Manihi, 7-13-2017--Exploring Manihi Village

By David

We had a great day exploring the village and meeting some of its inhabitants.  The people here are one of its greatest charms. Everyone has been friendly, going out of their way to wave as they pass by on the water or wishing us bon jour on the street.

Before describing our day, a bit of geological background might be helpful. The atolls are formed as ancient volcanoes subside into the sea. As they do, coral grows upwards from the sinking rim toward the nutrient and sunlight rich surface of the sea. Eventually the rim of the atoll is defined as a series of motus, which are sand-covered islets, with coral reefs, known as hoas, between them.

Inside the necklace of motus and hoas is a salt water lagoon. Most of the atolls have at least one more-or-less navigable pass through the strings of motus and reefs to the lagoon inside. The motus are typically less than ¼ mile wide and usually have palm trees growing on them. The motus appear to be only a few feet above sea level and the reefs between them are virtually at sea level, frequently awash in the surf.

Much of what we've noticed so far is what is in contrast with the Marquesas. One of the first things we noticed is that tattooing is much less popular here than in the Marquesas.

The Tuamotus are also a far more water-oriented place. Everyone seems to have a boat that's used like a car would be elsewhere. The boats are very similar to Mexican pangas. They're undecked, open boats about 25 feet long by 8 feet wide, powered by a single large outboard motor.

We see far more walking and bicycle and tricycle use here, probably because the land is absolutely flat and distances are short. In fact, it's odd that any vehicles exist here at all, since it's impossible to drive more than ¼ mile in any direction without drowning the vehicle. 

One person outrigger sport canoes are just as popular here. They're most commonly paddled by men, though occasionally we see a woman paddler. 

As in the Marquesas, the local kids are about half fish, spending a good part of the day frolicking in the water. Last evening, a crowd of 30 or 40 kids and adults gathered nearby to swim together. The kids had great fun seeing if they could stand on their heads in waist deep water with feet in the air.

The wonderful traditional drumming we heard coming from the village yesterday went on for hours. Though at a lower volume and with less complex rhythms than we heard in the Marquesas.

Minimus comfortably secured in the Manihi marina.
Note Pearl's hair blowing.  The wind never stops here in the Tuamotus.

These little harbors on the lagoon side of the atoll are dredged out of the coral

This is a hoa, looking toward the ocean.  A palm-covered motu can be seen at the far end of the hoa. 

While we were waling around the village, the supply ship Dory came in and docked at the wharf on the southeast side of the pass. 

It was quite the village event, with the first order of business being unloading fork lifts from the ship.  The fork lifts then scurried all around the village delivering fuel drums, building materials and all manner of supplies.

Folks bring tickets showing what they ordered, then pick it up at dockside.

Almost everyone has one of these 3-wheeled bikes.  They're used like pickup trucks. 

Heading home with the goods.

We stopped at the home of Carlos and Tanya, who run a small snack here. Soon we found ourselves getting a lesson in copra production.  First, the coconuts are gathered as they fall from the palm trees.  Then an ax is used to split them.

In addition to explaining copra production, Carlos also explained that the local language is Pakumotu, and that there are 3 dialects, north, central and south. He so enjoyed telling us about the various differences between Tahitian and Pakumotu that it was easy to imagine him being a linguist had he been born in different circumstances. 

The split coconuts are allowed to dry for 2 days, then a curved bladed knife called a "pita'a" is used to cut the white meat out of the husk.

Carlos demonstrates use of the pita'a to remove the coconut meat.

The pieces of coconut meat are called copra.  The copra is spread out on corrugated metal to dry in the sun for another 3 days.  A nearby tarp is used to cover the copra in case of rain.  The dried copra is put into 25 kilo sacks.  Each sack is currently worth about $35.  The sacks are shipped to Tahiti where coconut oil is pressed.

As we ate at Carlos and Tanya's, a woman stopped by who rents bicycles and we  were soon off to explore the village.

One of the first things we noticed was that virtually every roof was equipped with gutters and water tanks.  All the water for the village is directly from rainwater.

There are several of these signs around the village, but only this one had directions to God (top sign of course).