Bora Bora

A very scenic 25 minute flight brought us from Huahine to Bora Bora, the most famous island in French Polynesia. While approaching Bora Bora’s airport, we could already see the resort where we were going to stay for the next four nights. At the airport, we were once again greeted with a Lei and transferred to our resort by boat. Just when we were arriving, a wedding was happening there at the beach. Not a bad place to get married, although we doubt many friends would have come had we done ours here.

Raiatea from the plane

Bora Bora from the plane

Sam on a boat

Wedding in our Bora Bora resort

One of the most striking features of Bora Bora is Mount Otemanu, the 727 meter high peak of the island. Because our resort was located on a motu (small, sandy reef island surrounding an atoll) to the East of the main island, we had a perfect view of that jagged mountain. Especially the sunset view was fantastic and we usually admired it from the bar with a cocktail in hand.

Mount Otemanu in Bora Bora

Sunset behind Mount Otemanu

There was plenty to keep us entertained for four days. We kayaked around the motu, swam and snorkeled in our resort lagoon and even tried stand-up-paddling, which was actually easier than we expected. While snorkeling, we saw, besides plenty of colorful fish, a moray eel and two sting rays. On our first evening at the resort, there was also a nice Polynesian dance and music show which was a lot of fun. However, our favorite part of the resort was the Turtle Center, an independent operation on the resort grounds that treats injured turtles. Everyday, guests of the resort had the opportunity to help feeding the turtles, which we did twice. We loved feeding Jordan, our favorite turtle who was there with kidney problems.

Marta with Polynesian dance performers

Marta feeding Jordan, the turtle

For the first two days, we stayed in a bungalow and for the last two in an overwater villa. This villa was much fancier and more modern than the one we had in Huahine. It even had a glass floor through which we could see the sea and the occasional fish passing by. We did not like it quite as much as our Huahine villa though, because the porch was much smaller, the water in front was less than a meter deep and it was less secluded and private. It was still a great experience though.

The porch of our overwater villa

Inside of our overwater villa in Bora Bora, with Marta visible through the glass floor

Bora Bora roughly marked the middle of our trip around the world. It was also the farthest point from home on our journey, over 16 thousand kilometers from Zurich. Together with Hawaii, it was the place with the largest time difference (11 hours). Therefore, our return to Switzerland is now closer than our departure and after six months of moving away from home, we now start to move towards it. We left Bora Bora for Tahiti on the 7th of January and spent a short night there. At the most inconvenient time of 3 in the morning of the next day we departed French Polynesia towards Easter Island.

Marta at the airport of Tahiti