We slept with our shades facing the water wide open to allow us to wake up to a panoramic view of the ocean and bungalows in the distance. It wasn’t a very dramatic sunrise since there was a lot of cloud cover, but shortly after getting some breakfast, the sun poked through and would pretty much be beating down the rest of the day.
The water colors looked much more rich in the direct sunlight, so we went on a photo safari of sorts to try and document as much as we could in case the sun disappeared indefinitely. We explored the rest of the property and it seemed that different locations had different water colors — all of it very vibrant. Every time we looked in a different direction, it seemed like we had to take another picture. We also climbed to the top of a hill to look over the other side of our motu toward the main island and Mt. Otemanu. At that point, the lighting wasn’t good on it and it was also somewhat obscured by clouds, so it would have to be seen later for better pictures.
Then we returned to our own bungalow to relax for a bit. It is a very nice place to kill some time. The food at the Conrad Bora Bora is quite expensive, though. And being on its own motu surrounded by water, the choices are somewhat limited. Our lunch yesterday was a pizza that we split for $35. That was one of the cheaper items on the menu. In unrelated news, we kind of skipped lunch today. We split a croissant we had kept from this morning’s breakfast and had a tiny package of fruit snacks. Sacrifices have to be made to spend one’s vacation in Bora Bora.
As the afternoon progressed, we decided to take out a kayak. These do not have a charge, fortunately. We paddled underneath some of the boardwalks and around the southernmost point of the motu to catch another glimpse of the central island from afar. It was still caught in the shadows.
We returned to our bungalow to do some swimming. The fish viewing options are surprisingly good just by jumping into the water from our dock. In addition to the natural reef in the area, the resort has also created some of its own — with several patches of coral surrounding the pylons that hold up the bungalows themselves. We easily saw hundreds if not thousands of fish in the short span of time that we were swimming about. I have heard that the snorkeling is actually quite terrible from super high-end resorts on the eastern motus because there is no reef, though they are working to create their own as well.
This was not a problem at the Conrad. In fact, at certain points we were surrounded by so many fish that I thought Nicole possibly kicked one by accident. It appeared to shake it off, though (possible photographic evidence below). After splashing around for a spell, we climbed the ladder back onto our deck area and dried off in the sun. We have managed not to sunburn ourselves within the first 24 hours, so that was a definite plus. We don’t get out much these days back in LA since we don’t like to be around people. We can really stretch out now.
As the sun began to set, I thought I perhaps saw the central mountain peak without clouds, so I raced back up the hill (aided briefly by one of the hotel’s many cruiser bikes). Because the sun was now quite low, the rich blue colors of the water had somewhat faded, but I did have a good view of the mountain. Now I just need to get it all together…
After the sun went down, we got room service since it was somehow slightly cheaper than going to the various restaurant options. Since Nicole was in the room when I ordered, I switched over to French to ask room service if they had a cake or something because it was “l’anniversaire de ma femme”, and I wanted to surprise her. And since French people love nothing more than to pretend that they don’t speak English, I found myself in a protracted conversation in French despite both of us knowing that 1) my first language was English and 2) I knew perfectly well that the lady at room service could also speak English well based on the first half of our conversation. Nevertheless, it was good practice, and room service gave us a fancy chocolate mousse dessert to celebrate Nicole’s birthday which we enjoyed outside on our deck.
When I bid for my July schedule a month and a half ago, I thought that I would be taking Nicole to Lake Louise in Canada. I also thought I was going to the Azores earlier this month, so things kind of went south in a big way. Fortunately, we were able to turn it around into something even more spectacular. I never would have imagined myself in Bora Bora this month — much less on our own overwater bungalow. This was always a place that was followed by, “Well maybe some day . . .” Against all odds, that someday was in 2020 for Nicole’s birthday.
passports & pepto bismol 