Fakarava: a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Arrival in Fakarava

We're off again. Destination: Fakarava. This time the flight is a bit longer also because we're going to another archipelago and a stopover in Rangiroa is also necessary (where Blue Lagoon was filmed). Arrived at the very small airport of Fakarava we immediately find bad weather. Here Joachim, the owner of the pension Hawaiki, is waiting for us and loads us into his van to take us to the pension. Fakarava is still a very pristine island and is a UNESCO World Heritage site for the biosphere. We chose this island because it's very different from Tahaa and Bora Bora; for starters Fakarava is an atoll and the others are lagoons, moreover there are no large structures (the biggest is the Maitai Dream ). The main attraction however remains its sea and its fauna. Not being divers, the most beautiful excursion is to the pass near Tetamanu which is truly a unique place in the world.

Once we arrive at the Hawaiki, Joachim leads us to the bungalow and explains the rules of the pension. Dinner is served and eaten together with the other guests, and here too Italians are predominant. We inquire about booking the excursion to Tetamanu, but we're told that the sea is too rough and it takes almost 2 hours by boat to get there; so to avoid any risk the excursion has been cancelled. We go to rest and around 19:00 we hear a bell ring: dinner is ready! We head to the dining room and take our seats at the long table. The cooking is home-style, everything is prepared by the wife Clothilde (Polynesian) and we are served by Joachim's own family. After dinner we stay to chat with some guys from Bassano and enjoy the peace of these places.

Watch out for pearls!

We get up around 7:00 and the sun favors us, in fact it's a beautiful day and the sea is like a table. We head to breakfast (excellent) and look for Joachim to ask for information about possible boat trips or excursions and his answer is not very different from the previous one "the sea is too rough!", hmm... We spend the morning kayaking and around 11:00 Joachim calls us to show us his pearl farm. We follow him, curious and equipped with mask and snorkel, out to the open sea, arrived at the destination he points out the numerous rows of immersed cultivations tied at depth, and dives in to bring up a line. After several seconds he resurfaces and signals us to follow him. We go to shore and he prepares the kit for the demonstration, and here the business begins...

"For every shell there is surely a pearl that can be small, big, perfect or misshapen, I'll give you a special price of 25$, choose a shell and whatever is inside is yours!"...almost everyone buys a shell except us (also because we already bought some in Papeete). He starts opening one at a time explaining how a pearl is created and how he manages to create others and magic stroke here's the first pearl! Big and misshapen, and yet another and another still until the round is complete. Not a single pearl worthy of its name came out and we consider ourselves lucky not to have bought any. The day passes serenely and the sun tans us much more than in the other archipelago so much so that we look like locals! In the evening after dinner we stay to play a bit of ping pong until 22:00!! too late!!

Everyone to mass

Right after breakfast we go to look for Joachim again, the question is always the same and so is the answer! At this point sadness overwhelms me, in fact we chose Fakarava mainly for that place described by many as the true marine paradise and knowing that we won't be able to see it disheartens us. Even though the sea at the shore is practically still, out in the open it seems to be very rough and the excursions are postponed for safety reasons. Luckily we've bonded quite a lot with the friends from Bassano and we decide to take a bike ride to Rotoava, the town a few kilometers from the Hawaiki. Arrived in town we notice that many people are heading toward the church. It's Sunday and being Christians today is the day of the Lord.

With a bit of embarrassment we enter the church and stay near the door, until, at a certain point, a gentleman invites us to sit in the pews a little further ahead and we accept so as not to be rude. The church is decorated with garlands and shell chandeliers, the older ladies attend mass with a straw headpiece adorned with flowers and the whole rest of the community participates vividly in the singing and prayer as we had never seen before. The feelings experienced in this mass celebrated in Polynesian (not in French) will remain well impressed in our minds and we almost consider ourselves lucky not to have gone on the excursion. On the return to the Hawaiki Joachim informs us that the next day there would be the opportunity to go to the blue lagoon (half-day excursion) via the Maitai Dream but always provided the weather doesn't worsen.

The day passes smoothly in this corner of Polynesian paradise and we're now at the second-to-last day.

Farewell Polynesia

Wake-up at 7.00, breakfast, and like every morning everyone at Joachim's. Since his boats aren't very big, he prefers to entrust us to the maitai dream group, which around 9.00 sets off for the excursion near the blue lagoon and the Garuae pass. There's just one problem: only 2 spots left! Our friends from Bassano insist that we go, considering that this is our last Polynesian day while they still have a week ahead of them, and so we can't refuse. Joachim accompanies us to the maitai (the village is nice and even better equipped, but the Hawaiki is more familiar!), we pay for the excursion ($60 each), and after giving us the gear we board. The sea really makes itself felt, and one can only imagine what it must have been like on the previous days! After about half an hour of seasickness we arrive at this corner forgotten by the world.

The blindingly white sand dazzles our eyes and the scene is surreal! They have us get off, and after 15 minutes we head back toward the blue lagoon (a natural pool of intense blue). Half an hour of snorkeling and everyone back on board. A crew member hands us nylon raincoats... trouble ahead. We set off at full speed and the sea is very rough in this area: we're near the Garuae pass. Here the ocean currents meet those of the atoll, and many fish cross these waters. We stop in a calmer area a little farther away and dive in for snorkeling.

Everything as usual — colorful fish, multicolored corals — and I take the opportunity for the last underwater photos when suddenly I find myself face to face with a shark! Even though I had seen them up close at Bora Bora during the excursion, I won't deny that I nearly wet my pants!! Just enough time to recover and I take the opportunity to snap a couple of photos of it. From the boat my wife calls me telling me to come back up because there are sharks, but by now I'd already had the fright, so I stay in the water a little longer. Back on board, the captain starts playing with a group of small sharks, throwing them raw fish on a rope, and as soon as they bite he pulls the rope up with the shark attached, just to show us these fearsome creatures up close. The time has come to head back.

They take us to the Hawaiki directly by sea, and as soon as we arrive we take a shower, pack the suitcase, say goodbye to everyone, and off to the airport. The plane we'll take goes the long way around toward Rangiroa and then heads to Papeete. Here we say goodbye to our friends from Bassano and head to the international flights area. After 7 hours of waiting (the plane left 2 hours late), we say goodbye to these enchanting lands with a lump in our throats and a flood of emotions that few other places have given us. Goodbye Polynesia