taha'a

Taha'a stands next to Ra'iātea (see another post) sharing the same lagoon; that is, they are surrounded by the same coral reef. Like most of these islands, the economy is driven largely be tourism and fishing. However, Taha'a is also known as the Vanilla Island as about 80% of the Tahitian vanilla comes from here.
The 1st picture is taken from an overlook towards Ha'amene Bay, the largest on the island.
The 2nd picture is of a pig dance. I'm told this was done to dissuade people trying to steal pigs.
The next 3 pictures are of vanilla cultivation. The 3rd picture is in the screened greenhouse to prevent birds from damaging the chop. The 4th picture is a bunch of green vanilla pods. And the 5th picture is of pods being dried.
The next 3 pictures are at a black pearl farm, of which there are many around the islands. The 6th picture is of what is needed to seed the oysters to produce pearls, and the 6th picture is a worker describing the process. Each oyster gives 1 pearl and can be seeded 3-4 times. It takes almost 4 years to get the 1st pearl. The last picture looks over the bay where the oysters are kept. They are kept in heavy cages to prevent predation.Read more