Sunday, 7 Sep 2008
The Fish On My Plate and Beneath My Feet
September 5, 2008
We wake up early around 9am to eat breakfast later today. It’s pretty much the first day in a long while during which we’ve slept in. And it’s not even that late.
Immediately after lunch we trek over to the turtle center where they’ve already begun feeding the turtles. The turtles are awesome! I snap away on the D3 as they tug and pull on the meat from the turtle handler. This of course attracts the attention of many nearby fish and they gather around to feed on scraps.
We head back to the bungalow for a quick change and application of sun-screen and shortly we’re off to the inner lagoon! The inner lagoon is within the premises of the resort and is connected to the outer lagoon by several waterways. The purpose of the inner lagoon is to provide guests with a safe environment to swim without battling the outer lagoon currents and to also provide the turtle center with a sanctuary for the turtles to live and grow. Thus while the inner lagoon still has water flow, is fenced off from the outer lagoon. We snorkel and look at the fish that are trapped in the inner lagoon and find many of the same fish that are in the outer lagoon. There are still coral reefs here though not as plentiful. More importantly however, I find several turtles that were visitors during the feeding earlier!
For the rest of the afternoon we sunbathe, eat a quick lunch, and then take a quick nap.
At 4:30pm we’re whisked off in a catamaran for a sunset cruise. Our guide chases down the sun/clouds relentlessly trying to get us a great view of the sunset. I’ve brought the D3 and actually all my lenses including my tripod. The catamaran however is no place for camera equipment as waves and wind blow and splash us the entire journey. Both Catherine and I are confined to lie on the tarps to prevent falling into the lagoon. That said, I still manage to click away on the D3 and take perhaps 100 pictures on the ride!
We come back to Le Meridien and immediately hit dinner as it’s time to eat! Today we try the non-buffet restaurant and order fish and seafood. Surprisingly the food is better than that of the buffet and we manage to stay within the budget buffet price (which was pre-paid and the credit was transferred over to the restaurant).
It’s now 9:30pm and after a quick shower, we run to join the Tahitian dancers that have already begun their shows. These are traditional Polynesian dancers that look much like those of Hawaii. The dancers themselves are young, mostly teenagers.
It’s now 11:20pm and I should be going to bed soon. Tomorrow is an action-packed day with a helicopter ride (I hope I get to sit by the window, I hope it’s sunny and clear, and that the window is clear and clean, and that the views are unobstructed. After the helicopter ride, it’s off to the main island of Bora Bora for a 4-hour exploration of the island! On a side note there are some huge-ass fish beneath our bungalow approximately 2-3 feet long and jumping out of the water. I don’t know what they’re doing but they’re making a lot of noise. They’re probably eating or something but man they are HUGE!
