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Fun in Bora Bora"BORA BORA"
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1/19/2004 What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who lives in a spot you may want to visit. Rick Guenett, 49, is general manager of Bloody Mary's, a restaurant on the Tahitian island of Bora Bora. The Montreal native has lived in French Polynesia since 1985. Q. How many islands make up Tahiti? A. It's made up of five archipelagos; the one you're probably most familiar with is the Society Islands chain. It has the actual island named Tahiti _ the largest, with 50 percent of all Tahiti's 260,000 people _ and Moorea, Bora Bora and several others. Bora Bora is about a 45-minute flight from the main island. Q. How many people live on Bora Bora? A. About 6,500. When I got here 22 years ago, there were only about 2,000. Q. Where did all the people come from? A. Basically, the birth rate. But with the development of tourism and a number of new hotels, people from other islands moved here. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
Q. When is tourist season? A. Pretty much year-round; we're busy all year. May through October is our high season. When it's fall in America, it's spring here. Q. Where do tourists come from? A. Hotels more than cruise ships. One out of three tourists is from America, one out of three is from Europe. We've got a very good airline sponsored by the government. It's a destination airline, and that makes it unique. Before, Tahiti was just where the airplane stopped en route to somewhere else. With Air Tahiti Nui, which is based in Los Angeles, Tahiti is where you go. They had their fifth anniversary on Nov. 20 and have gone from one plane to four. They're all Airbus out of France. You can get here in one day now. Can you leave the East Coast early enough to catch a 1:30 p.m. flight out of L.A.? Then you can get a direct flight to Papeete, on Tahiti's main island and arrive there at 6:45 p.m. our time (8:45 p.m. Pacific Standard Time). Pretty reasonable, eh? You can check into a hotel and then get a flight the next day to one of the outer islands. They're talking about adding a New York stop because they already fly between Tahiti and Paris _ and that's a very long direct haul. Q. How big is Bora Bora itself? A. There's a single perimeter road that's 20 miles. Q. Many hotels? A. Nine major hotels. Two companies _ Tahiti Legends and Islands in the Sun _ put together packages. It's expensive to stay down here: There are some $900-per-night rooms but others that are much more reasonable. If you want to go to a couple islands, they can arrange so you can save money on one island and get something nicer on another. Unlike Hawaii, we have lagoons _ big, protected barrier reefs. You can get an over-water bungalow, something that's on stilts over a lagoon. They're more expensive and much in demand. Q. How idyllic is Tahiti? A. I lived in Hawaii before I came here, and Tahiti is like Hawaii was 20 or 30 years ago. Hawaii had an off-year in 2002 and did something like 7 million tourists. Last year, we had about 186,000 total. That's where the magic is. And the weather is fabulous. It's humid January through March, but rarely above 92 and rarely below 78. Today, it's 85 outside, with a southeast breeze. And out my office window it looks like a National Geographic picture. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
It's a big honeymoon destination. We have a board out front with the names of famous people who've been to Bloody Mary's. Steve Martin, Denzel Washington, Cameron Diaz and, recently Rob Lowe, Rod Carew, Allan Parsons and so on. Q. Do these celebs stay at one place? A. In the old days, they all stayed at the Hotel Bora Bora. It was the only five-star around. Now there are another five places that are five-star. The exchange rate is very good now; basically one-on-one: 100 Polynesian francs to $1. A year ago, it was 129 Polynesian francs to a dollar. Our complete dinners start at $26. Q. What's the local food like? A. We're a seafood restaurant; we're blessed with fresh fish. Q. Can you name some that Americans aren't familiar with? A. That would take a while. Ones you'd know include yellowfin, wahoo, mahi mahi and so on. Fishermen bring their catch to our back door at 5 p.m. We have no menu in here. We have a big display table and lay out the fish on a bed of ice. You pick what your heart desires. Q. Can you get by without speaking French? A. Definitely: English is spoken at all the hotels. The locals speak Tahitian as well as French. Tahitian is not a lost language like Hawaiian. Tahitian is what Bora Bora people speak. ___ Know someone who lives in an interesting city or country who would like to give us the inside line on visiting there? E-mail, in English, jbordsen@charlotteobserver.com. ___ Visit The Charlotte Observer on the World Wide Web at http://www.charlotte.com/.... Compare airline tickets to Bora Bora here /cheap airfares home |