August 2000 - Travelogue

When we flew over the atoll of Rangiroa sincerely believed to have arrived in paradise! Holding my breath I looked dazed everything around me, without understanding if it were a dream or if it was really true! I had never seen anything like it in all my life and sincerely believed that I would not have ever seen. Instead it happened, just when we least expect it! Our greatest dream, our dearest wish that turned into reality and I could not believe it ... but at that moment we saw with our own eyes, from the sky.

And it was there, just 500 feet below us, Rangiroa, the wonderful RanRan, the largest atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago of islands in French Polynesia and the second largest in the world.

A ring of white corals off just 300 meters for 80 km in length, overlooking the Blue Lagoon 20 km of totally unspoiled. The only two villages of the island, and Avatoru Tiputa are located in two different "motu" (islets) north of the island and from them we could distinguish perfectly.

In a few moments and landed a flurry of emotions I crowding in the heart. We're here, we did, and now we want to savor every single moment that we spend on this spectacular island ... The airport is special, lies the village of Avatoru, and when your plane lands you seem to do it in the sea, as the track is a long strip of land just a few hundred yards surrounded by sea. Rangiroa's beaches are not sand but a lot made of shells and an array of pieces of white coral and pink, which diverged over time from the barrier reef. The sea, totally unspoiled, is overrun by myriad clouds of colorful fish, beautiful and amazing lover, the enormous Napoleon fish, sleepy and small and harmless black tip sharks (those barrier). A council really important: you must absolutely go to see the Lagon Bleu. It 'a truly dreamlike, populated by giant manta rays, sea turtles and many other pieces of fish.

To stay on the island a few days, you should go to Rangiroa Avatoru Lodge (tel. (689) 968213). It 'a family pension with very nice and cozy rooms on the beach, it is pretty cheap! If you want there are the dorms, such as backpackers to be precise, which cost much less! The kitchen is of course in common with the use of gas, refrigerator, water, utensils, dishes, etc.. The owners are a very funny couple: Jack and Rofin, he is Chinese and she and Polynesian! They are very nice and not at all intrusive. For scuba diving center we recommend "The Six Passengers, founded by an Italian think (he means that he understood everything about life!). Will experience strong emotions in Rangiroa and we hope to be able to explain at least partially ours! We strongly recommend that you give us a little thought and remember that if you organize yourself the holiday, is not as expensive as it sounds! The flight is not very cheap, but if you prepare for time, I think that anyone can do it! To fly at the time the company was the cheapest Air Races, which organized charter flights from Paris with a technical stop in San Francisco, and the tickets could be bought at the Nouvelle Frontiere.

A good website to arrange their own travel to French Polynesia is Polynesialowcost.com