One of my friends has been complaining that we seem to be permanently stuck in Fatu Hiva (at least as far as our blog), and that it is time to move on already. Agreed – but one final post on Fatu Hiva and a hike we made from the Bay of Virgins to a charming water fall.
As we began our hike, there was a placard along side the stream well below the waterfall that called for plans to build a hydroelectric plant to power the village below. This obviously makes abundant sense as all power is currently supplied by diesel generators and the fuel has to be brought in by the inter island freighter at considerable expense. Temo, however, told us the whole project, despite its economic sense, was in doubt as the money had to come from France and, under present circumstances, little or no money was flowing to French Polynesia given France’s current economic issues.
Back to our hike.
Typical in French Polynesia are these small stone cairns to mark the trails. Jungle growth quickly hides trails and they are truly necessary.
There were also ancient petroglyphs along the track.
Like most hikes here, the trail was demanding but not nearly as long as our hike to Vaipo Falls on Nuka Hiva.
Pictures simply do not do the size and scope of the falls justice but it is the best I could do.
Next stop is Nuka Hiva again where Dan, Lisa and Deb started the trip home by the big silver bird. Mark Fritzer (part of the FPB team in Seattle) joined us for the onward journey to the Line Islands, Palmyra and Hawaii – some 2300 nautical miles away. Next post will be on bunkering (refueling) in Nuka Hiva – an interesting experience that I would just as soon not have to do again.
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