Hanatefau Bay, Tahuata Island, Marquesas
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 7 Apr 2008 23:36
|
09:57.625S 139:07.166W
We didn't make it to the island of Fatu Hiva as
planned on Tuesday (4/1). We decided to put it off for a few more days to
allow some of the World ARC boat crowd to clear out before we
arrived. We had heard through email that the bay on Fatu Hiva is fabulous,
but small with a steeply sloping bottom that only allows for as many as ten
boats at a time to anchor.
So, what a pity, we had to stay on the island of
Tahuata a little longer. We left our solitary bay of Hanamoenoa on Tuesday
and sailed a few miles down the coast to a bay called Hanatefau, which is near a
small village known for its beauty and bone carving artisans. We stayed in
Hanatefau Bay three nights and have since made our way south to the island of
Fatu Hiva, but that will be the subject of a future blog entry.
When we arrived in Hanatefau Bay, there were five
other boats, all of which were rally boats. No problem though, there
was plenty of room for us. No white sand beach in this bay,
just plenty of graceful palm trees leading up the steep hills from the
rocks at the water's edge to the mountain ridges hundreds (and in some cases,
thousands) of feet above (pictures to follow in a later entry, once we make
it to the island of Nuku Hiva next week, where a fast internet connection can be
found). Slightly different scenery here, but gorgeous all the same.
The water is clear and the snorkeling not bad - lots of giant rocks with coral
and brightly colored fish all around.
The boat enjoyed its stay in Hanatefau Bay because
all the sea critters, green slime and leftover Ecuadorian oil were scraped and
cleaned off its hull by the ambitious captain. The Colombian Coast Guard's
boot smudges were also washed and waxed out of the cockpit, again by a very
ambitious captain, all resulting in a much more attractive, and certainly less
embarrassed, sailboat.
Starting with our first day in Hanatefau Bay, we
noticed a lone Marquesan man, paddling his way around the bay we were in as well
as the adjacent bay, in his modern day version of an outrigger canoe.
Methodically, he made his way around both bays, repeating the circuit three
times before returning to Hapatoni village at the far end of the
adjacent bay. The first day he waved to us. The second day, he came
closer and we learned that he spoke English very well (learned at school on
neighboring Hiva Oa Island when he was a kid), his name is Cyril, and he
offered to show us around the village the next morning.
We went into town the next morning, but didn't see
Cyril. Instead we strolled down the tree and stone wall lined
main street (neatly packed dirt and grass), said 'bon jour' in our sad
French to the few people we saw and snapped a bunch of pictures. The
responses we received to our greetings were mixed. Some people said
nothing at all, others murmured a short greeting, but most of the kids responded
with a burst of French or Marquesan, none of which we understood of course, but
their enthusiasm was appreciated. We didn't see any handicrafts on display
and no one invited us to their house to view their carving work.
Disappointed, we hopped back in the dinghy and headed back to the
boat.
By this time, all of the other rally boats had
moved on and we were alone in the bay until one non-rally boat showed up
that morning. On the way back to our boat, we stopped to say hello to the
new arrival. We were immediately invited aboard for a glass of wine by the
owner/captain, Eric. Eric is from Switzerland, and had
been making his way around the world, by himself - yes, by himself
- on his very nice 40-something foot sailboat for the past three
years. Three years ago he started out from Europe on a one year
trip. His one year trip turned into a three year odyssey that has taken
him through the Indian Ocean to Indonesia, Bali, Burma, the
Philippines and the South Pacific. From the Marquesas, he plans to sail to
Alaska, then down the west coast to Central America. After that he is not
sure.... What a life! And he is only 30-something years
old.
We finally made it back to our boat after our chat
with Eric, and later saw Cyril paddling toward us on his daily circuit of
the two bays. Cyril stopped to talk and asked if we had
gone to the village. We said we had, but didn't see him. He
apologized, saying he was working (carving) at his house and didn't see our
dinghy approach the breakwall and wharf. Cyril offered to cut
his canoeing time short and take us to his house where we could look at his
carving work. We agreed, hopped back in the dinghy and followed Cyril back
to the town. We were motoring and Cyril still beat us in his canoe.
It's no wonder his tattooed body was in perfect shape.
We arrived at the town and Cyril led us in and
around the yards of various houses on the way to his place. There is
only one road in the village and only three cars, so there is no need for
roads between all the houses. The houses are situated fairly close
together, hugging the slope of the terrain as you make your way up.
No roads means you have to tread through everyone's yards to get
around. This is normal, and no one seemed to be surprised to see Cyril
leading two boater/tourists to his house. Each house seemed to contain a
relative of his. 'We are all related', he said. Well, no wonder, the
town couldn't have had more than fifty people living in it. Most houses
seemed to contain uncles of his. As we wound around the houses, the
terrain started getting steeper and we eventually made it to Cyril's
house. 'This house used to be my father's.' Cyril mentioned as we
approached. He stopped at a lime tree and asked if we had brought a
bag. We did bring a bag, with some 'giftos' in it to use for trading
or to give away as gifts. He proceeded to fill our bag with
about sixty key limes from the tree. Holy! That's a lot of vodka and
tonics. Next, we walked by a banana tree that happened to have a stalk
of ripe, yellow bananas on it. Into our bag went about fifty
bananas. We thanked Cyril profusely while picturing lots of
banana bread in our future.
