The Dream That is Bora Bora!

After an early dinner last night, to which our merry band did not appear, Carol went to the 8:00 movie. It was the 2021 release of The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Since I had seen it, probably on HBOMAX, I finished my tea. Well sort of. I spilled the whole fresh cup on myself including on my clean white cardigan! I headed back to the room and Sebastian our Steward said hi and asked how I was. I said I was mad at myself for spilling tea on my sweater. He took it right out of my hand and stopped his rounds to take it right down to the laundry to see if they could immediately treat and wash it! I was going to rinse it with cold water and put it out for laundry in the morning but this is much better. Really first class service from everyone on board. In the cabin I sorted my clothes for todays tour of the Bora Bora Lagoon and also got my things ready for the afternoon - fingers crossed - snokel excursion. I then went to the performance by the ship entertainers of Music from the Movies. They always do a wonderful job and put great energy into every dance step and every note they sing. Some passengers discount their talent but I like to support them. Tonight was Jean and Carlo along with the four Viking Vocalists and the Viking Band. There is so much music on this ship. It is the predominant form of entertainment. In fact, there is also a pianist, classical guitarist and a violin - cello duo. Quiet live music plays in every area of the ship most of the late afternoon and continues until midnight. This is not a party boat and will never be a "booze cruise!" Bora Bora was originally Poora Bora, which means clapping hands. When the English arrived to lay claim to it they misunderstood the natives and the island is now, probably forever, Bora Bora. The coral reef is about 45 miles around the island which has a surface rim of only aboyt 17 1/2 miles. There is only one break in the reef which is caused by a natual flow of a fresh water river. The fresh water did not allow the coral to grow. The lagoon is about a mile wide in most places or even more. As you can imagine, the protectedness of the nature of the reef makes for perfect surfing, swimming, and spear fishing conditions! There are no ship docks here so our included tour met in the Star Theater at 8:30 to tender ashore. If I have not mentioned before, on cruise shipe there are fixed, enclosed boats with glass windows and wide doors that are used most commonly as 'tenders', or transportation ashore for passengers and crew, when no docking is possible or allowed. In an emergency they are also used as life boats. But when you see my deck walk video you will also see white capsules that contain inflatable life boats - not rafts. Since the passing of the Titanic Laws in Britain, all ships carry enough boats to safely evacuate all passengers and crew plus extras in case of a mis-launch. The name 'tendeer' seems obvious since they tend to passenger and crew needs. Our first tour of four on the island was a small boat cruise around the island. We had a captain and a guide. Think of him as a Pacific Gondolier. Mike was wearing his guide blue 'Hawaian' shirt and armed with a ukelele. As we discovered this is pretty much the boat tour guide uniform! And a pleasant singing voice is apparently a required attribute. The prettily painted blue and white outrigger glided over the peaceful waters as we completely cicumnavigated the lagoon. Although we were focused on the rising extinct volcano before us, we often gazed at the white caps crashing on the reef on our other side. We saw the Palapas, over water bungalows, of the now closed Hotel Intercontinental and Sofital. COVID'S ugly hand reached even here in this idyllic paradise. For us it was good. Ours was the only ship in port, and at half capacity, which meant there were only 436 cruise tourists ashore. Also good because vendors were limited as their buisnesses also failed. And even fewer were available because Viking vetted tour vendors, even sellers of arts and crafts near our dock, for vaccination proof. As we passed the Conrad Hotel, I presume a Hilton, a few people could be seen sunning on the deck of their Palapas or swimming in the shaded waters. Many of these bungalows even had their only swimming pool on deck. A giant one is said to be where Kim Kardashian stays with her family at the bargain price of $6000 a night for four bedrooms and three baths! Over the sides of the boat you could easily see coral with small fishes darting among them. When we got close to the point where the shark and manta ray swimmers were we could easily spot them. Both the fish and the swimmers. The boaters know how to manipulate their crafts for the safest ride and to signal each other of their presence. The coral was not showing a great deal of color through the aquamarine, crystal clear water. Coral color is created by the creatures living in its branches. Coral bleaching is an interesting phenomenon which is not yet prevalent here fortuneately. But color is really best seen when beneath the water on a clear sunny day. Luckily that is exactly what we had this afternoon. Our 2:40 tour was for snorkeling. We were lucky we already had it booked when the storm stopped us from snorkeling in Tahiti. You may remember that the captain then swapped days of Bora Bora and the South Pacific cruising which saved us from the same fate upon arriving here. ALso, very luckily, we had booked this snorkeling as well, to hedge our bets, since everyone who was disappointed in Tahiti was now trying to snorkel here. They could have gone on their own if they had their own mask and snorkel, as we did, and could find a tour once on shore. There are always people at the pier who will take you on a tour or a taxi who will drive you somewhere. Since Bora Bora is part of Tahiti archipelego we are able to be on our own here. Some few couples booked overnight stays at the Conrad and are allowed to go and to return to the ship tomorrow. Our snorkeling cruise was the best ever!!! Eight of us boarded a beautiful speed boat to set out over the purple-blue waters toward the reef. We definitely chose the best of the three options offered. Of course we once again passed the Conrad but left it behind as we dropped anchor quite near the inner edge of the coral. Donning our gear we dropped into the 84 degree waters that were so calm they we almost still. Only gentle wavelets massaged our backs as we floated on our noodles and swam above the stunning brain coral. There were other kinds but that is honestly the only one I know. The scalloped ends of giant clams zigzagged black above their white mouths and blue shells. Angel fish, and the yellow ones with black eye-spots were everywhere. Striped fish of so many kinds darted about. Cleaner fish were busy in their upside down schools as they moved along the coral edges. Their pattern never varied. We were very careful not to swim down to or touch this natural buried treasure! The hour seemed to go so fast. We hated to get back aboard but the time had come to move on. Since it was a speed boat it had a straight down ladder to climb up which made reboarding easy. Carol and I returned to our space before the wheel where we could stretch out on the comfortable padded bench in the warm sun as we bounced over the Bora Bora Lagoon. To our surprise we stopped again and entered the waist deep sea to walk on the pure white sand created by the centuries of smashed coral. The water was so clear that you could count these grains of coral debris as you wriggled your toes in them. Another surprise. Steve and his partner brought out plastic cups of the rum punch, ever associated with island tours, especially on the water. And trays of fresh papaya, pommelo, pineapple, and guava. How can I be so fortunate as to be standing on the white sand, in waist a deep crystal lagoon in the South Pacific, eating and drinking tropical treats, in Bora Bora!! We were reluctant to go back to the ship but there was not much near the pier to do so after taking some pictures we went back and showered and got ready for dinner. Since we did not want to "get dressed" we ate upstairs again. Our friends were there and Igor, the bar waiter which also means iced tea, had a table ready for us. We were all excited to talk about our day and share our adventures. Carol and I, with the late snorkel time, actually had the best conditions. In the morning the water was a little rougher and not as clear. The opposite of what I had expected it to be. Those who already had the included tour had not had it for as long a time as us. Mike extended it a little since he had time before his next trip. The show this evening was the movie Midway which none of us were planning to see so we sat and talked and laughed and ate ice cream until we decided we needed to slepp to get ready for tomorrow!