my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti – day 6, Fare Hape

This post is the sixth in a series of 10 (one for each day) of my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti, where I’m reliving this amazing adventure and sharing it with you. Ever since travel has come to a grinding halt (like everything else), I’m very grateful to have had this experience and look forward to future adventures.

time flying in paradise

Day six already!? Time in paradise is flying by. Today we get to our volunteer work but before that, we got a lesson in the Tahitian language.

learning Tahitian

Well, that was fun. Laura by far was the clear winner in this game. Sadly, the only words I remember are Ia Orana (hello), Nana (goodbye) and Maururu (thank you).

time to volunteer

Time to get to work! The first project of the day was to weed a sacred space (marae) for the locals. It was a pretty warm day but we had lots of hands to help so we got this first project done pretty quickly. We also managed to laugh a lot and have some fun.

In French Polynesia, marae were religious temples where priests could go to call gods down to Earth and ask for strength. Here in Fare Hape, they focused on worshiping the god of the dog.

break time

Time for a break. We went exploring, took a quick dip then had a delicious lunch. After lunch, we followed Arii to feed the neighborhood eel some scraps from lunch.

a surprise discovery

Time to get back to work. For this project, we were preparing a fenced-in area to grow sweet potatoes. First, we cleared it of weeds and debris, then rebuilt the fence, and finally planted the sweet potatoes. We needed extra help since there were some very deep roots to clear.

We also made a discovery. Someone in the group found an ancient artifact while we were digging. Arii was super excited and couldn’t wait to tell the locals. Pretty cool!

After a full day of work volunteering, it was time to relax. Arii took us on a tour of the grounds pointing out local plants, a house that another group of Bamboo volunteers help build, a meaningful solidarity spot, and beautiful carvings made by the locals.

Later that day, we found out that a wild pig dug up all the sweet potatoes that we just planted!

I hope you enjoyed day six of my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti – Fare Hape. Next up, is day seven where we head to Teahupoo for more volunteer work & more adventures. If you want to catch up from Day 1, click here or from Day 6 click here.

Until we can travel again my friends, be well & stay safe!