Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Tikehau
Being back in the civilized world (meaning, having Internet access), and being not too hang over from frozen margaritas (we are in Las Vegas), it’s time to update our blog!
The 12 days we spent in Tikehau were mucho laid back, but at the same time very exciting since we discovered the thrills of diving.
The Tikehau atoll is isolated. It sees few tourists and the only shop offers a very limited choice of goods (almost everything has to be imported).
Our beach bungalow was only a couple of meters from the lagoon, exactly the way we like it. We had one day of rain, but the other days the weather was hot and sunny.
There are lots of sharks and rays in the lagoon. They are easy to spot from the beach and from the small wooden pier of the diving club. Unfortunately for Francis the black tip sharks are quite shy and they fled whenever Francis jumped after them in the water. One evening, from the bigger, stone pier, we saw a manta ray dancing in the water. We were hypnotized by the beauty of the creature.
Almost every day we went diving. We took a level 1 course (French system) with Isabelle and Sebastien who run the Manta Ray diving club. We loved it! The conditions were perfect and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Thanks, Isabelle, for the underwater pictures!
We saw napoleons, lion fish, murenes, stone fish, barracudas, clown fish, black tip sharks, white tip sharks (the lagoon and the open water type), grey sharks and a zillion of other sea creatures. One of the highlights was a descent towards the Shark Hole. Francis loved it but Astrid preferred to stay at a safe distance. Still, she had the scare of her life!
When we were not feeling too fiu, we went biking or kayaking and discovered beautiful spots on the atoll. (Taueva, a local girl, turned out to be an excellent guide). Needless to say, Astrid did a lot of long time exposures.
The 12 days we spent in Tikehau were mucho laid back, but at the same time very exciting since we discovered the thrills of diving.
The Tikehau atoll is isolated. It sees few tourists and the only shop offers a very limited choice of goods (almost everything has to be imported).
Our beach bungalow was only a couple of meters from the lagoon, exactly the way we like it. We had one day of rain, but the other days the weather was hot and sunny.
There are lots of sharks and rays in the lagoon. They are easy to spot from the beach and from the small wooden pier of the diving club. Unfortunately for Francis the black tip sharks are quite shy and they fled whenever Francis jumped after them in the water. One evening, from the bigger, stone pier, we saw a manta ray dancing in the water. We were hypnotized by the beauty of the creature.
Almost every day we went diving. We took a level 1 course (French system) with Isabelle and Sebastien who run the Manta Ray diving club. We loved it! The conditions were perfect and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Thanks, Isabelle, for the underwater pictures!
We saw napoleons, lion fish, murenes, stone fish, barracudas, clown fish, black tip sharks, white tip sharks (the lagoon and the open water type), grey sharks and a zillion of other sea creatures. One of the highlights was a descent towards the Shark Hole. Francis loved it but Astrid preferred to stay at a safe distance. Still, she had the scare of her life!
When we were not feeling too fiu, we went biking or kayaking and discovered beautiful spots on the atoll. (Taueva, a local girl, turned out to be an excellent guide). Needless to say, Astrid did a lot of long time exposures.
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Wow - such beautiful photos and such incredible adventures...! I can't wait to see you guys in London next weekend :-)
Rich.
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Rich.
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