Last evening we had some a lightning and thunderstorm as we sailed towards Bora Bora. Keith woke up even earlier than usual and began his workout in the Fitness Center at 4:40 AM. One other fellow cruiser, John, who also works out almost every morning on the elliptical machine, was in the Fitness Center around 5:00 AM. John and Keith each enjoy a particular elliptical machine so they have a running joke as to who will get the machine first. John told Anne Marie that he might have to start getting up there at 4:00 AM. ☺ Anne Marie began her workout at around 5:20 AM. We enjoyed a nice workout and Keith watched part of the movie The Bounty. By the time we finished our workout, a few other passengers were working out.
We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. As soon as we walked in the café we were greeted by several of the Lido Deck Stewards who we have come to know very well. About midway through out breakfast, one couple joined and as we were getting ready to leave one other passenger sat at our table as well.
Today our ship arrived in Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia. Bora Bora is one of many Society Islands, which comprise part of the French Polynesia. The road around Bora Bora is only about nineteen miles. Approximately 5,000 residents occupy this island. James Michener has called Bora Bora the most beautiful island of the world.
Our ship anchored off Bora Bora and tenders operated from 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
We listened to the Captain’s report at 8:00 AM and his thought of the day is “Dreams keep changing but friends are forever.”
We booked a shore excursion through Crystal Cruises since this was our first time visiting this island. We met at 8:30 AM and the shore excursion was called Brief Bora Bora Highlights. This excursion involved a journey all around this beautiful island. We drove through several small towns as we took in all of the majestic scenery around us from the beautiful mountain peaks to the pristine like waters to all of the beautiful vegetation. As part of the excursion we made several stops including stopping at Bora Bora’s famous beach called Matira Beach, and a famous Bora Bora restaurant called Bloody Mary’s. Along the way we viewed a variety of fruit trees including banana, mango, coconut, and breadfruit trees and we saw an enormous number of flowers. Our guide pointed out so many other items during our three-hour drive. We were very fortunate that we had nice weather. Although there were a couple of times when it looked like it might rain, we did not have any rain during our excursion.
We rode in a fairly old bus with wooden seats. Our driver was both driver and tour guide and did an outstanding job of giving us lots of excellent information about all that we saw during our drive. The road around the island is a two-way road and a large portion of the road is in the process of being repaired. The United States Military built the road during World War II.
From our bus we could also see many of the resorts that have helped to make Bora Bora famous and a popular destination spot.
We learned that about 80% of the population is involved in the tourist industry and that in the average house two to three family members must work to support the household. There are no public cemeteries and sometimes there are tombs in front of individual homes. In terms of fruit, seventeen types of mangos are grown on Bora Bora along with six types of bananas; including finger bananas.
When we returned back to the ship we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the main dining room.
At around 1:15 PM we watched the Superbowl. The game was available to watch in our staterooms on the television, and in other venues including the Connoisseur’s Club and the Stardust Club. Hotdogs, Popcorn and Soft Drinks were available in the Stardust Club along with bar service along with a big screen. Crystal made arrangements to bring in a special satellite feed so commercials were not available. But, nevertheless it was wonderful that we could watch the game.
Later in the afternoon, there was a Polynesian Rum Punch Sail Away to coincide with our sail away from Bora Bora as we set sail for Apia, Western Samoa.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the dining room. We had pre-ordered swordfish as our dinner entrée and it was delicious. As we enjoyed our dinner we had beautiful views from our window table.
We have posted some new pictures on our picture web site highlighting some of the Pacific Ocean Islands that we have visited thus far.
Keith
