1/13/18 Nuka Heva, French Polynesia

Visited Nuku Heva, French Polynesia on 1/13/18

We were greeted by drummers and dancers.  They gave us a flower to put above our ears.  On the left, indicated you are taken.  On the right, indicated you are available.  

Only 3000 people live on Nuku Heva.  It is a beautiful, quiet paradise a bit lost in time.    Much of the land is covered with rainforests.  The government owns a lot of land and families own land.  So far, development has not changed the environment here.  

Children are educated on the island until age 15.  Then they attend boarding school in Tahiti.

The included tour was a walk along the waterfront on your own.  We hired a driver and rode up very windy, steep roads through the rainforest.  We saw many lovely vistas.  

Lifeboat going into the water to function as a tender to port.  On the ride back, we sat up on the top.  Robin, the whale and dolphin guy, pointed out sting rays in the water.  

FACEBOOK  Taioha'e, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia is the largest Marquesas Islands.  It feels untouched by time.  We were greeted by dancers as dance is an important part of Polynesian culture.  In 2007, there were 2,660 people residing on Nuku Hiva and almost 95% are of Polynesian descent.  The island offers many beautiful beaches, amazing waterfalls, dramatic mountainous landscapes, and volcanic cones.  The highest peak is 4016 feet.  There is lots of flora and fauna and some birds which can only be found on Nuku Hiva.  

The people eat what they can grow on the island.  Their diets include a lot of fruits, fish, goats and some pigs.  Local beef is becoming more available.  Coconut is a top export.  Homes have mailboxes outside for baguette delivery, people pick their mail up at the post office.  Imported food is available and rice is a staple in their diet.  A cargo ship comes on the 15th and 30th of each month from Tahiti.  Two hundred sixty people could come on the ship with the cargo.  So you can plan a two week vacation in Nuku Hiva.  It would be a very  relaxing.  There is an airport with one runway.  There is one jail and it is often empty.  Survivor filmed on Nuku Hiva in 2001.  

We were tendered ashore using our lifeboats, more good practice for the crew.  We were on our own on this island so five of us went together and hired a driver.  He spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable.  He drove us to the top of the mountain through the rainforests and we enjoyed many beautiful visits along the way.  He took us to an archaeological site and explained the housing and the temple area, the human sacrifice sites and explained cannibals used to eat their prisoners.   We stopped by Notre Dame Cathedral, built in the 1970's.  The Stations of the Cross were all beautifully carved out of tamanu.  There were many other intricate carvings throughout the cathedral, some of them out of rosewood. We went to the marketplace to check out local handicrafts, but were directed not to buy any wooden items as the ship did not want an infestation.  

It would be wonderful if Nuku Hiva could stay lost in time.  We were entertained as we waited for our tender back to the ship by more dancing.