Bora Bora
To give it justice, I cannot describe the awesome beauty of this island in my own words, so to quote James Michener; “… On the horizon there was a speck that became a tall, blunt mountain with cliffs dropping sheer into the sea. About the base of the mountain, narrow fingers of land shot out, forming magnificent bays, while about the whole was thrown a coral ring of absolute perfection, dotted with small motus on which palms grew. The lagoon… was a crystal blue, the beaches were dazzling white, and ever on the outer reef the spray leaped mountainously into the air.”
We decided to first set anchor in front of the magnificent Bora Bora Nui Resort. That evening we joined some fellow cruisers and treated ourselves to a sumptuous feast and Polynesian dance performance there. In the ten days we were on the island we anchored in numerous spots around the whole of it, some more remote than others. But we got a true feel of Bora when we decided to pull our bikes out and ride the 32km around it. Doing this we got a variety of views of these magnificent peaks and also an honest impression of the development of Bora and the effect it has on the local people.
The population of Bora Bora is over 5700 and there are a total of over 30 resorts and hotels on the island and its motus. Outside of the resort walls was a very different Bora Bora. The people are very used to tourists but there is a distinct impression that they wish they weren’t so acquainted with them. Basically it was our impression that they are overloaded with resorts and visiting tourists and have lost that welcoming, friendliness or as we call it in Hawaii, the “Aloha Spirit”. We noticed that very little of the money coming in from tourism seemed to be going back into the community to help it develop and grow into itself smoothly and the locals had a significant lack of community pride for their homeland. Consequently there was more trash, disorganization and poverty than we had seen on any of the islands since Tahiti.
Later we caught up with Steve Donnetin who we met in Kona a few months before we left Hawaii. We can now call Steve a friend after getting to know him better over quite a few drinks and a couple of meals at the famous Bloody Mary’s restaurant and yacht club, a very fun place with terrific food. All in all Bora Bora was an experience we will always remember fondly, albeit with mixed feelings.
