Introduction to Polynesia
We ended our 3000 mile plus voyage at a place which is easily near the top of the list of the most beautiful places on earth. A lush green valley spilling down out of the mountains to a tiny village surrounded which is by magnificent spires some with vegetation and others naked. It is a magical sight. Upon arrival at the landing ramp a group of 8-10 year old boys came to help us carry the dinghy up above the surge line asking for “bon bons” all the time. The adult villagers were conservatively friendly and it appeared that they had limited exposure to cruisers before. The island is 8 miles long and 4 miles wide with mountains rising to 960 meters. Two villages joined by a 17 km road comprise the total habitation for the 400 people including 100 children. While only 60NM from Hiva Oa they are basically cut off with a supply ship coming monthly at best. The supply ship serves more as a link rather than as a means of survival since there is abundant food and plentiful pure water. Bananas, pamplumuse (large grapefruit-like fruit with a slight lime taste), pommes (sort of like apples), guava, oranges and coconuts grow wild and in abundance. Fish are plentiful. Chickens roam freely, and pigs and horses which are generally kept on tethers, eat off the land and require little care. Little cultivation is done with the exception of coconuts for copra production. Copra production is a dying industry with little profit and very labor intensive. Government subsidies are in evidence here with some well made concrete roads leading to nowhere in between the dirt horse paths and 50’s style prefab houses amidst the cinder block doorless and windowless local construction.
We stopped at the local school with a supply of pencils which were received with a polite thanks. I don’t think they were used to receiving donations. It would have been a great opportunity to bring us into the school for the students to meet and learn about the foreign visitors and their culture which is invading the island more each day, but it wasn’t going to happen. All the children speak Marquisan, which is different from Tahitian, and French. English doesn’t seem to be taught.
We stopped at the Medico, which is a small one-room building complete with an exam table, basic medical equipment and a wall of tablets and capsules all neatly labeled for the aliments they are designed for. We gave the nurse practitioner a supply of masks, gauze, syringes, needles and infusion sets. While she seemed happy, our reception was short and cool, so other than our handouts of candy, we were pretty well tapped out of donations. We started exploring the town, which consisted of a church, a one-room store with little in it, medico, school and a few boat sheds in addition to the houses. We traded a few items for pamplemouse, papaya and pommes. People started to warm up. We spent more time than originally planned because of the beauty and remoteness of the island and the village which was beginning to show some real charm. We talked to the medico lady who mentioned there was a seven year-old child with cerebral palsy who was just learning to walk.
The next day was Sunday and also Fathers Day with some celebrations planned. No one seemed to know exactly what the celebration would entail, but there was going to be some dancing. We went to 8 o’clock Mass; got there 30 min. early; and, it started 30 min. late. The medico lady showed up to ring the bell, and we saw others we had traded with. We are starting to recognize the people and a lot of the kids. The lady with the CP child sat right in front of us and Elizabeth sought her out to strike up a conversation right after Mass.
The 30-40 min. after Mass became a real turning point when the village really seemed to take us in. I got a Father’s Day lei made from a hard red fruit like a persimmon, got kissed by the priest and two other men and several women. I was called “la parfait popa” which we thought meant the perfect father, but later found out that it meant the perfect foreigner. The whole group moved down the path toward a small community center type building where the young girls were preparing to dance in traditional costume on the boat ramp. It was great with a boom box providing the music; dogs running through the group; and, the ever-present rooster crowing. Then came the feed, which was totally unexpected. All the men, including me, were herded in first followed by the children and then the women. The meal consisted of wine (for the men), sweet cakes and candy. The women and children got lemonade instead of wine and the children got all of my candy. It was a great time and we felt at home in the community. Liz became immediate friends with the mother of the CP child and as they traded stories Liz took off her earrings and gave them to her. This cemented the bond even further and the conservation went on finally ending with a walk to her home to receive a beautiful tiare lei, and three langouste (local lobster). We promised we would be back the next morning to receive some fruit before we left for Hiva Oa. The day dawned as it does everyday here with bright sun and gentle breezes. It’s tough in paradise.
We went ashore for the last time to see Liz’s friend and meet the rest of her family. We gave them a bag filled with gifts for the whole family and got more fruit than we could easily carry and a very nice Tappa. We talked more of island life and learned that most men drink too much and there are too many children. One must remember that most of these islands, and especially the atolls, practiced infanticide regularly when food was scarce. They sacrificed and feasted on their last person just 50 years ago.
We got back to the boat pulled anchor and left for Hiva Oa. Several villagers were standing on the shore and were waving goodbye continually till we were out of sight.
This is a big city compared to Fatu Hiva as it has 3 stores fairly well stocked and an actual gas station. One could walk around the entire town in an hour. We took a great tour to see some Tikis, and Liz again bonded with another women, Sabina, and her daughter who will travel to the US. We hitchhiked and got a lot of rides from some very nice people, saw Gaugin’s grave and tried to find some petroglyghs down a long wilderness jungle trail. After enduring muddy jungle trails and fording streams with no signs and continual rain, we decided to turn back. We were afraid the trail would be washed out, and we would have a difficult time finding our way out. As usual we stayed a day or two longer than we wanted, but finally moved on to Oa Pu to an isolated anchorage for the night before sailing to Nuku Hiva. The capital of the Marquises was similar to Hiva Oa only slightly bigger. We got our mail, stayed too long and prepared for the trip to the Tuamotus.
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