07/06/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Horses are very popular in the Marquesas. This image brings back fond memories of how I spent a good part of my time while growing up on a farm in Ohio. If you ever wanted to bring a good item to trade in the Marquesas, pick up some inexpensive saddles in Mexico or Panama and they'd be worth a fortune here. The local saddles leave a lot to be desired as they are basically carved out of wood. After having the opportunity to race horses down a street with one of the local guys from Pua Mau, Hiva Oa, I can personally attest to their lack of comfort!
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07/02/2007, Daniel's Bay, Nuku Hiva
Ever since we arrived in the Marquesas over a month ago and have heard the baaaiing (or whatever sound it is that goats make -- sounds like a child crying actually) of the wild goats in the hills, Sam has wanted some goat meat. I have had goat before at Indian restaurants and in the Bahamas and, quite frankly, I wasn't too thrilled with it.
The locals use their dogs to hunt and kill the wild goats and wild pigs which wander the lush green mountains in French Polynesia. This morning we woke to the obvious sounds of a goat being hunted down by two dogs. The dogs finally killed the goat down by the waterside and then stayed by the goat waiting for their owner to arrive (as is the routine established long, long ago). (This may seem harsh to some, but this is how they put meat on their tables for them families.) However, the dog's owner was not at home, having gone to Taiohae Baie for the Heiva Nui festivities. We thought it a terrible shame to just let the meat go to waste, so Sam went to the village just to the west of Daniel's Bay and explained the situation.
As quick as can be, one of the young men said "Let's go" (or the equivalent thereof) and hopped into our dinghy. The young man, who is named Aho (phonetic), quickly field dressed and skinned the goat, and then, as a present, provided us with about half of the goat. In return, we gave him four beers (in French Polynesia, a can of beer at the store costs nearly $4.00) and a pound of coffee (worth $12.00 here). He was quite happy with the exchange, but wouldn't let it end. After Sam returned him to his village, he presented us with a large stalk of bananas. And that is typical of how business with the villagers is conducted.
Aho provided Sam with directions regarding how to cook it the "traditional way" (using soy sauce and oyster sauce, of all things) and I have to admit that it was actually quite good. Unlike the other times when I've had goat and the meat had a strong goat flavor, this was actually quite mild and not very gamey at all.
Maybe now Sam can FINALLY stop talking about getting a goat.
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07/01/2007, Daniel's Bay, Nuku Hiva
I guess most couples would be thrilled to celebrate an anniversary in French Polynesia. I guess that's why Sam brought us here, right? Some friends of ours were going to hike to the waterfall, so since we enjoyed it so much the first time around, we decided to do it again. (See prior photo and story from June 14th). The waterfall is actually right behind us, but you can't see it in this photo.
This time it didn't rain the entire way and Sam even went swimming in the pool at the base. He didn't see any eels, but as we were leaving and traversing a creek, I did see one about 2 feet long hiding under a rock. I made the mistake of pointing it out to one of our friends and he promptly touched the eel's tail which made it shoot straight out into the stream towards me. Thanks, guy. But, alas, the current caught it and carried it away at the last moment. According to the locals, the eels do bite. They do eat them, so I guess they should know.
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06/29/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Today marked the start of the Heiva Nui Festival which takes place on most of the islands throughout French Polynesia and lasts for several weeks. Today was also Autonomy Day, which recognizes the support that the French have given the islands, but which also recognizes the autonomy of the islands. Frankly, I'm not sure if it is coincidence that the two holidays collide or if it was planned that way so that the French could have a role in their local festivities.
The various sports teams paraded through town, with each stopping in front of the tent that held the village officials (mayor, gendarme (police chief), etc.) Each group sang a song in Marquisian, which was obviously a tribute of some kind to the officials. Several of the groups had young men performing traditional dances and chants. Then there was the obligatory fire truck and ambulance rambling through with their sirens on full tilt. (Some things never change, no matter where you are.)
