Bora Bora: Day 4 - Discovery

Monday, June 10, 2013

We paid a taxi to tour us around the island this morning. The first stop was at a protestant church. As we learned, Bora Bora is a Protestant island whereas the Marquesas are mostly catholic.

The next stop was at the remains of an old temple along side the water. This rock had a hieroglyph of a turtle. The turtle was considered a sacred animal and would ONLY be eaten by chiefs on special occasions. I learned they also eat dog here...

We hiked up a really steep trail that led to an old American cannon from WWII.

It was huge.

There was also an ammunitions bunker.

And a machine gun bunker that soldiers would shoot out from.

Supposedly, when the tsunami hit, all the villagers retreated up this mountain the escape the onrush of water.

It offered some beautiful views of the bay and the famous over-the-water bungalows.

Our friend tried teaching me how to play the Veevo (nose flute). They believed that the mouth was used only for speech, so they would play this flute by blowing out their nose.

He also tried to teach me this bird-call whistle that, again, you operate with your nose.

Here are some shots of the iconic Mount Otemanu.

And we got to see some of the fruit that are local to Bora Bora including Noni Fruit, Soursop, and one whose juice I have learned goes great with rum, papaya:

This here is the famous beach on the south side of the island.

We finished off our day with lunch at Bloody Mary's, which is supposed to be the go-to restaurant here. It is quite famous among tourists who stay at one of the many water-bungalow resorts.

Quite a few famous people have eaten here.

Note that both 'Megan Fox' and 'Steven Stills' appear on the list twice...?

It was a big hut with an all-sand ground and whose patrons were all American tourists.

I had the Mahi Mahi Reuben. I love reubens and get them whenever available. I had never expected to be ordering one way out here in the middle of the ocean. Nor did I ever think I would be eating a fish reuben.

There was a mango tree out front of the restaurant, which also goes great with rum.

And this crazy fellow.