Monday, February 18, 2019
Where am I?
What happened today?
Well, I really screwed up today, and that’s just about the whole story. Here’s what I did (and didn’t.)
I got up this morning and prepared myself to go ashore. I hopped on the tender at about 12:30pm. The tender dropped us off at the docks in Vaitape which is the largest settlement in Bora Bora. Once I reached the docks, people were going through a gauntlet of vendors and tour operators and other touring related stuff. I decided to bypass the line and go take this photo of our ship in the bay.
I also bypassed the line of tour operators because I wasn’t planning on taking a tour today. I was planning to find a nice pub with some good wifi and spend the afternoon kicked back and enjoying the wonder of Bora Bora. My decision to do this came about due to two reasons. 1) The costs for any tour offered in Bora Bora was some of the most expensive that I’ve seen so far. Like $250 for a 4 hour jeep ride. 2) The bartender on the ship told me there was a very good watering hole right across the street after you disembark from the tender.
So, after snapping my photo of our ship I headed toward the main street of town to find that pub. When I got to the main road, there was nothing to be found that even remotely resembled a pub. So, I turned left and walked about 3/4 of a mile until I was at the end of town. (Vaitape is a really tiny place.) Along the way I did pass a little café stuck back in a corner of a parking lot and it did have a couple of beer signs. But it was tiny and open-air. I figure the little café could not be the pub that the bartender told me about. So, I turned around and went the other way for about one mile. At that point, I had reached the other end of town. A woman working in a travel agency saw me meandering and came out to help me. She asked me if I was looking for something in particular and I told her I just wanted to find a nice place to sit down and enjoy a cold beer. She then informed me that the only place in town to get a beer (other than the grocery store) was that little corner café.
So, I returned to the café, had a salad and a beer. At that point I had one bottle of the only brand of beer they had in stock, I had been to both edges of town, I had seen it all and there wasn’t anything to see. Confused and dismayed, I returned to the ship.
That evening, I learned from some fellow travelers that, had I stayed in line and run the gauntlet of tour operators, I would have learned about the $5 shuttle bus that runs around the island every 30 minutes. It goes to those postcard-like beaches on the south part of the island and passes by all of the resorts where one can buy a day pass and hang out at the pub, resort style!
I didn’t know that, so I didn’t get to see the best part of Bora Bora, my favorite South Pacific island, so far. Doh!
The island is breathtakingly beautiful, from wherever you stand. or float! We weren’t the only cruise ship in the bay, either. A Windstar cruise ship was there. It’s so much smaller than the Amsterdam yet it looks like it is completely modern, except for those masts! I would love to see that ship in full sail!
So, just as I wrote when I started this post, I repeat: I screwed up! Or perhaps I’ve just laid the foundation for a future trip to Bora Bora when I can hang out for a couple of weeks and get to know the island better. Dunno. Maybe.
I don’t even have a “sail away” photo for you this time as the ship didn’t leave Bora Bora until about 10:30pm. Sorry, I’ll try to do better, else this will wind up being a completely wasted trip around the world!
P.S. The photo at the top of this page shows you what I came back to this evening, hanging in my stateroom. I’m doing what I can to keep that monkey off my back!
I’m seeing a return trip to Bora Bora in your future for sure. 🎱
Wow! I’m sorry you had such a disappointing experience on Bora Bora! It looks amazing!
That sure looks a whole lot more like an Orangutan then a monkey. Sorry about the misstep on Bora Bora. You definitely go back and check out the pub on the other side of the island.
Chalk it up as a lesson learned!