Bora Bora At Last!

After much delay, here are some pictures of Bora Bora that are not from a bird's eye view. These were taken using a Canon PowerShot S200 Digital Elph. As our wedding gift to each other, we purchased a Canon EOS digital Rebel XT, which frankly takes much better pictures, to be shown in the next installment. For an inexpensive pocket digital camera, though, the Elph does amazingly well.

Here's Tom on the walkway from our room (an overwater bungalow at Le Meridien) heading back to the beach and main grounds of the resort.


We took a 4x4 jeep tour of the island one day, and this is a spectacular view of the thin barrier reefs surrounding the island (or motus, as they are called in this region) with the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Another view of the beach at Le Meridien. You can see a lot of the free water sports they offer here: open kayaks, paddle boats, and wind surfers. There is also free rental of snorkle gear, which you must take advantage of to view the turtles in the lagoon. We also rented a Hobie Cat for $20 per hour. Sailing is a lot of fun, provided someone in your party knows how to sail. Don't forget your sunscreen and sunglasses! The sun is incredibly intense and we both had peeling sunburns at one time or another.

This is the view from the boat dock at Le Meridien. In the distance is Mount Otemanu. This mountain is on the mainland of Bora Bora, and is one of the reasons why the location of Le Meridien, situated on a remote motu on the rim of corral surrounding the mainland, is so perfect. To the left you can see some of the overwater bungalows. All of these bungalows have glass floors, letting in the light that sparkles and reflects off the turquoise water below.

A closer view of the Le Meridien beach. The water in the foreground is part of the main lagoon of Bora Bora. The water in the background, behind the trees, is the private lagoon of Le Meridien. It houses many tropical fish and green sea turtles. We spent many hours snorkling in this lagoon, and never grew tired of the sea life. There is even a morray eel in this lagoon, although we never saw him.

This should whet your appetite for the beautiful sights of Bora Bora. More photos soon to come.