This place certainly has its differences from my home. There are no squirrels. Crabs take their place digging holes in the lawn and looking for food in the plants and grass.

Dogs are also everywhere. They roam free and relaxed. Two things I have never seen before. I have watched some of them go into forests to find avocados, bring them out and eat them, leaving the skin and seed uneaten. I have also seen how other dogs sleep on their backs. Cats.. I only saw 2. I remember one walking in front of a dozing dog. I guess dogs don’t bother to chase cats in French Polynesia.

Chickens roam free, this is not a problem, but roosters are if you want to sleep. The crow all day and all night. The only time they seem to stop is during heavy rain storms.

Much as we have petting zoos with sheep and goats for children, there, they have petting ponds with black tip sharks and sting rays. Outside the zoo I have fed groups of wild sting rays much like someone would feed ducks in the park. Feeding stingrays is a lot like being mugged by Portobello mushrooms. It is made even more strange by their eyes being on the top side and mouths on the underside. But I must say, they are very soft to touch and fortunately don’t have very sharp teeth.

I very much regret that I did not have an underwater camera with me. I saw so many amazing things, eels, octopuses the instantly change color and I swam inside a school of fish.