Bonjour de Bora Bora

After another rocky night at sea, but one that started out with one of the most awesome orange sherbet colored sunsets you‘ve ever seen, the Paul Gauguin anchored in the bay surrounded by Bora Bora. While the first several ports, Huahine, Raiatea, and Rangiroa seemed to have little to offer (at least to us … some people raved about how quaint they were with their third world charm … to which I replied I live in a third world country most of the year), Bora Bora has a beauty all its own.

Up with the sun at 7:00 AM, breakfast by 8:00, we took the second tender into town where we were met by Jay Tuday, our guide for today (get it, Tuday, today … uh ,yeah). You see, Jay has one of those open air Land Rovers (benches in the back … fortunately padded) and he promised us and four other passengers that he would take us off-roading to points high above Bora Bora where few ever trek. Jay did not disappoint.
We saw the obligatory pineapple field and black pearl farm, all right along the main paved road that hugs the white sand shore around the entire island. Then, Jay said, "Hold on." A hard left turn, and we were off the road, onto a rock/dirt path, that was carved up a sheer volcanic mountainside by American forces back in 1942. If you have been on the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, envision that (seriously), but instead of being on an OSHA approved track, you’re climbing and falling, twisting and turning, over miles of severely rutted road (and in some spots, no road). The payoff was the most amazing views that few have the opportunity to see.

The ocean colors, the homes built over the water, the tropical rain forests. Not one, but three mountain tops we wound our way to … the last being the abandoned military outpost where canons, which never had to be used in actual combat, still sit, a left over souvenir of the US presence in WWII (the airfield here was also built by the Americans during the war and turned over to the people of Bora Bora who use it today as their main airport).

In addition to the adventure, we got great insight of Bora Bora life from Jay. 28 years old, he has

been off the island only once in his life. That’s when he was injured in a motorcycle accident and had to be taken to the hospital on the nearby island of Raiatea, a 90 minute boat ride. His parents live on an even smaller island about 15 minutes from here. Too difficult to get to, he says, so the last time they visited was two years ago. He said he loves providing tours, and he said it is very easy to find a job here … because nobody wants to work. He said he lives in a small house on the beach. In the afternoon after work, he’ll fish to catch dinner. Or, if he feels like it, he’ll take his small boat to a reef 100 yards out and pluck lobsters from the shallow ocean bottom (he said he’s tired of lobster though, but loves to cook and would like them again if he could find a new recipe for them … life‘s tough for Jay). He said he’ll probably not get married because he is related to everyone on the island … "just wouldn’t be right, if you know what I mean," he said. I told him maybe he could go online to find someone in the Internet. "Yeah, that would be fine," he said, "but the Internet here takes about two hours to upload a picture, so it’s too much effort."

For a lot of us, no cell phones, painfully slow internet, one or two TV stations, unable to travel, it would be misery after a while. But here, honestly, they are a very happy people. The co-exist in a society that has almost stood still over time. There is virtually no crime, only two police officers (which Jay says just drive around the island twice a day wasting gas), there is no jail, no court system. On top of that, it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. I don’t think it’s the type of place where I could live, but it is a great place to visit and explore … so now, I will catch the next tender to go onshore, and explore for a Internet connection which hopefully will be faster than one Jay talked about. If you see this and there are pictures with it, it means I found one.

Update ... I obviously did find one ... the only one on the entire island ... slow, but it works.