What a week! [English]

It’s good to travel to a place where I can speak French. I’m speaking to everybody and it’s so easy. We’re meeting all kinds of people and I also met a gang of boys who are doing canoeing and we went to play soccer together. I can tell you that running at the same rhythm as them after being stuck on a boat for 24 days is almost impossible. I was already out of breath at the start, so imagine how I was after the game. It was very cool and we were the best team. I did block a shot and made a pass. The experience was good for my mood. The guys were running barefoot on the concrete without complaint and sometimes with flip flops on.  Marquesan guys are really tough!

I went for a hike in the jungle with some friends from another boat (Morigan) and we were looking for petroglyphs, waterfalls and some fruit. We found the petroglyphs, but not the waterfall. Concerning fruit, we picked oranges, limes, mangos and star fruit. Bees also chased us, but I was lucky because they didn’t get me.

I’m still waiting for my tattoo guy. I went there to present Renaldo my drawing and give him some space to put his touch on it too. It’s not confirmed and official, because it will depend on if I like his hand drawing or not. But there is another guy on Tahuata that also does tattoos. The tattoo will be a compass rose, but I don’t’ know where I’m going to put it. Maybe on the forehead? It will be my third eye!

Now we are on Tahuata island, in the Bay of Hanamoena. It’s a little bay known for their manta rays. They come in to feed on plankton. We saw 4 of them and were right in the middle. They were about 6 feet wide and they were circling around us curiously. It was really impressive to be so close. I got a photo of a manta ray that is facing me, which did surprise me when I turned around. But the ray was not bothered. She was there doing backflips.

After swimming with the rays, I went for a little nap because I could still feel the soccer game in my muscles. I am sore, like I’ve never been, from my fingers to my toes. All that I want to do is sleep like a baby. After a nap, it was the time to clean the bottom of the boat. We scrubbed the whole bottom to remove all the attached sea creatures. After that a double nap was needed, followed by an excursion on the island. I rowed there, explored the island, picked some limes and gave some time to the two lovers.

It’s not even 9 pm, but I’m completely wiped out! I think I’m going to have nice dreams.

It’s not easy to live the boat life…