Bloody Mary's

It's not a drink....it's a Restaurant and a good one.

The local fishermen bring their "catch" and display it on a bed of ice every evening. You pick your fish, they prepare it to your liking and cook it on the spot.

Just for you.....

This was a luxury as we drove around the island of Bora Bora. It's also a great place for a Burger and a cold beverage.

"Bloody Mary's" was a very casual, shady, and comfortable eatery, and I'm glad we took the time to visit this restaurant. Famous people from all over the world have stopped here for the fresh food and to view the decor.

The tables and chairs are made from local wood...as a matter of fact, they ARE the local wood and the floor is white sand from the beach.

Marilyn had noticed the local women wearing a garment called a pareo. She wasn't sure how to configure it but wanted one very much.

It was our good fortune to find a lady that demonstrated it, and soon afterwards, we purchased a pareo a few miles down the road. I really liked the expression on her face as she learned how to tie it. We normally don't spend a lot of souvenirs. It's a burden to ship most things back home. But in this case....it took up hardly any room.

I'm glad we stopped here...this place was a lot of fun!

Vanilla

Vanilla takes about nine months to reproduce and be harvested in these islands. The plants are polinated by hand when they bloom and its VERY time consuming. But this Vanilla is some of the best in the world and a good reason to create a little "backyard patch" of land devoted to just this crop.


I found this entire area to be a wonderful place to explore.
Life is SO simple here.

I'm sort of geared this way anyway, and I thought it interesting to to travel around
these island with very simple but effective modes.


This is the best way to see the people in Bora Bora.





I've always adhered to the "Keep it Simple" principal.

But if necessary, these "Le Trucks" circle the island about every hour.

They're inexpensive and you just "jump in" and go easily from one stop to the next.

Black Pearls

Speeding around the islands, we decided to stop at a pearl and vanilla farm. It takes a long time to nurture both of these crops, but with a little luck, they can produce some extra cash for the family.



There is a real "skill" involved in producing both of these items and the warm waters and fertile land in this part of the world is ideal for both pearls and vanilla to reproduce and prosper.

Black Pearls are created by introducing a foreign object into the shell and allowing a natural process to develop the pearl. These tools look like a torture device but allow the artisan to introduce a grain of sand into the shell.

After several months.....sometimes even years, they turn out like like these.

Here is a better view of the end results.