Two days in a row on beautiful islands is some kind of wonderful and we were very lucky weatherwise—it has rained for the last 5 days here, but today was sunshine with steamy temperatures in the 80s. Bora Bora has been known as the “Pearl of the Pacific” even before modern advertising. The island was named by Captain Cook, poorly it seems, since there’s no “B” in the Polynesian language. The locals pronounce it more like “Pora Pora”. One of the great moments of history came when the U. S. Navy discovered it in World War II. An airport was built and guns placed at viewpoints around the island. It became a logistical base, but all of the battles stayed thousands of miles away. Bora Bora had to be the greatest place to be deployed in the South Pacific.
Like Moorea, Bora Bora is surrounded by a barrier reef and lagoon. The first picture shows approaching the island by boat. There is only one channel through the lagoon that brings you into the administrative center, Vaitape. The island has some services, including a small medical center and elementary schools. For serious hospital stays and education beyond elementary school you must go to Tahiti by air. In spite of the lack of some services, this island is home to some beautiful and expensive resorts, with names like 4 Seasons and Sofitel and “rooms” in little cottages built over the water.
We chose to tour the island in a 4WD jeep-like vehicle. In addition to driving around the island (it’s only 15 square miles), we drove up into the hills for some glorious viewpoints. As you can see by the second picture, the roads into the interior were less than perfect and we were shaken around quite a bit. We got to one of the gun placements with beautiful views across the channel and around the reef. And the third picture shows our last stop on the hill containing the cell and TV tower. We did not get into the water. The only public beach was a way from the ship and, actually, not real great. The large hotels have confiscated all the good beaches, as you might expect. Talking to some people who did snorkel, the conditions were much like those we experienced on Moorea yesterday.
We’ve had 2 beautiful days in Paradise. Now we have a day at sea before arriving at Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Hopefully we’ll make a landing. Seabourn has tried to land here the last 2 years on cruises, but the swells have been so large that using the tenders was considered too dangerous. Will the third time be a charm????
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