Sahara Beach
Maina Motu in the far corner of Aitutaki Lagoon
It's never over until it's over! This is the third big trip I've done recently where I got one of the finest sunsets on the very last day. I just returned from the South Pacific and I had saved this island for the last 2 days of the trip. It's Maina Island out in the far corner of Aitutaki Lagoon in the Cook Islands. A small oasis of palm trees sits in a corner of this uninhabited island and a massive sand bar with brilliant turquise water spreads out in every direction. The white sand bar is so broad that you feel like the small stand of palm trees is an oasis in a sandy desert. This is one of my favorite places on the entire planet! Camping on this beach on a night with no moon, these beautiful clouds eventually cleared revealing the most magnificent star filled sky I've seen yet. Being far out on this tiny patch of land in the middle of the vast Pacific, there is no light pollution anywhere. It was the first time I could actually make out a small spiral galaxy with my naked eye. Photo © copyright by Michael Anderson.