Before our flight to Bora Bora I noticed an older man (mid 70’ish) in a wheelchair with his head shaking back and forth as he leaned forward to tie his shoes. It took him a very long time. The woman sitting next to him, which I assumed was his wife, did not interfere. I then watched him as he rolled his wheelchair over to the men’s room as his head bobbed up and down with a strained look on his face. I admired his determination as he maneuvered his wheelchair. Then I teared up wondering if this couple had waited to pursue this travel dream until now. I had no idea yet his apparent fierce determination to be there touched my heart. In that moment he helped me to appreciate all that I have, especially being in good health and able-bodied on my way to Bora Bora with Jim.

We took a 45 minute flight to Bora Bora and then a 25 minute boat ride from the airport to our slice of paradise in Bora Bora. The boat pulled up to the stunning Intercontinental’s Thalasso Spa Resort with its vast array of overwater villas (about 1,000 square feet each). We were greeted with the loud echoes of a conk shell by an employee dressed French Polynesian style (in very little clothing). We faced a picture perfect postcard view of a verdant, jagged, jungle mountain to our right and clear, emerald waters surrounded us. Suzan had seen this image in magazines for much of her lifetime and literally dreamt of this day. What a blessing for it to come true. Thank you to Jim for staying so many nights in Ohio for business and also changing hotels as often as he did to expand the points so we could then trade them for this experience! On average it is $1500.00 per night to stay here and we paid only $70.00 each night.

We so enjoyed snorkeling right out of our villa, from the lower deck. One day we swam over to the area where at 2:00 pm (daily) hotel guests can interact with stingrays. These sea creatures come over in hordes for feeding time by a hotel employee and also any guests who are interested. We enjoyed petting their black slick surfaces and also swimming with them as they stayed in the area for awhile. This time Suzan did not get bitten. : )

We had a memorable experience on our snorkel tour with a funny and feisty Frenchman, Fabien (and 4 others). The others spoke Italian and French (not English) so he spoke to us in English/French and a form of sign language for the Italians. He took us to 2 coral garden areas where we saw a Lion Fish (very dangerous) and seahorses, aside from beautiful fish and coral shapes/textures. At one location he gave us bread to feed the fish and within moments they had surrounded us. It felt like being in the largest box of crayons one can imagine with every color represented encircling us. We made another stop to see Clown Fish where Jim took some amazing shots of the newly hatching ones in the sea anenomes. He also took us on a tour of the island in his boat which had quite a lot of muscle! Then we all witnessed something that only our hearts will remember…..a Manta Ray jumped clear out of the water and flipped over. Afterward no one talked for awhile. What a sight to witness! Jim had his camera ready just in case after the fact. We later learned the Manta Rays flip out of the water to remove parasites.

Fabien told us he recently took “Judge Judy” on a snorkel tour. He didn’t know who she was at the time only that she was of teeny tiny stature and loquacious. Someone on the boat told him after she left and he googled her. He learned that she earns $900,000.00 per TV episode. She can definitely afford to pay full price for the overwater villas!