As a non-swimmer, I am spending a LOT of time on the water this week. It’s hard not to when the water looks like this:
Wednesday’s outing was an outrigger canoe trip through the lagoons. Our first stop was an opportunity to meet stingrays, see some black-tipped reef sharks, and do some snorkeling. I’ve never seen a stingray up close, so it was really amazing to get so close with them.
They have large, golden eyes that seem to seek out your own eyes. As they swim near the surface, they suck in air and water, making gurgling noises unbecoming of a creature who moves so gracefully through the water. We were able to touch these magnificent creatures, and it was amazing to feel their smooth, almost calfskin-leather-like skin. Under that soft skin, you can feel their strong muscles working as the glide around, flapping their wings.
I developed a love of rays in Belize when the spotted eagle rays would gather outside the hotel restaurant at night, flapping their wings all together as in doing some synchronized swim routine. Sting rays are much larger, much less timid, and also a bit more intimidating given their large size and long tails. Nevertheless, I found them to be majestic, graceful, and very peaceful to watch, like their spotted cousins.
There were also sharks in the water. I was not as impressed with the sharks because they were tiny. These guys are maybe 3-4’ long, compared to the 8’ long nurse sharks we swam with in Belize and the massive Great Whites we did a cage dive with in South Africa. These guys were cute, but not scary.
After we had our fill of rays and sharks, we went snorkeling for a while in the coral garden. As Melissa noted, we saw many familiar faces there. This wasn’t bad snorkeling by any means, but we had been spoiled by Huahine with its pristine waters and unreasonably abundant fish.
We spent the next few hours on land, learning a number of Polynesian skills. We learned how to identify a good coconut and how to open it (a lot of work!)
Then we used those coconuts to made our own Poisson cru. OMG, this was so delicious. mix fresh, raw white tuna with some carrots, cucumber, and green onion, then toss it all with freshly-squeezed coconut milk and lime juice.
We also learned about herbal medicines available in Polynesia and our guide wove hats from palm leaves (3 minutes and 10 seconds!)
We got back to shore around 3, and spent the rest of the evening at our hotel. Early day tomorrow!
Vacation Days 