After more rustling of thatch last
night than lapping against piles (neither description figurative, I
hasten to clarify) we woke to another brilliant morning. They do a very
good breakfast buffet here at the Bora Bora Le Méridien, I must say; but we had
to rush a bit to meet our guide for the day.
Mana was a very cheerful local man who
arrived in a modern outrigger motorboat and afterwards dipped into several neighbouring
resorts – all of them featuring over-water bungalows, with a couple of fancier
versions on two levels with even their own raised pools, which seemed a bit
superfluous given there is an expanse of warm, shallow turquoise water right
there.
Anyway, once our complement of 12 guests
was on board, we buzzed down to the south of the lagoon, Mana plinking away on
a ukulele while steering with his feet, the views of Mt Otemanu changing
constantly but always impressive. The colours of the sea were sensational:
luminous turquoise in the shallows and brilliant blue in the deeps, right next
to each other. Beautiful.
First stop was for a snorkel with stingrays
and, speaking personally, a bit of an ethical dilemma à la Jean Lafitte SwampTours. Because these stingrays had no stings, the barbs having been removed
from their tails – a twice-yearly exercise, apparently, since they grow back
like fingernails. Mana said it wasn’t painful and, coward, I didn’t ask any more
questions, but I did wonder about the rays that had no tails at all, or
truncated ones.
Next came the coral gardens snorkel, where
we were given bread to feed the fish: not a natural food, but they certainly
seemed keen on it. There was a good variety of species, the water was very
clear and warm, there was plenty of time to cruise over the reef playing with
underwater cameras, and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Last snorkel of the day was with the
sharks, and there was a lot more shrieking this time – quite unnecessarily, as
no-one got ate or even nibbled, though the sharks did get remarkably close.
They were black-tipped reef sharks, the biggest a bit over a metre, with some lemon
sharks prowling down on the bottom, one of them a twelve-footer. Not scary
at all, and fun to photograph although they glided through the water so fast
that I ended up with more than the usual quota of photos with part of a tail
fin disappearing out of the frame.
Lunch was on a tiny motu where another group was enjoying local entertainment: background music for our yummy buffet,
eaten off plaited palm plates which, afterwards, Mana demonstrated how to make.
Then, how to open a brown-husked coconut and make coconut milk from the grated
flesh, and finally how to tie a pareu in a variety of ways. It was a professional
and funny presentation, and on the way home he serenaded us even more
musically. Excellent tour – although I’m still a bit dubious about those rays.
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