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Published: November 11th 2017
MAMA, BEBE, PAPA
We came upon this happy family cavorting in the surf on the Bora Bora beach.We spent a pleasant day in Bora Bora again taking advantage of all the water has to offer. It seems that $5 is the going rate to get to a beach on these islands. We like being there on the weekends because that is when the Tahitian families come to the beach. Mostly they just spend the day in the water playing with their kids and chatting with their neighbors. It is a most pleasant way to pass the day. One of the staff was swimming in the lagoon when a dog came by and stole her sarong. Fortunately, a local guy caught the dog and returned her cover-up. I think it wasn't the first sarong that mutt had swiped.
After leaving Bora Bora we began our trip north. On the way we crossed the equator again and also the International Date Line and in the process we lost a day...which just happened to be October 31, Halloween. How spooky is that? So we celebrated Halloween on Oct 30 with a rock and roll deck dance party. Most of the staff wore wild costumes while we settled for our Chinese jackets.
As we approached Kiribati it was necessary for
CHINESE "EVERYTHING" STORE
The one and only general store on Bora Bora is close to the tender pier. They have everything under the sun. the Sojourn to remain outside of the reef. It is too deep to actually drop the anchor and the pass is too narrow for us to enter the lagoon, so the ship had to maneuver all day into a 7 knot current just to stay in place for the tenders which shuttled us back and forth to the pier. Last time we were here the tender had a terrible time getting ashore and on the return to the ship it was smacked by a big wave that broke the forward windows. Needless to say, all tendering was cancelled that day so no one was able to actually go ashore. This time we were very happy just to be able to reach land.
Kiribati, which includes Tabuaeran and 32 additional islands, is the only country in the world that straddles all four hemispheres. The territory is spread north and south of the equator and east and west of the 180-degree meridian halfway around the world from the Prime Meridian of Greenwich, England. That is why we lost Oct 31 as we crossed the date line when we visited Tabuaeran, which is also known as Fanning Island. Tarawa Atoll is the
"LET'S GO SWIMMING!"
The ocean water runs about 85 degrees. capital of Kiribati and was the site of a famous WWII battle in 1943. The whole chain of flat atolls is threatened by rising sea levels which has already made several islands uninhabitable.
There was quite a welcoming committee when our tender reached the pier. A group of adult singers serenaded us. There were many tables set up with local crafts for sale and school was let out so the kids could also perform some of their songs. Their favorite was “ABC...now I know my ABCs, tell me what you think of me.” We thought quite highly of these choir kids until later when we were looking at our pictures, I noticed that one young lad was flipping us the bird. The little rascal!
Just a few hundred yards from the dock was a beautiful, sandy swimming beach. Many of the crew and a few of us passengers enjoyed the warm, salty water for several hours. Kiribati has no electricity or plumbing and most of the homes are corrugated tin boxes. We did see a few solar panels but no stores of any type. Very few people wear shoes and we think that most of the meals are
LITTLE GIRL AND BOAT
She warned me about messing with her 'bateau.'
When I asked for her picture she stuck her tongue out at me. communal affairs. We took some pens and notebooks and toiletries to donate to the churches. Seabourn brought in box after box of work pants, shoes, and other supplies for the islanders. We met a cruising couple and their young daughter while ashore. They live on their sailboat and are from Argentina and Spain. They hope to settle permanently in French Polynesia. They took their dinghy to our ship and asked if they could come aboard for lunch. They were dying for a hamburger and a fresh salad. Unfortunately, because of security, the ship could not accommodate them. They’ll just have to get along with breadfruit, Spam and mangoes like the Kiribati islanders.
After leaving Kiribati en route to Hawaii we crossed back over the International Date Line and got back our lost day thus we had two Thursdays. I think it is called time traveling!
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Sandy Cannon
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Bora Bora
So beautiful, so warm, so friendly, so simple.