BORA BORA, TAHITI

                          Photo Op Around Every Curve

Bora Bora is every bit as beautiful as the PR pictures profess! It is an incredibly gorgeous island with a photo op around every turn of the 22-mile long and mostly paved circumference road. I was taking pictures just as the sun was peeking over the low part of the island as we approached on a beautiful sunny day.

            Our guide told us, “Bora Bora means first born and in this part of the world is pronounced Pora Pora as there is no ‘B’ sound in Polynesian. Capt. Cook sighted Bora Bora in 1769 on his first voyage. Bora Bora refused to accept French sovereignty when Tahiti became a protectorate in 1842 and remained independent until France annexed her in 1888. Her last queen died on Tahiti in 1932.”

            He continued, “The main island is 6 X 3 miles and is surrounded by coral islets. Two smaller islands are separated on the west by the channel. The east side of the island is barren. The fertile west side's main crops are vanilla and copra.. Tourism is also a major industry. The population is 4500.”

The interior of the island has slopes, hills, cliffs, and U shaped mountains with deep gorges  covered with native vegetation. Captain Cook named the islands the Society Islands because of their close proximity to each other. It is home to 400 species of native flowering plants including more than a dozen orchid varieties.

            Here we were introduced to our first ride in the colorful les truck.   Our les truck was decorated with life hibiscus and the poles of the open air vehicle were wrapped with palm fronds accented with the lovely red torch ginger.

            The population inhabits the perimeter of the island. Each house has a  little house that looks like a mailbox at roadside, but it is  for their French bread which is baked by Tahitians and delivered daily by Chinese.

We made many stops and ate tiny thumb-size bananas, which were very sweet and sampled fresh taro and poke, an island tapioca and papaya pudding.

The island has one physician, one pharmacy, and one hospital—clinic really as it is only able to handle minor problems. Tahiti has no dangerous animals, no snakes nor scorpions. The beaches were gorgeous. The first hotel was built here in 1961.

For the friendly people life moves slow. What a great place to relax!

FIT FOR A QUEEN

                                                        The Queen’s Staircase

         In Nassau, Bahamas,   the 65 steps in the valley were carved by hand out of a natural limestone wall by slaves between 1793-1794. The staircase is 102-feet tall and was named in honor of Queen Victoria. Slavery in the Bahamas was outlawed 31 years before the US abolished slavery.

            Originally the staircase was built to provide British troops a protected route to Fort Fincastle, and the slaves used were local people from the island. At the top of the stairs, on the island’s highest point sits Fort Fincastle established by Lord Dunmore  in 1793. It is situated on on Bennett’s Hill as a lookout for pirates and invaders. The fort, shaped like a paddle wheel, was never used because Nassau was never attacked. Three cannon are still in place, although are not original.

            Later the fort was used  as a lighthouse and then later  as a signal tower.

When I had my granddaughter on a trip to the island I hiked her to the staircase and then to the top. As we approached the bottom of the staircase a local fellow met us, introduced himself and said, "Welcome to my home." He then continued to give us a brief history of the island and the fort. When he was finished we tackled the 65 stone steps to the top. It was an easy climb and a popular attraction. There also is a 128-foot high round concrete water tower in the area. The view from the fort is spectacular.