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Rangiroa 2007

There are five island groups in French Polynesia. Rangiroa is in the Tuamoto Group. We also visit the Marquesas and the Society Islands on this trip. Rangiroa is actually an atoll, the rim of an extinct volcano surrounding a lagoon. Rangiroa's lagoon is the second largest in the world. This is a paradise for divers and snorkelers, but outside of a pearl farm there isn't much to see. There is no top soil or fresh water so everything has to be imported.

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The entrance to the Rangiroa lagoon is very narrow.

A welcoming committee of dolphins greets the M/S Paul Gauguin.

There aren't too many houses here. This one has an impressive deck.

Leave it to the French. Here they lure fish beneath a glass-bottom boat with a baguette.

Pat visited a pearl factory and managed to escape without buying any.

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Les Gauguines are the ship's entertainers as well as instructors in the on-board cultural activities.

Les Gauguines welcome a newcomer to their group.

There is one way in and one way out. The captain earns his keep navigating this narrow passage.

Here you can see how close the ship is to very shallow water on exiting the lagoon.

On the flight home we passed over Rangiroa.

Next stop... The Marquesas