Besides being remote, the other surprising thing about French Polynesia is the dog situation. I had read in Moon Tahiti that the islands were covered with wild dogs, which I anticipated would be a huge problem, considering the last time I ran into a wild dog in America, he jumped out of the bushes, balls swinging, barked aggressively at me, and I was on-edge for days.
The dogs here are like little stray pets, walking around the street, hanging out in gangs, going through garbage, fishing in the lagoon. They are the cutest little mixed breeds you’ve ever seen too. Mid-sized terrier dogs, beagle mixes, fox-faced little mutts that come lay down next to you on the beach without bothering you and lay at your feet in restaurants without going after your food . . . generally, they act like the most well-behaved pet you’ve ever had.
When Dan and I drove around Moorea, we saw a pack of 4 of them walking down the street together. We slowed down, I said hello, and they all came over, tails wagging. Very cute and friendly for being out on the streets.
I know I am going to break some hearts here, but Moon Tahiti not only left out the part about the dogs being adorable, but also the part about the dogs being food.
We didn’t learn this until we had gotten to Bora Bora, and made friends with Nir, our pension host. We asked him, "So what's up with all the dogs here?" And he said point-blank, "Ah, well they eat them."
I don’t think it is super common, but apparently if there isn’t a pig for a big family dinner, sometimes the family will go get a stray dog, fatten it up for a month, and then roast it for dinner.
This news made me really really really sad.
I think the thing that really surprised me this was that this fact was left out of 2 different books—Moon, and I think the Frommer’s guide. Is there some reason this is not discussed?
The other thing I think is strange is that the Tahitians keep some dogs as pets. I generally try to embrace cultural relativism, and the different strokes for different folks thing, but I don't know how you could have a pet dog, and not make the decision that dogs are too intelligent to be eaten. My aunt tells me that in the places she's been to in Africa and China, if you're eating dogs, you don't also keep them as pets. So, this seems to be an exception to that rule.