February 7, 2017

Before leaving Papeete, we had a wonderful Polynesian show on board.  The drummers, singers and dancers were exceptional and our friends saved seats in the front row so my pictures are much better than the last show.  I assume these men and women train since birth to move their hips the way they do.  Amazing.  And there were many costume changes.  One of them was to outfits made entirely of the flowers and greenery of the islands.  Just beautiful.

Bora Bora is one of the loveliest places you could ever see.  We were at anchor so brought to the pier by tender ( which if I haven’t already explained, it is the lifeboats). This is what rental cars look like here! It is a major international tourist destination and is famous for the accomodations  that are over the water on stilts. We are told that some of them are $3000/ night. The name in the Tahitian language was originally Pora Pora meaning first born.  The early discoverers thought the inhabitants said Bora Bora, even though there is no B in the Tahitian language and the name stuck.

The economy is almost entirely based on tourism here. We did some shopping in the markets and the stores, then we were taken by boat to a private island (known as a motu) for a special Around the World event.

Once on the island, we had lots of drinks, a buffet lunch which we are at picnic tables in the absolutely clear water.  Even saw some rays.

We were again entertained by fabulous dancers and drummers.  I admired the fresh flower crown one of the servers had on and she took it off and put it on my head for me to keep! We meet such warm and wonderful people.

Here are a few more pictures of the event.  Wonderful way to spend the day and after a morning rain, the rest of the day was just spectacular.

This twin peaked mountain ( Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu) is remnant of an extinct volcano and is symbolic of Bora Bora.

We did make two purchases and I will post pictures of them tomorrow when we are at sea.

This morning at sea ( I am writing this on February 8) we had a special Around the World breakfast with a huge assortment of bagel sandwiches.  Leslie nd Victor answered questions and mentioned that there will be a breakfast like this every month.  Here is the most unusual bagel.  The chefs outdid themselves.  There was even one with turkey and guacamole!