Heaven on Earth {French Polynesia Trip}

This  summer we decided to go on a second honeymoon after being married for 13 years.  It wasn’t  a big anniversary, or any other special occasion.  But why should it really?  I was gripped by this unexplained urgency that I need to seize the moment, now – not later, when I am turning 50, or when we are celebrating our 25th.   With our kids tucked away safely at their aunt and uncle’s place, we were free to go honeymooning.  And what better place to go than French Polynesia – the most romantic place on earth!

It was a magical trip, one that I would like to etch forever in my mind, so before my memories start to fade, I wanted to put it down on paper (uhm, blog post).  Words cannot fully do justice to describe this heaven on earth.  The pictures may do a better job, but they are inept too.

We stayed at a private resort on a tiny motu (islet) – one of many, that dotted the perimeter of the blue lagoon of Taha’a island. We kept thinking, in awe, how we’ve landed smack in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, and we were just a tiny speck on the map (you couldn’t even find us on the map unless you maxed the zoom-in on Google maps)  It gave us chills and thrilled us at the same time.

Vahine island private resort was a piece of paradise – it wasn’t like any other place we’ve stayed at.  What made it so special was the unique combination of boutique luxury, personal attention and superb food on the one hand, and truly  back-to-nature and local cultural experiences on the other.  It didn’t have the feel of a resort because it was so small and private.  You almost felt like you were all alone on the island, but you knew that the invisible staff are all around you, ready to grant your wishes at any time. It was beautiful and cozy, without the stiff luxury of a big resort.

We stayed at a beach bungalow with magnificent vistas of the adjacent Mount Otemanu on Bora Bora island, and the nearby reef.  The rest was a vast, endless blue.  The most amazing blue I’ve ever seen.  We couldn’t peel our eyes off the water, and couldn’t get enough of the distant sound of the crashing waves which lulled us into a catatonic state of permanent bliss.

As much as we wanted to savor every moment slowly, and stretch the time indefinitely, we knew we had only three days, so we wanted to fill our time with every possible experience the island had to offer.

The moment we set foot on on the island, we were greeted with a giant cocktail by Laure, the manager, who immediately felt like a friend.  Half an hour later, we were in our swim suites, snorkels and flippers in hand, and ready for our first snorkeling adventure.  Roi, the so called ‘beach boy’ at the resort, whose job was to entertain the guests, took us to the nearby motu where the snorkeling was best.  The ocean floor was covered with corrals, and the most unusual creatures – it was unreal! We saw giant clamps with bright turquoise and purple lips, which opened and closed menacingly.

We saw a myriad of colorful fish, straight out from a Discovery  channel show.  We even saw an octopus, which Roi skillfully retrieved from a tiny whole in one of the thousands of corrals around (how he knew where to poke is a complete mystery).  We saw and even held in our hands a puffer fish – the funniest little creature which pumped itself up like a balloon, and stayed on the surface of the water pouting with its beak-like mouth.

No sooner than we came back from the snorkeling trip, we were invited to attend a coconut show.  I thought it would be similar to a show I’ve seen in Hawaii but it was nothing like that.

Roi (again) gathered us at a small clearing in the coconut grove that occupies a big part of the island.  He then showed us how to clean the coconut from its thick husk, and how to crack it open.  Then he used a giant grinder, and in no time, transformed the coconut flesh into a pile of white flaky coconut-ty goodness.  Then came the good part – he squeezed the liquid out of the meat, and to my horror threw the meat on the ground to feed the birds! (I was to quickly learn that the coconut which is so abundant on the Polynesian islands is left to rot on the ground carelessly, and is not even slightly appreciated by the locals).  But the liquid he generously gave us to try was the sweetest, most delicious coconut milk I’ve ever tasted.  It was thick and so sweet, you would think, there was sugar in it.  I never knew coconuts could be so sweet in their natural state!  And to sweeten the deal even more, Roi added a good amount of rum to the remaining milk, and gave us another round.  This time it felt like drinking Bayleys – only better.

Slightly dizzy from the experience (not so much from the alcohol as much as everything else) we headed to our bungalow for some zen moment before dinner.

There was another surprise that day when we found out that the sun sets quite early on the islands.  It was hardly 5.30 when the sun began its slow dance toward the horizon and the sky lit up with brilliant shades of glowing oranges and pinks.