Cyril's house was perched on the side of
hill behind the village church, with a marvelous view of the bay. 'I watch
for visiting sailboats from here while I work', Cyril explained. His
carving workspace was set up on a covered patio at the front of the house.
The house itself was small, painted a bright turquoise, and very neat (as were
all the houses we passed by). The shower was set up outside with a shower
curtain for privacy. Why not? We take shower/baths in the cockpit of
our boat when no one is around, so why shouldn't they shower outside? It's
plenty warm and this way the bathroom stays cleaner. I should mention
that the outside shower was set up not too far from the satellite dish. We
laughed about the dish and noticed most houses had them. 'For TV.' Cyril
said. Yes, the world is very small. Satellite dishes on tiny
Marquesan islands.
Cyril introduced us to his wife, whom he met while
he was in Tahiti (she is from an island near Bora Bora). He mentioned that
he had spent two years in the French army, and had traveled to France and spent
time there and in Tahiti. When his time in the army was finished, he
couldn't be happier to return home to his village.
'Everything moves too fast out there.' he
said. 'I prefer it here, on our island, in our village. I get up, I
carve and watch over the bay until three o'clock, then I go in my outrigger
three times around the bays. For sport, you know. It's good to do
the sport. It's a good life here in the village. I would not want to
live anywhere else."
When asked about food and whether they had to
travel to the island of Hiva Oa to buy supplies, Cyril answered, 'We go to Hiva
Oa to buy some things like flour and bread. But mostly we eat the fruit
from the trees on our land and I hunt for meat.'
'What do you hunt for?' Don asked.
'Wild pig and goats and not so much cattle
anymore.' Cyril said. (Yes, cattle. Isn't that funny? They are
leftover from the plantations that were started here and abandoned back in the
1800's and they now run wild, as do the pigs and goats.)
'Do you use a gun?'
'No!' Cyril laughed. 'I wish we had
guns. It would be so easy! We don't have guns, so we use a spear to
hunt.'
What a concept. Hunting for wild boar with a
spear. Now that, is sport.
Cyril and his wife got out his bone carvings
and laid them out on a table for us to see. He uses any and all kinds of
bone to carve. Pig bones, fish bones, cow bones. Teeth from the
same. Whale teeth. Shells. There are no deer on the island,
but he has a relative on one of the Society Islands that supplies him
with deer antlers to carve. His favorite work is an elaborately
carved massive deer antler. It looks kind of like a complicated totem pole
in the shape of a deer antler.
While I looked over his work, Cyril invited
Don to come watch and photograph him while he harvested a banana stalk.
When a banana stalk is harvested, the entire tree is cut down. 'Don't
worry', the machete wielding Cyril said, 'Two or three new banana trees will
grow in its place.' He made quick work of the banana tree and gave the
stalk of not yet ripe green bananas to Don. Oh good! Fifty more
green bananas to add to the fifty yellow ones he had given us
before. Wow. The Marquesans are a generous people. No doubt
about it.
Once the banana tree work was done, Cyril came back
to the house and indicated that he would put his work away and he did not expect
us to buy anything. He just wanted us to see it. Of course we bought
something. His work is gorgeous and it felt so good to buy something
directly from the artist - especially after he invited us into his home and
loaded us up with fifty pounds of fruit. Cyril mentioned that at the end
of the month the Marquesan artists would be going to Tahiti to sell their work
at the 'Marquesan Exhibition' in Papeete. Luckily we will be in Tahiti at
the end of the month, so we are hoping to see Cyril and other Marquesan artists
there.
I gave Cyril's wife a few of the giftos we had
brought (scented soap and fancy hand cream) and Cyril came back with us to the
boat so Don could pay him. His carvings were not cheap, but we felt his
work and the whole experience was worth it.
When we get to Nuku Hiva, I will send pictures from
our Marquesan travels. Included will be a couple pictures of Cyril.
You will see that almost half his body is tattooed. Not the usual
butterfly, dragon or girlfriend's name, but a unique Marquesan design that is
actually quite a attractive (opinion of a non-tattoo loving person). When
we asked Cyril about his tattoos, he said that his goal was to have half of his
body tattooed. 'I am not finished yet.' he said. 'I only have a
little bit done at a time when I visit Tahiti. It hurts too much!'.
More power to him.
We left the bay of Hanatefau on Tahuata Island last
Friday (4/4) and sailed south to the island of Fatu Hiva. More on this in
a future entry.
In the meantime, would anyone like some banana
bread??
Anne
|