It was a beautiful sunny day as we approached Bora Bora. I was taking pictures just as the sun was peeking over the low part of the island.
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 it
in 1888. Her last queen died on Tahiti in 1932.
The main island is 6 X 3 miles and is
surrounded by coral islets. Two smaller islands are separated on the west by a
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 that are covered with
native vegetation. Captain Cook named the islands the Society 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.
On the island we had our first ride in
the colorful les truck for 22 mile
ride around the island. Our les truck
was even decorated with live hibiscus and the poles of the open air vehicle
were wrapped with palm fronds accented with torch ginger. The island is
incredibly beautiful. Every turn in the road afforded us a photo op. The flora
was abundant and colorful, truly a picture I doubt any artist could ever
capture.
Our local guide/driver told us, “The
island has one physician, one pharmacy, and one hospital—clinic really as it is
only able to handle minor problems.”
As on the island of Tahiti the population
inhabits the perimeter of the island with the little houses for their French
bread at roadside. The bread baked by Tahitians is delivered by Chinese---real
community spirit.
We made many stops along the way not only
for photos but also to learn about the culture. We ate tiny thumb size bananas,
which were very sweet and sampled fresh taro and poke, an island tapioca and
papaya pudding. There are no public cemeteries. Relatives are buried in yards.
There
are more than 40 coral slabs from ancient open-air temples called marae. These temples were built by Bora
Bora’s ancient native population. The turtle stone, a petroglyph representing
several turtles, is another ancient relic. We had fun feeding some big hermit crabs.
During
World War II Bora Bora was home to 6000 men stationed at naval and air bases.
The word tabu originated when some of
the men left behind about 200 blue/green eyed blond babies.
Near
the base is a reef where an abundance of friendly and curious moray eels live.
There are certain areas where the eels are hand fed regularly. Tahiti has no
dangerous animals, no snakes or scorpions. The most pesky insect is the
mosquito.
We
saw the hotel cabana where Jack Nicholson stayed when he was in the islands and
the huge house Marlon Brando built for his Tahitian wife. The manicured yard
was beautiful but very American rather than ‘island’. The view was magnificent.
In
1991 a cyclone destroyed the Club Med plus a few other structures. Club Med rebuilt.
The southeast side of the island has beautiful long white beaches. Bora Bora is
truly picturesque.
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