We quickly grabbed our cameras and tried to capture the beauty from all possible angles before it finally disappeared at a quarter to 6.

After a full day of activities, it was time for dinner.  We didn’t know it that first day, but it was soon to become one of our most favorite activities of the day.  Dinner at Vahine Island was really special – it was intimate, it was romantic, it was insanely delicious, and it felt like a ritual – from the candle lights and flowers, the discreet music in the background, the lovely servers and the food – oh God, the food! Every single course was a masterpiece – from presentation to taste.  We’ve never had such sophisticated, exquisite and delicious food before! I think it spoiled us for life 🙂 Everywhere else we went after, we always compared the food with Vahine, and nothing could top that.

It was a four-course deal, and usually by the end of the second appetizer and the second glass of wine we were pleasantly full and could stop right there.  Could we really?  The main course and desserts were even more impressive, with each course vying for the top spot.

This was probably my favorite appetizer, and I have recreated a version of this sautéed crab over squash puree, replacing the lobster with crab meat (which still turned out pretty awesome).

After dinner, the staff would entertain the guests by feeding the reef sharks which to our great surprise came in flocks, just inches from the shore.  The water would come alive with their flapping and nervous, hungry circling around.

Day Two

Our second day was even more packed with activities.  It started with a treat of a breakfast – amazing homemade vanilla yogurt, an array of exotic jams and fruits, and French pastries – it was sumptuous! The homemade yogurt, served proudly in cute miniature glass jars was so good and thick, and infused with local Tahitian vanilla, that they even have the recipe posted on a card at each bungalow.

Shortly after breakfast, we started on a 2-hour, fishing excursion in the lagoon.  This was our first experience with trolling – a fishing method where the fishing line is drawn through the water, while the boat slowly moves.   We’ve been circling around the lagoon for an hour, holding out our rods, and already beginning to doubt that we were ever going to catch anything.  Our doubts grew even bigger when our guide was repeatedly navigating the boat through very shallow water – 2-3 feet deep.  Apparently though, he knew what he was doing, because all of a sudden I felt a strong tug at the line, and to my amazement pulled out a giant (in my modest fishing experience it was giant) barracuda!

I was beyond thrilled!  A few minutes later my husband caught another barracuda, and at that point we were ready to call it a happy ending of our fishing trip!  The funny thing was we caught them both at the shallowest water.

But the best surprise was when we came back ashore and the chef said they will cook the fish for us for lunch!  There were still a couple of hours before lunch, so we grabbed a kayak and went snorkeling in the nearby reef.  We came back hungry and even more curious to see what became of our barracudas.  It was waiting for us, on a plate, served on a table right on the beach!

Maybe it’s because food tastes better when you grow/catch it yourself, maybe it was the hypnotizing blue of the water that played tricks on my mind, or maybe it was simply that I was hungry from the fishing trip, but that barracuda, cooked mere minutes after it’s been caught, in the simplest of all preparations (pan fried with just salt and pepper) was perfection on a plate.

 

We barely had time for a strong espresso and a piece of dark chocolate after lunch, before our next trip to the local vanilla plantation was scheduled to begin.  The island of Taha’a, which is the main island in the center of the lagoon, is home to the only vanilla plantation in French Polynesia.  I was surprised to find out that this plantation, which produces two thirds of all the world famous Tahitian vanilla was rather small, and looked like a modest-size farm!

The tour was  very informative and interesting.  Now we knew why vanilla was the second most expensive spice in the world (saffron being the first)!  It takes 3 years for the vanilla vine to start bearing fruit, and then it takes nine months for the bean pods to mature.  But to even produce a bean pod, it almost seems like a miracle because the pollination of the flowers is done manually! When the vanilla vine starts blooming, its flowers open up at sunrise, and close up and die at sunset if not pollinated, which leaves a very narrow time span for the workers to painstakingly pollinate the blooms by hand, flower by flower!  This seemed almost ridiculous!  In nature, the vanilla flowers are pollinated by one specific species of bee, and humming bird, native only to Mexico!  But apparently manual pollination is the norm, even in Mexico where the bees can miss far too many precious flowers.

