Bob: There was some time after we arrived in the harbor before we could leave the boat. Mike Foreman shared his experience living on the International Space Station. As always, both informational and entertaining. He discussed how small things are, the color coding of each occupant’s belongings, the presence of cables everywhere (they cannot be embedded into the wall), eating, and, of course, using the toilet (he is frequently asked about that). He concluded by presenting a fantastic montage of images and videos taken over the years from the station. Well worth your time to watch. Click here. BTW: The background music is from the metal band “Disturbed”, one of the best Simon and Garfunkel covers ever.

Cheryl: We arrived in Bora Bora, our first international stop, around 11:00 am. A school of porpoises greeted us, as did many different birds. Everyone was excited to finally arrive after five days at sea. We were able to leave the ship and walk around the town of Vaitape for a few hours before our island tour. The port is shallow, so we had to tender in on Viking’s smaller boats, which was a surprisingly quick and easy process (the last image is Cheryl in the tendering boat).

Cheryl: Bora Bora is part of French Polynesia and has a population of 10,000 people. I thought it would be similar to the Hawaiian islands, but I found it to be less so than I had expected. I was struck by how small the island is, both geographically and in terms of population, and that it is less commercialized than tourist areas in Hawaii. To be clear, there were several luxury resorts on the island, primarily grass-roofed houses built on stilts over the water on “motus”, or small, low-lying islets accessible only by boat. 80 percent of the workforce is employed in tourism-industries. The yellow church is Saint Pierre-Célestin Parish. Seems like yellow parishs are very common in the islands.

Culturally, it seemed similar but different than Hawaii. French and Tahitian languages are spoken for starters. The people of South Pacific countries are essentially “cousins” because of migration that occurred during the last 3,000 years to the hundreds of islands.

We took a tour around the island, which lasted about 1.5 hours, stopping to take photos in a few areas and to watch a tie-dye demonstration (and eat sweet little bananas and Queen Victoria pineapple). The morning rain and clouds cleared up in the afternoon.

Cheryl: We left the tour at Matira Beach because I needed to get into that beautiful turquoise-colored water. The white-sandy beach, in fact, the entire island, is protected by a coral barrier reef, which creates lagoons with warm, gentle waters. It was a fantastic experience. While swimming, I met a group of Viking staff, including our steward, who had the afternoon off.

Cheryl: Our final event on Bora Bora was a harbor cruise on a small boat with a friendly, singing Captain Tau. He explained his family history on the island, why he stayed and loved it, and then sang several songs on his guitar/ukulele-like instrument. This was a sweet way to see the main lagoon and the motus up close.

Bob: Tau expressed appreciation for visiting tourists like us multiple times. Without visitors, they would have no jobs. He seemed like a very nice guy, and I would happily ride with him again.

Bob: During the day, we were able to capture images of the entire ship. It is a big boat.

Cheryl captured two excellent images at sunset while the ship was leaving the harbor.

We set sail at 6pm.

Cheryl: We had a casual dinner and then watched Terrell Edwards performance of “Unforgettable – Part 2”.