Flowers are still very much a part of the islands' traditions. The majority of the women and teenage girls wear a flower behind their ears every day. Behind the right ear, proclaims that you are married. Behind the left ear, that you are single. And, if you are wearing your flower backwards behind your left ear it means that you are ready "right now."
They often even wear these lovely flower wreaths which often contain laurel leaves (what Americans would call Bay leaves) and they smell just wonderful. These two older ladies were just thrilled to pose for my camera. They had been to watch the parade that morning.
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06/29/2007, Taoihae Baie, Nuku Hiva
I believe this would be the equivalent of the Queen/Princess float, but I'm not sure about that. This was the only float with only one person on it. This was probably a tremendous amount of work to create with all the plaiting of the palm leaves.
From the other decorations present for the festival, it is apparent that the Polynesians appreciate the beauty of their surroundings and love to use palm fronds, flowers and shells in the most artistic ways to decorate.
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06/26/2007, Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Certain traditions of the Polynesians have continued, despite the French influence in these islands. Tattoos originated (or so I have read) in Polynesia and were a way for people to transcribe their personal and tribal histories upon their body. The tattoo artist in Taiohae Bay is Matatiki (phonetic). And, no, neither Sam or I elected to get any tattoos, although a few other sailors availed themselves of the opportunity to have a genuine Polynesian tattoo. Certainly a good number of the locals -- both men and women -- have continued with the tradition.
In speaking with Matatiki, he explained that the tattoos on his face tell of his family, his island, and of Hawaii. (Not sure why Hawaii was in there, but between his broken English and my atrocious French and non-existent Marquisian, I never did find out that answer.) When I asked him if anyone ever had their entire face tattooed, he shook his head, strongly said "No" and looked at me as if I was out of my mind. Hmmm....guess I should have known that, right? Obviously having 1/2 of your face tattooed is just fine, but an entire face would be pushing it over the edge. I guess I need to remember that in case I ever feel the urge to risk hepatitis and inject myself with ink.
Many of the Polynesian men wear large bone necklaces. Matatiki explained that his was made from the teeth of one of his horses (presumably it died first!) and that the center piece was made from cow. He explained that horse bones and teeth are yellow, but cow bones are white. But, you knew that already, didn't you?
It is these interactions that make our travels so interesting. You just couldn't find these Kodak moments at the deli in Boca Raton.
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06/14/2007, Daniel's Bay, Nuku Hiva
Today we all hiked to the base of the third largest waterfall in the world. It was a gorgeous 2.5 hour hike (one way), complete with the fording of small rivers. It rained sporadically on our way to the waterfall, and on the way back it drizzled a light rain the whole way, which actually felt pretty refreshing and caused nearly the entire path to become a small stream. This photos was taken from a point while we were still over an hour away from the fall.
We were going to swimming in the pool at the base of the waterfall, but the water was actually pretty murky from being constantly stirred up AND we saw several freshwater eels with thick tails about 4 inches across (kind of flat, but flared) and decided otherwise. I'm sure that the eels wouldn't have posed a threat, but Tori and Alison weren't buying into that.
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06/10/2007, Taoihae Baie, Nuku Hiva
Sam and Alison took off for a trek to find the ancient village in this area. Before the arrival of missionaries, most of the villages were located inland and up the mountainside. Presumably the locale was cooler, with less sand-related bug nuisances, closer to fresh water streams, closer to the fruit trees, and, most importantly, an easier location to defend against marauding enemy tribes. But, those missionaries knew better and made them move the villages to the shore so that it would be easier to get supplies off boats.
Here is Alison being dwarfed by two of the traditional community houses. Notice the massive size of the stones.
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06/06/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva
Sam was over at a friend's boat one evening and they decided to cast their lines over the side just to see what would hit. Do you think that if there are baby hammerheads there just might be adult ones, too, in the bay? If you don't see the locals swimming out through the bay, then you better not either. Actually, I've just determined to have an Aussie attitude about sharks. Now when I go snorkeling I specifically look for sharks, because then I never seem to find them. Sam is still a bit leary of sharks -- and yes, there are lots of them here in the Pacific. But I reminded him that he has a better chance of being struck by lightning than getting eaten by a shark. Ooops, forgot that he's actually been struck twice. Uh-oh. Maybe he better stay on the boat.
