Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tepoto Secret island in Tahiti


Taken from airplane


Taken from Google earth

Tepoto is a small coral atoll about two miles across. There is only one tiny pass to get into the lagoon and if the weather isn't cooperating it is impossible to enter. We were lucky that the seas were calm otherwise, our boat would have been smashed against the reef or the jagged coral beach. But once inside the lagoon the natural beauty is overwhelming.

The legend of the treasure has it that in the late 19th century four mercinaries robbed several tons of gold from a church in Peru. They were making their escape to Australia but for some reason stopped in the Tuomotu islands of Polynesia and buried their loot on a small uninhabited island.

We also heard that for several years now the Discovery Channel has been interested in this legend and even made plans for an expedition in 1994

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