We left Fakarava for the little atoll of Toau, where we were to have such an incredible experience…

The passage to Toau was six hours, which felt so long at the time, since we’d already gotten used to 2-4 hour baby trips on Fakarava. When we arrived in Toau, the first thing I noticed was Ibis. The illusive boat that had a thirteen year old and a sixteen year old. On this whole trip, not once had I met a thirteen year old girl! They were always younger or older but never 13. We met up, and they were the nicest girls ever. Lilly, who’s 13 and Grace, who’s 16. We all became very good friends and swam, drew, explored and ate together.

We also met up with up Tessa from Bliss and we got to play with hermit crabs together. It was a really fun time. But the cap of the experience on Toau was… Umu-Umu.

Who is this Umu-Umu you ask? He is a magnificent frigate bird. Tamed. By a lovely lady called Valentine who rescued him when he was just 3 days old. She cared from him and raised him until they shared an unbreakable bond. Now, Umu-Umu comes when she calls, sits on her arm, sings for her and nuzzles her. We’d never seen anything like it! He hopped onto her arm and when she moved it, he would fly around her in circles, only then to land back on her arm and nuzzle her.

None of us could touch him. He would glare at us and wave his very-threatening beak at us – a clear “no no.”

Valentine even cooked us all a beautiful dinner, with poisson crue, coconut bread, cake, incredibly-flavored fish, and even some crab! It was so delicious and I ate way too much.

Snorkeling was pretty impressive – not for coral or visibility but for the massive stingray that swam within 10 feet of us. I was a little frightened because of my *previous* times with stingrays, so I wasn’t too keen on getting closer. We also saw a beautiful type of grouper who was teal and about four ft by four ft.

It was so fun hanging out with Lilly and Grace in Toau, and I miss them soooo much.