July 6th, 2019: Day 11 Bora Bora
This morning, we woke to the sounds of maneuvering as we approached the entrance to the Bora Bora channel. Oh, and this island is what we have been dreaming of! The colors of blue that white sand and pure water create, small islands covered in palms, waves crashing over reefs, and a tiny village appearing on “the big island” in the distance. It was lovely.
We had signed up for the outrigger canoe-snorkeling excursion and so packed up all our supplies and headed off to the Grand Salon to meet our group. Everything (finally!) was a go-ahead and right on time. As soon as I saw how windy it was going to be however, I decided to take apart my “golf umbrella” with the bar of soap tied on as a putter head because John was going to need that shoelace to keep his hat on! (Finally a use for the sewing kit— and it worked out just fine.)
From the boat, we took the tender (shore boat) to the dock. From there, we met up with Mike and Ellen Anderson (from Connecticut). Our boat had a very Tahitian guide, an older man dressed in just a loin cloth, who every time he did something fantastic told us, “First time!” A sense of humor too! He powered us around the nearby island to three well-known spots for snorkeling. The first was to see colorful fish and a few black-tipped sharks. The fish were small black things with either white lips and lines, neon blue tail fins, or the occasional lemon shark on the ocean floor, just 15 feet beneath us. Our diver dove down to the bottom without a tank, just to put on a show for us, petting and feeding the lemon shark! Very nice.
Our second stop was without fins. We were going to see sting rays. Once again, our driver encouraged us to pet the rays that he attracted with fish. He had the touch and by feeding a female slowly, and scratching her chin, we were all able to pet her and feel the hump where her offspring was developing.
At our third top, we anchored in fairly deep water. The swells were greater here, but the scenery beneath the surface was fabulous. The first thing we saw was the scuba divers from our ship! They were great fun to watch and not that far down. I left the surface to join them, almost. They were so much fun that I almost missed the eel that was the focus of their dive! One of our group asked the young man with us to dive down and film the eel which he did without air. He showed me where the eel was. I dove part of the way with him and saw the show up close. Then our driver, once again, dove down and pulled the eel from his hole! He pulled it up a few feet then let it go— all without air, all quite a ways below the surface, and all (his joke) for “the first time!”
We had a terrific day!
After a few hours back on the boat, we went to shore again, this time to toddle around town. We met up with Sharon and Jim Gardarpe from Huntsville, Alabama. She was wearing new pearl earrings and told us where to shop. After a bit of shopping, I found a pair that John liked best (Happy anniversary!) It was fun purchasing them, but at the last minute, we found out that we have a bit of paperwork to do at Papeete before we take off. Oops, and oh dear.
At dinner, we sat with Mike and Ellen, and David and Lorraine Buckla, who were celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. Great talk about crazy scientific things, including the reversal of the poles. Afterward, fireworks from shore and a dance aboard ship from native dancers on shore!
Great day!
