Jan. 18-20

Our revised itinerary was able to accommodate our medically-needy passenger by traveling straight to Tahiti and cutting out Bora Bora. This evidently upset some passengers because it was a change. The captain was firm, saying that it was his decision and he was comfortable with it. Later, he reinstated Bora Bora and deleted Moorea from our destinations. That was probably a good idea since a ferry can reach Moorea easily from Tahiti for those who wanted to visit Moorea. We don’t hang out with complainers, but they are around.

We arrived at Tahiti about 7am. After a bit of a wait, an ambulance arrived and picked up our departing guest. He looked pretty chipper as he was carried off in a stretcher. We may never know more since Viking is good about guarding health information. (We learned later that he’d had a heart attack. Doctor friends advised there are some triage things the ship doctors can do).

Our first day in Tahiti was pleasant and uneventful. We walked around Papeete and didn’t see anything too spectacular. The high point was the market, but it wasn’t too high. Predictably, they sold lots of fruit, colorful cloth, wooden carvings, ukuleles, and black pearls. Pearls seemed to be everywhere on the islands. Karla took a long walk along the waterfront.

A professional dance team showed up on board the early evening– just before we left and offered a really nice performance. In the evening, Viking showed South Pacific on the pool deck, the movie from the 50’s. It was fun to hear the old songs, but we found our way to bed about half way through.

The next day we arrived at Bora Bora and rode the tender on to the mainland. Our mission was to find the tattoo artist who decorated our wrists on a previous cruise. His shop had been taken over by a black pearl vendor…one of many and we were told he’d moved back to Tahiti.

We decided to take an “included” excursion….a bus trip around the island. We knew there wouldn’t be too much to see when the guide said, “…and, there’s a gas station on the left.” We made several stops including watching for land crabs and stopping for pictures of multi-colored water. Lots of passengers didn’t get off for the stops. When the guide said that we could stay an extra 5 minutes at a stop, there were lots of “no’” responses from the passengers.

The next morning, we were docked once again in Tahiti. We checked two tattoo shops, neither of which worked for us. One was closed and the other couldn’t accommodate our schedule. With nothing better to do, we arranged to join 6 other passengers for a trip around the island. That was a worthwhile 4 hours. There was nothing spectacular, but we saw the small towns, and stopped at a region’s site, a cave, some waterfalls, and nicely-manicured view sites.

Just to be fair to the French Polynesia Chamber of Commerce, I should say more about the islands. They really are beautiful. The volcanic hills/mountains are covered with lush green vegetation. They are surrounded by water with beautiful shades of green and blue, depending on depth and frequent coral reefs. For people who want to sit on a beach in the sun, it may be just right. There are some beach bungalows that can be rented for $2,000/ night for those who really enjoy it. But, it seems to me that beyond sitting and sunning the options are limited…..the exception being diving or snorkeling. The islands we visited had a road around the island, but none across the hills in the middle. Houses were modest on the flatlands adjoining the sea, but the flatlands were not extensive. Circling the island was scenery intensive….not lots of cultural experiences.

We enjoyed the stops, but I’d say the islands are best seen on the way to something else rather than as a destination.