What a wonderful 3 days in Bora Bora we have had. Or shall I say what a great weekend it has been before we are back to business on Monday.

Friday, after we arrived in Bora Bora, we took a shower and headed up to Bloody Marys. We arrived around 3pm hoping to grab a few cold beers and some lunch, we were both starving! We learned very quickly that the bar was open but lunch had just finished and dinner didn't start until 6pm. Beers and appetizers sound like a good alternative. What a cool place this is. Thatched roof, sand covering every inch on the floor; it's just a big tiki that has a full bar and serves wonderful food. And the restrooms are unique also. They are open aired restrooms, with a rock waterfall that acts as a sink; just pull on a ring and the water begins to run. Now, in the men's restroom, the urinal is a big stone wall and to flush it, ya have to pull on a wooden man's anatomy that is hanging on a line. Pretty funny stuff. While Tom was in the restroom, the owner, who we had been talking to for quite some time, told me to go in after him and see this. Needless to say, camera in hand, I had to take a picture! Back at the bar, we chatted it up with the owner, having a great time.

Then, walks in an American couple who are on their honeymoon. They join the three of us at the bar, and more great times are had. We ask the couple where they are from. Response: live in Florida but he's is from small town in Iowa and she is from Columbus, Ohio. Well, no one is from Columbus; we are all from a suburb so we ask her exactly where and guess what...she is from Reynoldsburg! She graduated from Reynoldsburg, but many years after us. Then they both lived in Grove City, I think, for a few years before moving to Florida. But the funniest thing is, she grew up in the same neighborhood, one road over from where Tom grew up, their houses less than a quarter mile apart! Just a small world. We sailed over 5000 miles to Bora Bora, to meet a couple from Ohio. Anyway, we all had dinner and then a few more drinks afterwards. It was a great night and it was wonderful to chat with that couple and the owner of Bloody Marys.

Saturday, after coffee, breakfast, one load of hand washed laundry; we headed out to go snorkeling somewhere. We were going to head into town, to check things out, but since the sky was clear and the sun was calling us to play, we went snorkeling instead. We had a place in mind, just a little south of where we are located. But as we were maneuvering around coral heads, a tour boat went by us. We decided to follow the boat, well as much as we could with our 3 horsepower outboard. Anyway, we ended up motoring for about 30 minutes to an area called "The Coral Gardens." (Tahaa had a Coral Gardens also for snorkeling). We anchored the dinghy down and dove under. It was a pretty good coral area with lots of fish. And the fish were not shy! They swam towards us and followed us. Then, we found out why the fish were so friendly; tourists feed them! At one point, when we had several fish around us, Tom got bit on the finger by a trigger fish! No blood or anything but yep, the fishy bit him. Back onboard Tanga, we took showers and headed back over to Bloody Marys for appetizers and drinks.

Sunday, began with the same idea in mind, let's go snorkeling! Again, after coffee, breakfast and two loads of hand washed laundry; we headed out. We headed south again and wanted to snorkel in this specific area, but unfortunately, it's in a channel and motor boats use this channel. Not a good idea for snorkeling. So, instead, we head west around a motu, past a resort with overwater bungalows. Then, we saw a few tour boats, anchored far out, close to the reef. We motored over to them, and just as we suspected and hoped for, it's the area for feeding sting rays and sharks! We jump in the water and tried to stay away from the tourist, not wanting to intrude in their experience that they had to pay for. Soon enough, we had sting rays swimming by us, up our legs and stomachs, looking for food. Unfortunately, not knowing we would be with the sting rays, we didn't have any food for them. They still swam up to us and let us pet them (the rays only, the sharks stay beyond arm's length). The sting rays are silky smooth to touch and glide so elegantly in the water. Also, we had sharks! Black tipped reef sharks! I was so excited when I saw them. We both put on our snorkel gear and swam to them, snapping as many pictures as we could. We had such a good time with the rays and sharks; we definitely plan on doing it again, this time with some vittles to hand feed them!

Afterwards, we cruised around the other side of the motu and back into the main lagoon. Then as Tom was looking behind his shoulder, checking on traffic, he sees a small Humpback whale breach in the water, 100yds behind us inside the lagoon! He stop's the dinghy and we wait. We wait to see the whale come up for air again. He surfaces a second time and is traveling further into the lagoon. The third time we saw him surface, mommy was with him, surfacing at the same time, about 30 yards beside us as the video camera ran! Mommy looked to be 40 feet long and the baby was about 20 feet long. We saw them blow a few more times, but they were quite a bit away from us by then as we were trying to give them room. It was just amazing to see two whales swimming inside the lagoon! What a way to finish our day on the water.

Monday it's off to work. We need to go to town for our tattoos, an atm, and some fresh fruit. If we finish early enough we'll try for another snorkel, but work must come first. We'll probably head to Marys again for dinner; they make the best Mahi we've ever had.

I also added a new Photo Gallery page for Bora Bora.