Photos from Bora Bora 1

Here are the first of the photos from Bora Bora. Thanks India! Our digital camera broke the day we arrived, so we don’t have many of our own shots. We’re relying on the kindness of our Bora Bora Buds. Special thanks to India, Sue, and Joy so far. More to follow. As you can see it was a great time. How great?  Find out exactly how great in our upcoming articles in Passport Magazine, who along with VIP Escapes and Standout Vacations, sponsored this Escape with the Stars.

Photo Shoot with Tom Bianchi

Tom Bianchi will try to tell you that he’s not a great photographer. “What I don’t know about photography would fill many, many volumes,” he said to Sam and me this past weekend, with a humble grin. I’m not certain I agree, but nonetheless, he is a great artist who, for decades, has worked with subjects to create and capture moments that translate into beautiful, iconic images.

“I always take a lot of pictures and then God gives me some great ones,” he said, skimming through the thousands of shots he’d taken of Sam and me over the previous two and a half hours. He even let me shoot a few of he and his boyfriend, Aaron, as we took a break – according to Tom, something he’s never done before. It was an honor.

The Third Sex of French Polynesia

In Bora Bora a few of the service staff were conspicuously tall women whom the trained eye revealed to be men, and who represent ‘the third sex’ in the islands.

According to Francois Bauer, for centuries, traditional families in French Polynesia raised their eldest son as a woman, or Mahu, believing him to have divine qualities, and the best traits of both sexes.

In the 1960′s, when the French began nuclear testing in Tahiti, there weren’t enough women to entertain all of the soldiers, so many of the local men became women. Now that’s what I call hospitality.

Nominate America’s Gay Bachelor

MyPartner.com is looking for the handsomest and most sophisticated men in the U.S. to be America’s Gay Bachelor. They’ve started with a state-by-state eligible gay bachelor hunt with an eye to naming one of their hot catches America’s Gay Bachelor™ of the Year.

Hot Cowboys, 3/27

From Bora Bora to Reality

The last 36 hours on Bora Bora may have been the best, as far as we were concerned. Free of obligations to Kathy, the schedule, and the group – no matter how lovely they all were – we got to just be together and relax. Tuesday was the biggest little day of the trip. With nearly all of our group gone, the place was a lot quieter and a bit more boring, but we loved it.

Sam and I had breakfast and went snorkeling with our favorite girls, Sue and Joy, before we broke off for a snuggle and a nap in the room, and a late afternoon soak in the pool until almost 6pm, just in time for us to make our 6:30 water taxi to Vaitape (vay-TAH-pay). By the time we were departing, they had found the missing Canadian hiker, the Garfunkels had left the motu, and the resort hadn’t run out of food or electricity. Bliss.

Hiker Found, Lesbians Resting, Homeward Bound

The third act excitement came to a resolution today when we learned, rather un-dramatically, that the Canadian hiker, Collin Foster, has been found alive.

It’s been a great one-day extension, but truth be told, if we were here much longer, I’d be looking for a job to occupy me. One thing I’ve learned is that this body doesn’t like to stay at rest.

We spent the day snorkeling under the reception area where all of the incoming guests feed bread to the fish, hence, snorkeling there is like snorkeling in a tank at Sea World.

We’re glad to be headed home.

Drag Show, Good Friends, Hiker Still Lost

P.S. Did I mention that Art Garfunkel and his family are here?

I have to amend this post. I thought we were coming home today, but our flight has been cancelled. I know, boo-hoo. We are now scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon, and the trip will take all night. They haven’t yet found the hiker, and it really casts a pallor on the end of this trip. We saw his wife on our way to breakfast this morning, walking, stone-faced. Truth be told, this is a bit of a change from her demeanor last night, which wasn’t exactly that befitting a merry widow, but were it Sam lost up in that mountain, I would be calling for him, not tapping my foot at a Moroccan-style dinner.

Hot Cowboys, 3/24

A Fuel Strike, a Missing Hiker, and Agitated Lesbians in Bora Bora

We’re still having a blast, but there is a fuel providers’ strike. There is a fuel tanker moored off the coast, that cannot move because it would be breaking the strike line. AND, a Canadian in our group left his wife and kids Saturday morning to go hiking up into the sacred mountain, where he wasn’t meant to go, and has been missing ever since.