MM's: Fatu Hiva

OMOA

We timed our arrival at the island of Fatu Hiva so we could hear the legendary singing at their Sunday morning church service. It turned out to be a transcendent experience, one of the highest points of our entire Marquesan immersion.

Most of the villages have small stores: open early in the morning, closed for lunch & a long break, then open again in the late afternoon. Supplies are limited and vegetables are rare; we were excited to find cucumbers and cabbages!

Petroglyphs aren't common, so we were happy to see this beautiful one...

...but we wouldn't have found it in the forest without the help of Soso, who volunteered to show us the way!

The grooves on this rock were made by people sharpening their spears for hunting and fishing

A woman demonstrating how to make tapa, bark cloth that is painted with traditional designs

The obligatory phone booth

Anchorages aren't protected in the Marquesas; we had to get used to a lot of wind and swell

HANAVAVE

 The anchorage at Hanavave (better known as the Bay of Virgins) is one of the most photographed in the world.

The surrounding mountains are often shrouded in clouds, so I was glad to get some good light in these two photos.

We took two great hikes, one to Vaiee-Nui Falls and the other to the top of a high ridge overlooking the village & bay.

A large percentage of the villagers were enthusiastically rehearsing for a dance performance for Bastille Day (July 14; like our 4th of July). They said it was okay if I took some photos; the light isn't great, but I felt privileged to capture a few shots.

 The accompaniment was drumming and chanting...

Male dancers started on one side,

Female dancers on the other; they ended by crossing paths.  

The dance rehearsal location by day. Dance rehearsals are at 7:00 p.m., and soccer is at 5:00 (most people are in great shape!); the women play soccer at this field, and the men play on a concrete basketball court by the wharf (makes for a lot of fast action).

Vegetables are scarce, but there's plenty of fruit! Green bananas are readily available; people sell them from the trees in their yards for $5 per stalk. Most cruisers have at least one stalk hanging in their cockpit; we also found a steady supply of pamplemousse (large grapefruit) and oranges (which are orange on the inside, but green or brown on the outside).

MM's: Tahuata

HAPATONI

Our first stop at the island of Tahuata was Hapatoni, a small village rarely visited by cruising boats. We felt welcomed by everyone!

Potpourri: an older concrete wharf enhanced by a new breakwater and solar-powered lights; the main village of each island had one of these landing places. Tied up alongside is a motorized vaka, our dinghy, and two typical motorboats used by villagers for fishing and transportation between islands.

I couldn't get over seeing phone booths in the middle of nowhere! Every village and even every hamlet (as in, 2 or 3 homes) had a phone booth--and yes, they work. The flat dirt road lined with walls of boulders is part of a 200-year-old royal road that ran along the bay.

The walls of this home are woven palm fronds, a traditional construction--though almost all the roofs are now of corrugated metal, to deflect (and in some cases collect) rainwater. The windows are covered with colorful fabrics--pretty all the time, and especially so when the wind blows.

islands.

This home is more typical in that it's tucked up into the foliage. Laundry is almost always hanging on a line outside. Some homes have washing machines, which are also outside! (Houses are small and it's always warm, so why not?)

No matter how small, every village has a Catholic church. This one is tucked into the woods, with a horse grazing outside (a common sight).

A family fishing from the shore with long bamboo rods; they were catching their dinner for the evening.

A traditional vaka pulled onto the shore. Vakas are narrow canoes stabilized by a small pontoon so they can handle the ocean swells.

The modern version: vakas with engines!

Wood carvers at work. Hapatoni is home to some outstanding artisans, one of whom showed us the intricate designs he had carved into marlin tusks (which no doubt would have been worth a fortune, literally, in the US art market).

Kids at play (a simplified game of marbles their parents were playing down the road)

Quintessential street scene along the royal road: pigs roaming in the foreground, adults playing a highly skilled and animated game of marbles in the background.

 VAITAHU: Few people visit Vaitahu either, but it has many nice features, including a lovely anchorage and an impressive church. Note the Polynesian influences in the design of the stained glass window...

HANAMOENOA photos: This is where the cruisers come! There aren't many beaches in the Marquesas, but this is one of them, and it's as idyllic as it looks.  

Manta rays visit the bay regularly, and they don't mind swimmers nearby. I got to swim with a couple of them right next to our boat! 

In an anchorage with a lot of boats--there were 18 here--someone often organizes a potluck picnic on the beach. In this case, the potluck was organized by the local resident, who lives alone on his ancestral land growing coconuts and other plants for sale at nearby Hiva Oa. He didn't want his photo taken, but he didn't mind photos of his "hangout" and his cooking!

The entree choices were seafood, seafood and seafood: marinated raw fish, crabs boiled in coconut milk, and grilled fish--all smoked over a wood fire (his only cooking facility). Scrumptious!

MM's: Hiva Oa

Another view of Mt. Temetiu

(Apologies for the layout; programming difficulties!)

Like many other passage-makers, 

we made landfall at this anchorage (Atuona). 

Second Wind is the 3rd boat from the right, Mt. Temetiu is on the left

At one time Atuona was home to painter Paul Gauguin

 and composer Jacques Brel, both of whom

 are buried in the cemetery above the bay.

We didn't see many homes like this, 

but the elevated floor, wooden flaps as window covers,

 and wood construction made this one particularly attractive

Gauguin museum in Atuona

The Me'ae Iiopona archeological site has the largest tikis in the Marquesas and is beautifully preserved. The tikis represent figures of a female (the largest), male, child, and a priestess who died in childbirth; stone heads with no bodies represent the victims who were sacrificed here

The road to the site was one lane, unpaved, and often just a sheer drop to the sea far below. I was glad to get back to the jungle! 

Wild horses wander the Marquesas

The Ta'aoa  site is also well preserved. 

There are no tikis here, but plenty of terraces and tohuas--

rectangular ceremonial plazas for festivities