Trouble in Paradise

Gary Metzker’s article “Tahiti’s Capital Improvements” (Jan. 7) interested me because I’ve been considering the Society Islands for a future trip.

However, after noting the room rates for Le Meridien hotels, where Metzker stayed in Tahiti ($340 per double per night) and in Bora-Bora ($635 per night), I understood

why he sometimes ate at inexpensive roadside stands.

What was wrong with the 2-year-old Hotel Tiare Tahiti that Metzker mentions, where the

room rate was only a third of that at the Meridien in Tahiti?

I guess I need to know a whole lot more before my wife and I decide to travel to those enchanted islands.

JACK MASON

Cypress

Metzker describes how he and his wife fed bread to butterfly fish while snorkeling. Wild animals are ill accustomed to the types of food we eat. So it is a good idea not to feed them, no matter how colorful, cute or hungry they look. Then they won’t become accustomed to human food or lose their natural ability to forage.

Also, the bacteria found in some wild animals’ stomachs may change to adapt to what is for them unnatural food, resulting in an inability to digest their normal diets.

Please enjoy the abundance of amazing wild animals worldwide without inadvertently destroying their chances of survival.

MARIANNE DELLINGER

Huntington Beach

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Letters Annex

* More letters to the editor appear today on L21.