BORA BORA

When I was a teenager, I read all of James Michener’s novels. In each of these, I was transported to a time and place where I could learn about a particular geography or culture. None had a greater impact on me than Tales of the South Pacific. In this novel, I learned about this remote part of the world, with craggy volcanic peaks and ridiculously clear azure water. While my friends were gawking at old Playboy magazines, I read National Geographic and immersed myself in the imagination of seeing the world. Especially parts of the world that had muscular men in skimpy native attire.

Throughout my life, I have dreamed about going to Bora Bora, but time, family and not enough money kept this only a dream. But as I was a rounding the corner to complete my 6th decade on earth and my 3rd decade in my company, I decided it was time. Not only was it going to be my 60th birthday (I still can‘t believe it) and my 20th wedding anniversary - 2023 seemed like the perfect time to go.

And I wanted to go BIG - like pull out all the stops BIG. And that’s just what we did. Joe and I flew #UnitedFirst to San Francisco and connected to our #Dreamliner787 to fly to Papeete. We flew the 8 hour trip in #UnitedPolaris and had an amazing experience with the flight and the crew who took care of us. Once we cleared customs, we spent one night at the #Intercontinental hotel in Papeete. We took a quick dip in the pool, had a drink and a light meal and then headed to our room. Huge bats cavorted in the palm trees and made some noises I can’t quite explain.

The next morning, we boarded an #AirTahiti ATR72 for Bora Bora. I’m not a huge fan of propeller planes, but this was comfortable and smooth. We were taken care of by two drop dead gorgeous flight attendants (1 male and 1 female) who had an exotic beauty and charm. I had to force myself not to stare at them. As we made our approach to Bora Bora, I could see why this was coined the most beautiful island in the world. The island was surrounded by an atoll consisting of smaller islands called motu. Rising out of the center of the lagoon was a jagged peak stretching up 2,385 feet into the blue sky. This was Mount Otemanu, the famous landmark that adorned Bora Bora

We were greeted by a team from #StRegisBoraBora and escorted to a motor yacht to take us to the resort. There are very few roads connecting the motus, so the only way to get to the hotel was by boat or helicopter. As we made our way out of the airport marina, we entered the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen. Clean, clear and consisting of more shades of cerulean blue, turquoise and green than I believe I have ever seen. As we neared our hotel, I could see the overwater bungalows almost floating on air over the crystal blue lagoon. We were excited for what awaited us on this magical island….