Dengue Fever on Bora Bora

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Here’s where I’m sitting on Bora Bora right now.  It’s gorgeous again today but there is little wind and I really want to SAIL to Tahiti so I’ll hang out here and wait till it comes.  Tourism is dying a slow death in this country.  I read an article last night that another cruise ship is leaving the waters of French Polynesia.  The Star Flyer is taking off next year.  That’s after the loss of the Tahitian Princess last December which knocked tourism volume back to 1996 levels.  Not that I’m a big fan of cruise ships but they bring in huge numbers of tourists and bring a place that’s ridiculously expensive down to an affordable level for many folks.  The new president recently described the tourist situation in Polynesia as catastrophic.  And now the country has one more thing on their hands.  I had no idea I was in the middle of an epidemic.

Health officials declare type 4 dengue fever epidemic on Taha’a, Bora Bora

(Tahitipresse) – A steady increase in the number of type 4 dengue fever cases has prompted French Polynesia public health officials to declare an epidemic on the Leeward Islands of Taha’a and Bora Bora with 10 and 5 cases respectively.

Epidemic aside (all 5 cases of it), everyone needs to go to Where In The World Are The Cook Islands and enter to win a free trip to the Cook Islands. Maybe you can visit us there later this year.