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!

PA and the JUNGLE

WHAT WAS I THINKING

Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands, its capitol, and spectacularly beautiful. Shaped like a small round bean it is surrounded by a protective reef which is broken in 5-6 places. There are four atolls in the lagoon on the east side of the island. The well known white beaches nearly surround the island which is fringed with coconut palms. The turquoise blue lagoon is full of colorful tropical fish.

The interior of the island is rugged and mountainous, covered with dense lush green growth. The narrow valleys and steep hills make it difficult to populate. The Needle, a rock pinnacle, in the center of the island stands 2000 feet above the fertile valley. It is the highest point on the island and a vigorous hike over a razorback ridge, one few tourist attempt.

I took one look at Pa, the medicine man and silently wondered what I had gotten myself into. However, I did trek into the jungle with him. Pa was a 58 year old native Rarotongan whose head was crowned with blond dread locks. He wore a tie-dyed pareu around his waist wrapped sort of like a diaper. He told the 16 of us brave souls who were  waitingto follow him, “I’ve hiked into the mountain over 1000 times.”

On the walk to where the lush vegetation began we saw chestnut trees and wild pumpkin/squash vines. As we walked through the forest he pointed out the tapioca plant, a candlenut tree and the no no plant.

He told us, “Oil from the candlenut was used to light lanterns before the days of kerosene. The fruit of the no no plant with two nuts, some of the leaves and mixing it all with green coconut milk was used for prostate or kidney problems."

We passed by several old plantation ruins deep in the valleys. We followed a stream into the lush greenness. It was up and over fallen trees, down on the other side, cross the stream by balancing on rocks, then repeat it all over again. The climb was often steep and I swear we crossed that stream a hundred times. It was a pretty rugged hike.

Pesky mosquitoes buzzed in thick swarms. Long sleeves and pants completely covered me except for my face and hands and they with my clothing were doused with bug juice.

Pa got us to an ancient marae which I’m guessing was a couple of miles into the jungle. It is very hard to judge distance on this type of a criss-cross, up and down hike. Arriving at the site Pa said, “Before we can step on the marae I will talk to my ancestors and bless the marae. Since I am a high ariki (kahuna, priest) I can do this.”

The marae is an open air temple in a clearing and when Pa was finished we could step on it to rest a bit.

He continued, “Today the marae is  used only for investiture of a new chief who is carried by warriors onto the marae. He sits on a stone at the head of the temple. Then a pig is brought to him and he is required to chew the ear off the pig and eat it. Then the party of celebration begins.” (I’m not sure if the pig is alive or dead, cooked or raw.)

There was some conversation when Pa asked if we wanted to continue on. Since we had been hiking and swatting mosquitoes for several hours it was a quick consensus to not continue any further. Most of the hikers were about the age of my adult children.

We returned to the stream where we had passed a pretty waterfall and settled in for lunch surrounded by dinosaur ferns. Pa told us, “These ferns only grow in three places in the world, here, Hawaii, and Costa Rica. It was extremely quiet and peaceful with only the sound of the waterfall breaking the silence.

The hike was really tough on the knees and thighs. The next couple of days my legs and body were not very happy with the abuse I had given them. At any rate the jungle is really beautiful and I’m glad I trekked it. It was an interesting experience, although I would like to have had more information regarding the edible and medicinal plants.

THE AMAZING COCONUT

                                 USE IT ALL
Having lived in Hawaii for years and eaten many a coconut, I learned a lot more about the ‘nut of life’ in Raratonga, Cook Islands.

The saying goes, if one takes care of a coconut tree for 6-7 years it will take care of you for the rest of your life. Island inhabitants waste nothing. The tree trunk, the coconut, fiber, leaves, nut shell, meat and milk are all used.

There are six stages of life for a coconut. The milk is sweetest in the third stage. The coconut fiber is easiest to remove in the fourth stage, when it can be pulled and twisted into rope. The coconut falls from the tree during the fourth stage. The nuts ripen at different times, so they don’t all fall at once. Natives know better than to sit under a coconut tree!

The nut sprouts sending out roots to grow another tree in the sixth and final stage. This is when the meat turns mushy becoming a treat for island youngsters who liken it to marshmallow. Coconut trees require little care to grow, but take 6-7 years to produce fruit.

The tree trunk is used for posts, stools, drums, storage containers, and even dugout canoes. The bark provides firewood. Small chunks of bark are dried and when burned act as nature’s natural mosquito repellent.

The fiber growing at the base of the leaves is used for clothing, loin cloths, and decoration on dancing skirts. When painted with various designs it becomes a wall decoration or hanging. The fiber is also used to strain coconut milk from the meat. Tree roots are used to make fish traps, usually for eels.

Palm fronds are woven into dishes, platters, sleeping mats, window coverings, fans, hats, and decorations. Polished coconut shells become bowls. Dancers use polished half shells as bras when dancing. Until the late 1950s many buttons were made from coconut shells. Jewelry, earrings, and toys are fashioned from the shell.

Coconut milk is used in cooking, cosmetics, and lotions. It is truly a tree of life for islanders!