It was during our visit to the Lagonarium that we met Jamie and Larry. As is customary when you meet new people you discuss what you have in common, and that would be the fact that we were both on Bora Bora at the same time. We shared stories about what we had done. While Anne and I had taken a circle island tour by outrigger canoe, Jamie and Larry took a circle island tour by jeep. I'd venture to guess it was hotter than our tour by canoe. During their tour the tour guide pointed out the breakwater and told them that they could walk to it. The breakwater was at least a half mile, if not more, out from shore, and his intentions for making the statement was to tell everyone that the water was not deep all the way out to the breakwater. As Larry and Jamie would state later, "he didn't mean that you should do it." One afternoon they decided they'd walk to the breakwater. They walked from the hotel to a point not far away and entered the water to begin their trek to the breakwater. A full hour later they were still walking toward the breakwater which was quite some distance away still when they decided to turn around and head back. Yes, it appeared much closer than what it actually was, but it was an experience that they, and Anne and I, can look back on and smile about. They because they did it and us because they shared their story with us.
What really caught our attention about Larry and Jamie's story was their reaction to the sharks at the Lagonarium. When everyone entered the last pen, the one with the most and largest sharks, everyone stayed pretty close to the shore with the exception of Anne and I. We ventured out and snorkeled the entire length of the pen continually turning around to enjoy it longer. When we were exiting the water we ran into Jamie and Larry. Larry told me he was following behind me until he saw the first shark which caused him to turn around and head back to the group. Apparently he had a healthy respect and, perhaps, some fear of the sharks ... as well he and everyone should. But I had to laugh. It was then that Anne and I explained to them that their little adventure reef walking was very close to where we had fed the sharks during our circle island tour. I had to ask them what they would have done had they seen a shark during their walk. They responded that they didn't have any idea as they had never thought of it. This next picture is dedicated to Larry and Jamie, good sports and our new friends from Bora Bora ... |
