Sam's+Memoir

=Bora Bora, Bora= by Sam

Each year we go on a family vacation. Usually I go to Aspen, Colorado. Last summer, at the age of 13, I went to Bora Bora, a small island in French Polynesia near Tahiti.

The main island is a dormant volcano with a ring of land around the island, making weak currents and shallow water perfect for a coral reef. We stayed on the southern part of the outer ring in a hut over the water. I remember little about when we got there.

The island’s main industry is tourism, so the resorts on the island were quite lavish. There was a boat that came out to meet us the moment we left the airport, a golf cart to drive us to our suite, and snacks every day at 3 o'clock. The hut hung over the bay on stilts. Parts of the floor were glass so you could see the lagoon below. One part of the floor slid open allowing you to feed the fish from your hut, although the fish never swam that far out. Once, my sister made a trail of breadcrumbs that the fish followed to our hut. With multiple restaurants, snorkeling, jetskiing, and a pool Bora Bora was one of the fanciest places I’ve ever seen. The second (and possibly only other) industry was Bora Bora’s famous black pearls. This means there was a lot of pearl and mother of pearl jewelry, hairpins, and tchotchkes.

The island itself was home to many different plants and the nearby ocean was home to a diverse aquatic community. The plant life included coconut trees, palms of various types, reeds, and, in the water, seaweeds. Every day there was a basket weaving activity in which you could make baskets, hats, and more using palm fronds. The aquatic life included many reef fish, sea urchins, black-tipped sharks, stingrays, remoras, coral, mollusks, and, on one occasion, an octopus. Every day there was also a stingray feeding activity. The stingrays would gather around a certain spot on the beach and flap around until someone came with a bucket of food. You could pet the stingrays as they flopped about. The stingrays were kind of squishy and felt a bit slimy.

Since we were in the southern hemisphere the night sky was completely different. A prominent constellation was Crux, or “the southern cross.” Crux is exactly as the name suggests: a large cross formation that only appears in the south. Another constellation we saw was Aquila, or “the eagle.” Aquila is shaped more or less like a kite. Since there was little air pollution the stars shone much brighter than we see in Philly.

At one point on the trip we went to the main island to go on a submarine. The submarine was a small commercial submarine that could hold about 5 or 6 people. We saw many fish, including remoras (a fish that sticks to sharks with a pad on the top of its head), red snappers, and colorful bass. We went to the bottom of the “lagoon” and saw the coral reef. Many colorful fish were swimming around the lagoon and made for a beautiful sight.

The airport was also quite memorable. Instead of actual security screening it seemed that there was just a stern warning and guards. The ride itself was rather uneventful. In the airport shop there were an unusual potato chip flavor: roast chicken with rosemary. The chips were so good I may never forget them. Sadly they can’t be found in the US.

All in all, Bora Bora was a fantastic vacation. The tropical sun, the sea air, and the colorful fish made a relaxing vacation and a distinct memory that I’ll probably forget in the foreseeable future. This was easily one of the better summers of the 13 I’ve lived through thus far.

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