After the beans are picked (they look like long green beans), they are left to dry and ferment in the sun during the day, and wrapped up and put in sweat boxes at night.  This process continues for three months at least.

The interesting thing about the fermented vanilla beans was the aroma – they did not smell like vanilla at all!  They had an earthy, slightly sour smell that reminded me of the smell of olives.  They say that Tahitian vanilla has a unique, milder and more fruity taste which makes it suitable for savory dishes.  Maybe that was the reason for the lack of strong vanilla scent I expected.

Day two concluded with a spectacular dinner again.   This time, we started with foie gras, served with edible gold decorations…(!!!)

…and concluded with another fabulous dessert – banana Crème brûlée!

Day Three

We spent our last day at Vahine kayaking, and exploring the other small motus in the lagoon.  We packed our snorkel gear, and a light lunch, and got in one of the kayaks you can freely use at the resort.  We started along the perimeter of the lagoon, and stopped at any island we chose.  They were mostly uninhabited, and we could freely roam and explore!  It was a dream come true when I spotted all kinds of exotic shells, huge and unbroken!  I could have taken them all, if it wasn’t for the small kayak that barely fitted our lunch box and us.

Island-hopping, and exploring, swimming and snorkeling, it was a surreal and unforgettable Robinson-Crusoe-like experience! We’ve kayaked so far that we could no longer see our island.  We had no idea how many islands we’ve passed (we tried to keep track but lost it at some point).

We finally headed back, and after 6 hours of adventure, enjoyed a well deserved cocktail and island style snacks at the bar.

We spent the rest of the day lounging on our patio, enjoying the beautiful sunset for the last time and getting ready for the last dinner.

The triple dessert that night was the perfect ending of the trip!  Need I say more?

We got up early, just in time to capture the sunrise.  We enjoyed our favorite vanilla yogurt for the last time at breakfast, and it was time to say goodbye, and a hearty Māuruuru roa (Thank you very much) Vahine!

Day 4 – Bora Bora

Just when we thought we’ve seen it all, there was Bora Bora.   It took our breath away.  The dramatic silhouette of Mount Otemanu, rising 2400 feet above the water, with its rugged vertical peaks was at stark contrast to the neon-colored calm water of the lagoon.  We were speechless and humbled, and the only thing we could do was shooting picture after picture, capturing the same scene over and over again, like maniacs. It really didn’t make sense at all, except that it felt so good (we would later curse ourselves when we had to comb through thousands of pictures, most of which were pretty much the same, and select the best).  The intensity of the colors was unreal – the water changed from turquoise, to neon to Turkish blue in seconds sometimes and we couldn’t even capture that on camera.

The boat ride to our hotel was actually a nice bonus, round-the-island trip.  It lasted over 30 minutes during which we shot 30K pictures.   We chose to stay on the main island, even though the best resorts are located in the water, on the small motus.  We wanted to have flexibility and explore the nearby Matira beach (the world’s #3 most beautiful beach they say) whenever we chose to.

Day 5 – Snorkeling

We had a snorkeling trip booked for that day via a local, family run company – Raanui tours, and it was the highlight of our Bora Bora stay!
This was the real deal in snorkeling!  Our first stop was the famous Coral Gardens. Expecting to see a view similar to the one on Vahine, I was blown away by this stunning underwater world!  Crystal clear water that ran a good 10-14 yards deep, and thousands of fish (so may we could hardly see each other), all around us, nibbling bread from our hands, like birds.  We were literally swimming in a giant aquarium.  We were actually just floating, jaw dropped, mesmerized by the view.

After this initial thrilling experience, we were so much more eager to see what’s more in store for us.  Next stop was the giant manta ray.   We saw this amazing creature from above but you could tell it’s about 10 yards long – it was peacefully flapping its wings in a slow motion and was incredible to watch.

After that it was time for swimming with the sharks and rays!  We stopped in shallow water, swarming with reef sharks and sting rays! Never have I thought I would willingly swim with these creatures brushing against my skin, and being completely at ease (and in awe) with them.  The rays were pretty funny and friendly.  They would come to you and try to crawl up and hug you with their huge wings.  The sharks wouldn’t even pay attention to you.    The reef sharks were about a yard and a half long but despite our close proximity under water we felt safe (and maybe more ecstatic in our adrenaline-rush state).