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06/03/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva
See the Mother's Day in French Polynesia entry for more info. Some of these fellows were quite intense -- especially the one second from the left.
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06/03/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva
One of the young women dancers. (See the entry for Mothers Day in French Polynesia for more info.)
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06/03/2007, Taiohae Baie, Nuku Hiva
Mother's Day is held the first Sunday in June in French Polynesia. Rose Corser, an ex-pat who firsts sailed to these islands in the early 1970's to work on her dissertation on Marquisan art and who subsequently permanently settled here in 1979, hosted a pig roast at her restaurant and provided entertainment in the form of traditional dancing and music by a local group. In addition to the roast pig which had been cooked in an underground oven, we also enjoyed poisson cru, which is raw fish marinated in coconut milk (really delicious) and lots of other local specialties as well. Rose has inspired some of the local young adults to form a dance troupe so that the traditional dances do not die. The dancing was mainly perfomed by the young men and is not hula-type dancing at all. Combining warrior-like moves and heavy breathing and chants, these dances were originally meant to instill fear in their enemies as they approached. It is really something to see and to hear. The young women's dancing was much different and consisted of many arm movements and tiny steps on tiptoe.
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05/29/2007, Baie du Controlleur, Nuku Hiva
So, what do we eat while we are cruising? Well, lots of the regular "stuff" just like we did back in the States, but also some new delights, too. We had acquired a taste for breadfruit (that would the the round bumpy item in the photo) while in Grenada and so were glad to have it on board once again. The fruit that looks like grapefruit is actually pamplemousse, which is just a Polynesian variety of grapefruit, but it tends to be a bit sweeter and -- get this -- is usually seedless. Why couldn't any of the Florida grapefruit growers ever figure that out? Or did they? We've been away so long that I can't remember now if it was possible to buy seedless grapefruits in the States or not.
As for breadfruit, you basically cook them the same way that you would cook potatoes and they do taste very similar, perhaps a bit sweeter. But first you have to peel it and steam it for about 25 minutes or so. After that, you can cut them like steak fries and fry them. Or you may fix them like mashed potatoes or hash browns. Really, only your imagination limits what you can do with them. Perhaps you can ask your local grocer to carry them. Hah!
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05/28/2007, Northern Hiva Oa anchorage (Pua Mau)
Yes, yes, I know. My mom is a horrible blogger right now. I was beating up on her today for it. Main reason for no new posts? Well, she doesn't like to post a post without a precious picture of something or somewhere. I say, save the people, don't make them think we've been attacked by the locals!
Which could happen.
Not until 1950 did the people here stop being cannibalistic. A bit scary? Yup, it is. :O Well, I just wanted to drop a post over on this blog for you peoples who are always hoping for a new post to appear. Here is one for you. If you're even more anxious you can pop over to my blog, which is a mix of posts from my head. Some cruising, sailing stuff, some teenage stuff, a mix of stuff all together. Get the perspective of a just about 14 year old girl who lives on this boat going around the World. For now, ciao. Which is pronounced chow, if you were wondering. -Tori
[Note from Jennifer (the Mom): I think that Tori is exaggerating a bit about the cannibals. Cannibalism was outlawed here around 1890 or so. However, Thor Heyerdahl (his boat was the Kon Tiki) apparently commented that it was still going on in some parts of the Marquesas around or about 1950. But, if it happened at all, it was probably an isolated incident with some of the folks. I don't believe that we have anything to worry about. Why, a nice family today just said that they'd love to have us for dinner tomorrow night.] (Groan, groan --- oldest joke in the world. But. I just couldn't resist.)
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05/26/2007, North side of Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Appears that Sam is not the only one who can catch a fish or two, as evidenced by this nice Mahi-Mahi that I brought in. This was a very heavy fish to hold up -- as evidenced by the grimacing expression on my face. One guess as to what we'll be having for dinner tonight.
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