Hiva Oa, 4-11-2017--Island tour

We just returned from a tour of Hiva Oa, an enchanting experience and one we likely would not have done were it not for the generosity of Lynn Smith-Lovin who made it a landfall gift to us. In addition to archeological sites we would never have found on our own, we learned the names of innumerable plants and were treated to incredible views of the rugged, jungle covered mountains that make up virtually all of the island. So, a huge thank you Lynn!

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Our international tour group. (L-R) Francois from France, Tim and Sandra from Canada, David and Pearl, USA and Eva and Peter from Sweden

David and Pearl in the Hiva Oa jungle

Our guide John cuts down a banana tree

...and we all enjoy fresh bananas.

Stone platform on which the dead were laid. The body was covered with oil and every few days more skin and muscle was stripped off by relatives.  After a month or so only skeleton was left, which was moved to its final resting place among the roots of a banyon tree.  

The smiling tiki. It's about 3-1/2 feet high. There seems to be little information about when it was carved or for what purpose.

The jungle covered central spine of Hiva Oa

Rugged north shore of Hiva Oa

Gravel road on the north side of Hiva Oa

Guava fruit

Breadfruit

A large leafed plant similar to ones we've seen in coastal British Columbia.

Tiki site near Puamau village on the northeastern side of Hiva Oa.

This is considered the largest tiki in Polynesia

Another tiki at the Puamau site

Tiki at the Puamau site

North shore of Hiva Oa near Puamau

John made us a lunch of rice with chicken and papaya, baguettes a fruit dish of papaya, mango, pamplemousse and banana and cooked plantain.  And of course wine.  It was delicious.  

Pandanus tree.  It looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.  It's used for thatched roofs and John says it lasts about 15 years.  

We didn't get the name of this tree, but everywhere we saw them, they were host to ferns and a wide variety of other plants. 

Everywhere we went on the island we saw chickens and roosters.  They seem to outnumber all other birds.  In fact, we were surprised to see so few bird species.  Mostly it seems to be a species of small dove, myhna birds which are excellent mimics and a sparrow sized bird that flew in small flocks.

Our guide John picked us up at 8:30AM in a small Ford 4 wheel drive pickup with a covered bed and bench seats. Aside from John, there were 7 of us. Francois from France, Peter and Eva from Sweden, Tim and Sandra from Canada and the two of us. The perpetually curving road climbed steeply from Atuona toward a high ridge forming the spine of the island.

Dense jungle lined the sometimes gravel, sometimes concrete road bed. We soon stopped at a non-descript place beside the road where John led us down a side road, then onto a path through the jungle. In a grove of banana plants he spied a ripe bunch of bananas and, with the help of Pearls tiny pocket knife, cut around the perimeter of the 10" diameter trunk and toppled it over. We all stood there in the jungle gorging on fresh bananas.

A short way later we came upon a platform made of large rocks, many of them 2-3' in diameter. He explained that these were platforms where the dead were placed. The corpse was covered with oil, we presumed coconut, and as it decomposed, relatives would peel off skin and remove muscle over a period of a month or so until only a skeleton remained. The bones would then be moved to a final resting place among the roots of banyon trees.

Below the platform was a stone tiki about 3-1/2 feet high. It's called the smiling tiki because the mouth curves upward. Behind it and below it are stone terraces which John said go all the way down the sea. From that point the sea is several miles and a couple thousand vertical feet down the drainage. The number of rocks required to build that many terraces is staggering, but John said that according archeologists, the Marquesas were once home to around 100,000 people.

From there we continued up the winding road to the spine of the island. The views as we climbed the south side to the central ridge and then looked down on the north side were spectacular. Virtually every inch of the steep mountainous landscape is covered by jungle. The largest trees are a variety of acacia 80-100 feet high and with canopies as large. The canopies are relatively flat on top, giving a sort of umbrella effect.

We stopped frequently to photograph the views and at every stop John identified new plants for us and explained their uses. As it turned out, all of us were keenly interested in learning plant names, especially fruiting ones, which seemed to be most of them.

Switchbacking several thousand feet down to the surf pounded rock cliffs of the north shore, the road continued east, climbing one precipitous ridge after another, but never far from the sea. Each valley had a stream emptying into the ocean and a small settlement of a dozen or so homesteads. The lower sections of the valleys were covered with coconut trees, an apparently lucrative crop given the increased demand for coconut oil in recent years.

At the village of Puamau on the northeast corner of the island we stopped at the only store we'd seen since Atuona, where in fine French tradition, Francois insisted that we buy a couple bottles of wine to have with lunch. It was a good call.

First though, we stopped at a nearby archeological site that included many stone platforms and several tikis, one of which is considered the largest in Polynesia. The site was well preserved and the grounds nicely manicured, but the mosquitos and the still, humid air had us wondering why a village was once located here, rather than on the beach a half mile away where the refreshing trade wind cooled the air and discouraged the bugs.

John set up a folding table just above the beach and laid out a meal of rice accompanied by a delicious chicken and papaya dish and baguettes. It was followed by a fruit cup of fresh papaya, mango, pamplemousse and pineapple. Then came boiled plantain, which was surprisingly good.

The 2 1/2 hour trip back to Atuona was on the same road we'd come on, as it's the only one on the island. We were so grateful to have made the trip that morning in relatively clear weather, as the higher portions were mostly clouded in on the way back.

Throughout the day Pearl and I mentally pinched ourselves, almost not believing that we were actually in the Marquesas Islands.  I'd first read about them in grade school and have wanted to see them ever since, so it's very much the realization of a life-long dream.  It's hard to express how grateful we are for this experience.  Sharing it with all of you adds a delightful dimension for us.