Nuku Hiva Island Tour

The Marquesas archipelago is an enormous archaeological site with ruins everywhere, mostly dated from 1600-1700 AD.  Nuku Hiva has numerous areas of interest and we decided to set up a private tour with Richard who speaks good English and has archaeological and historical knowledge of the island.  It would cost a little more for the private tour but decided it would be nice to have the individual attention and ask any questions we might have along the way.

Unfortunately, Friday morning we learned a French couple would also be joining us which would mean two languages back and forth. Since we set it up through someone else, who said they would let us know if anyone else was joining us, but they didn’t. Awkward for us so we opted to go along and hope for the best.

View of Taiohae Bay from the mountain top lookout

We started zig-zagging up the airport road above town and eventually stopped at an amazing lookout point overlooking Taiohae Bay.  During the crowded cyclone season  there will be 60 to 70 boats at anchor in this beautiful well-protected harbor.  We continued up to the pass of Te Mouake with cooler temperatures and with large Pine and Acacia trees everywhere.  It did feel nice to be cool for a change.

Taipi Vai Valley, location of Herman Melville's book Typee.

Beautiful plumeria flowers on a tree alongside the river. The Marquesan women wear these in their hair.

We then headed along the edge of Hapaa Valley and eventually descended to Taipi Vai Valley nestled below.  Taipi Vai is a peaceful little town with a school, church, and a couple stores (magasins) with a mountain fed stream passing along the town. We stopped at a well known local artisan's home to look at some of his carvings and collections of memorabilia before heading back up the valley.

Taipi Vai is best known for Herman Melville’s adventurous tale, Typee, where he and another seaman jumped ship in Taiohae Bay. They hiked overland and scrambled down the steep cliffs to Taipi Vai valley, home of a furious tribe of cannibals. Surprisingly, the Taipi elevated Melville to the status of welcomed guest and took generous care of him when he injured his leg. Melville and his companion, forever fearful that they would be invited to dinner (and be the main course) that they both managed to escape separately to make it back home to Boston where Melville eventually wrote and published Typee.  He later wrote Omoo, about his time in Tahiti’s jail and of course his greatest success, Moby Dick in 1851. His name is on the list of most distinguished visitors commemorating his short time on Nuku Hiva.

 Teua Ku’e’e nui waterfalls.

Walter and Meryl in Hatiheu Bay.

Beach at Hatiheu Bay.

Further up the road and across the valley the twin waterfalls, Teua Ku’e’e nui, so called because of the two fresh-water eels that live in the pool at the base of the waterfalls. We stopped along a viewpoint to get a photo from a distance.  From here we drove into the lovely village of Hatiheu with its spiral cliffs overlooking the bay. We stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant and toured a local museum with artifacts from archaeological sites nearby. At the restaurant there was a group from UNESCO touring Marquesan ancient sites to determine World Heritage Site status.  They enjoyed a traditional umu (buried cooking pit) meal with a puaka (young piglet) on the menu along with breadfruit, poi, and other traditional delicacies. Following lunch, our guide Richard took our table scraps to the stream nearby and fed the eels.  They were up to 3 feet long and needless to say very creepy!

Removing banana leaves from the emu (oven pit).

Puaka (piglet) and baked breadfruit ready for the table.

Next we visited the restored tohua (festival place) at Hikokua which was the ceremonial center of the Ati Papua tribe.  These large rectangular ceremonial plazas were constructed for public ceremonies.  It has three original tikis, including one representing the infamous local goddess, Tevanau’au’a.  As you look across the tohua off into the distance you can see the beautiful spiral mountains in the backdrop. What an amazing setting for worship and traditional dancing. 

Hikokau festival grounds.

Tevanau’au’a.

The Kamuihei site nearby is very large and was renovated in 1999 for the International Art Festival, similar to the festival we attended in Hiva Oa this December. At one time Kamuihei was inhabited by thousands of Marquesans before European’s arrived bringing disease and fighting for territory causing depopulation of the islands. 

Sacred Banyan Tree.

Sacred burial site for remains of those sacrificed during ceremonial rites..

This rock was covered with hieroglyphics depicting ancient times.

Ink well used for tatooing in ancient times.

Also, me’ae (temples) which are often undistinguished from (paepae) stone house platforms can be found on the site.  There are numerous petroglyphs and large banyan trees used as burial places for the the remains of those sacrificed by the priests.

We wandered up the slopes and back into the forest and found stone paepae's built everywhere.  Also near open tohua areas we found small circular holes in large stones used for ceremonial tattoo’s that were an important part of the Marquesan culture. The  lifestyle today is different from the past but many cultural activities are still practiced today keeping their heritage alive. For example, artisan carvings, tapa cloth designs, tattooing, ancient dances, cooking techniques, fishing and paddling the outrigger-canoes all are practiced today.

Taipi Vai or Controllers Bay, a favorite anchorage among visiting cruisers.

Adjacent tribes were constantly at war with each other. As an early warning system against intruders, the tribes cleared the ridge lines off all vegetation and had posted lookouts 24 x 7.

As we were driving back towards Taiohae Bay, Richard pointed out an interesting view of how the ridges along the hillside were cleared of any vegetation.  This was done as a security measure by the Marquesan villages providing more visibility for potential enemy raids or invasions. 

As it turned out the tour was both interesting and enjoyable with a slight lean toward the French but we still enjoyed the tour and gained a better understanding of the islands history.