Atol Rangiroa (French Polynesia)

A heaven still not lost

The marvelous sea, the cordial people, a perennial summer, islands where life still flows with the rhythms of the last centuries. What more can you pretend for dreaming a relaxed existence under an umbrella of coconut palms?

Someone will say that in the lagoon there aren't piroghes anymore to sail and the fishermen with harpoon in wood. It's true. Today the boats move to strength of the motor and the fishing is effected with the nets or with the reed. Their food regime is always the same, for the whole year it is constituted by coconut, fruits of the tree of the bread and fish.

The people of the Tuamotu, one of the most extraordinary archipelagos of the world: 77 shed atolls on a big surface almost as Europe, where 2 thousand inhabitants live, has maintained the indolent attitude of the beautiful ancient times. On the atoll Rangiroa, a circular ring of the emergent earths, covered by trees of coconut, so many rent their simple cottage to the tourists, this allows them to live thoughtless. "They are simple, they feel like laughing, to dance, to sing and to be happy - explains Ugo Mazzavillani, titular of the prestigious scuba diving center 'The Six Passengers”.

JACEK PALKIEWICZ