South Pass of Fakarava, Tuamotu, French Polynesia
OK, the UN was right (really, how often do you here THAT on a daily basis? 😉
This place rocks.
Did you see that coral!? Did you see that water!? It all looks like that. All of it.
We headed into the south pass village & dive shop because everyone wants to do dives here, obviously. Upon reaching the dive center we were greeted by what for Fakarava must pass for the overly friendly pet dog…
It was hard to believe that this was an actual fish and not some animatronic robot designed to impress the locals. No, really, it was a fish. A really big fish. That will swim up and boink you on the shin.
At the dive shop they also crack and gut coconuts. Here, despite their primitive appearance, the inhabitants show that they know a heck of a lot more about coconutting than some gringo and his dull machete.
(and if you don’t know what the gringo & machete comment was about, go back to entry called “gringos & coconuts”. One of my more amusing moments…)
An interesting point: the south pass is an old village but you can probably hear the hammers in the background. About 5 – 20 people are here from outside French Polynesia building the dive shop for the South Pass and serving as dive masters. The UN giving your island a super stamp of approval is good for business.
Also, they have sharks here. They have a lot of sharks here. No, you don’t seem to understand, they have A LOT of sharks right here, on the reef.
We haven’t even gotten in the water yet! And for some strange reason most of them still want to.
– Greg
