The Flowers of Mangareva

Ahhh…the Austral summer. Sorry Canucks. Sorry Seattleites. Sorry Coloradoans.

We are at 23 S, in the beautiful Gambier Islands, and it is the perfect temperature for us. Smoking hot in the day if there is no wind, perfectly hot if there is wind, and just cool enough at night that a long sleeve shirt sometimes makes sense (but not always).

It has been quite some time since I commented on the foliage in French Polynesia – probably because the last time I was surrounded by such lushness was in the Marquesas.

The Tuamotus are many kinds of awesomeness, but lush vegetation isn’t their forte. Even the Society Islands don’t have the same dripping green feel as the Marquesas and the Gambiers.

We went on a 3-4 hour walk today and I took some shots of the flowers that I saw in that relatively short period.

Here they are…