22.08.2016 Fakarava # Thank you very much, Vaiama Village

It's paradoxical. When you sit on the terrace and just look out at the sea, time seems to stand still. Nevertheless, the days fly by here again. We have already been on the atoll for five days and once again wonder where the time has gone.

Fakarava is similar to Rangiroa, but looks a bit more modern. This is probably due in large part to the much more intact road. You can even drive 60 km/h without your spine complaining every few meters. Otherwise, the center of town with its two churches looks relatively tidy.

We are staying with Dalia in Vaiama Village, about 6 km from the town center. Dalia is cool, even though she knows we don't speak French, she tries to engage us in conversation every day. Most of the conversation then turns into sign language, but it somehow works. She is a hostel mother as you wish. If something seems impossible, she tries to make it possible. And the food is simply a dream. This time we took half board because it seemed cheap to us. For breakfast, there is always fresh baguette and fruit. We always missed some sausage, but we helped ourselves, the shop is not far away. Thanks to the communal refrigerator, everything also keeps for a while. For dinner, there is fish in all variations and for non-fish eaters sometimes omelettes, burgers or chops, which result in some envious glances from the neighboring table. So no danger when you make friends with the cook on the first evening :-) It is almost festively set, so that sometimes you feel a bit underdressed without evening wear, but that really doesn't bother anyone here.

Our bungalow is simple, but cozy and lovingly furnished. The best thing is the view from the bed directly to the sea. There is hardly any vermin here, only a few tiny ants occasionally annoy.

We went diving again on two days. This time with Kaina Plongeè, a minimalist base run by Vincent. We completed three dives in the Garuae Pass in the north (the largest in Polynesia with a width of 1600m) and one on the outer reef next to it. There is also a tour to the South Pass, but we skipped it. More than an hour in the dinghy with wind and waves would have been too much for some of us.

The dive on the outer reef was the most relaxed of all. One hour of easy fish watching at a leisurely pace. The pass was a different story. On the last dive, we caught a strong incoming current. That means the water rushes through the pass from the open sea into the atoll at an insane speed. You have to find a firm point on the seabed to not be blown away. But the view at the drop off was worth it. Countless sharks, including many gray reef sharks, circled in front of us in the blue or simply stood stoically in the current, as if they were doing nothing else all day, while it almost pulled the regulator out of our mouths.

After ten minutes, the drift continued in express train tempo through the channel, which, due to the frequent ups and downs in the smaller canyons, also led to minor injuries. Braking was almost impossible. It sometimes felt like being in an aquarium, because the richness of fish is truly remarkable. Unfortunately, I am still struggling with my GoPro, at least underwater. I had to delete 95% of the felt 1000 photos I took. Most of it was just blue. But I still have time to practice until the whales.

Tomorrow we will go back to Papeete and then continue to Moorea, the last Polynesian island on our list. I think we will miss our terrace.

Thank you very much, Vaiama Village.

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