We would later stop at a place to see the giant (and more dangerous) lemon sharks, this time though only from a safe distance above.  We asked our captain why wouldn’t the sharks come up for food, since we spilled a whole bucket full of raw fish, and blood in the water when we stopped at the spot.  He explained that early in the morning a lot of scuba divers go in, and feed the sharks well, so by noon, they’ve already had their fare share of food, and we weren’t of any interest to them.

Our snorkeling trip concluded with a traditional French Polynesian picnic on a motu.  We stopped at Motu Tapu which they say is the most photographed islet in the Pacific.  With Mount Otemanu as its backdrop on one side, and the infinite blue of the ocean all around, Motu Tapu was as if taken straight out of your imagination.  We had an hour to have a delicious lunch, explore and enjoy our small paradise, and take gazillions of pictures again.

Days 6-7

Despite of what many think, and what we also expected, Bora Bora is not all luxury and splendor.  It’s actually a curious mix of contrasts – posh, glossy resorts, in the middle of the water, extreme poverty on the main island, where people lived in shacks, but had a million dollar view from their windows!  And there we were, staying in an over-water bungalow, waking up to the sound of roosters crowing, just on the other side of the fence separating the resort from the local village.  It also wasn’t the lively island I had imagined it to be.  It had a feel of fading glory about it with its almost empty, and quiet resorts, and beaches despite this being the top season.

I was happy that we could see the flip side of the coin too.   We saw most of the real Bora Bora on a biking trip we took around the island, during a rainy day.  It took us 4 hours to circle the island along the only main road they have, which passes through scattered village look-alike house formations, and the main village of Vaitape.   We were eager to learn more about the population and further immerse ourselves in the local culture, and we soon found a source of infinite knowledge!

Last Day

Meet Azdine – a local hiking guide, who organizes the Valley of the Kings hiking tour.   Azdine is a Moroccan, born in France, who immigrated to Bora Bora ten years ago, but who knows about the local history, culture, flora and fauna, more than any local.  He was a wealth of valuable information.   We had come upon his name months before our vacation while searching for local organized hikes.  It’s almost impossible to find any for Bora Bora which I found strange.  That majestic lush beautiful mountain seems the perfect place for hiking and the perfect vantage point for a birds-eye view of the beautiful lagoon.  So why couldn’t I find any organized hikes?  I still don’t have a good answer.   The best I could find was a 4×4 safari tour, too commercial for my taste.  I tried reaching Azdine by phone and email, without success.  I tried asking my travel agent about hiking guides, with no success.  Finally, when we got to our resort, and I mentioned the name Azdine, the concierge said they can get me in touch with him – bingo!  I did, miraculously, spoke with Azdine and scheduled our Valley of the Kings tour.  But as luck would have it, it rained the day before, so the jungle was not exactly a good place to go hiking.  But the next day, was our last, and we really, really hoped the weather would cooperate so we can go explore the mountain.

After a slow start (locals really don’t appreciate the time, and they like to say:  “You have the watch, we have the time”), we managed to complete the hiking tour just in time for us to grab our bags, and have a last cocktail before the boat took us to the airport to catch the flight back home.

It was not only a hike, it was rather a botanical tour, complete with sampling of unknown, wild fruits, straight from the jungle trees, and a load of cultural and historical information.  It ended with a view (though not exactly birds-eye, but still spectacular) of the lagoon.

It was from Azdine we finally learned what Bora Bora means, after trying to find the answer in vain, from local people.  The correct spelling is actually Pora Pora, and it means first-born.  The ‘B’ sound does not exist in the local language but when Captain Cook first discovered the island he mistook the ‘P’ for a ‘B’ – hence the name.  We learned that local people, surprisingly, were scared of the jungle and the mountain, and that dates back to a myth that the early missionaries spread out among the population to scare them into submission.  Only a few people have ventured to live up the hills, and almost no one utilizes the abundance of food, and resources the jungle offers for free, which is really a pity!

It was a tough  choice to make, choosing which islands to visit, of all the 100+ islands and atolls of French Polynesia. Every one of them seems to offer a different piece of heaven, and I only wish we had more time to stay.  But who knows, we might come back (for our third honeymoon maybe…?!) 😉