The Marquises Islands, the Land of Adventurers

Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, these three authors lived only to discover the world around them. During their many peregrines, everyone had the chance to crowd the soil of the Marquises Islands. But what can the Polynesian archipelago contain to attract all this beautiful world?

Lost in the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Marquises Islands was not intended to be discovered. In the sixteenth century, a Spanish conquistador named Álvaro de Mendaña fell on it, but his premature death a few months later allowed them to keep a relative anonymity.

Two centuries pass before they see the head of a browser in the person of James Cook. From that moment on, the archipelago sees several representatives of expansionist states coming out, eager to claim these Polynesian lands.

Few quarrels between these different conquistadors, intrepid adventurers do at the same time to discover the culture and civilization of these islands. So go on their tracks and, too, fall in love with this part of the globe.

Arrival in Nuku-Hiva

Landing on the island of Nuku Hiva would be too simple to start your expedition. Although an airport is located in the north-west of the island, the Seas is much more attractive. In addition, any good adventurer would choose to sail through the streams to reach the firm land.

Taiohae Bay

Like Herman Melville when he was simple sailor on l’Acushnet or Jack London on board Snark , your trip starts on Taiohae Bay. The landscape has changed somewhat since the time of these authors – there was no construction on the shore – yet the luxuriant nature is still well present and should tickle your curiosity.

Before sinking, take a little height to admire the entire bay. You see this caldeira in which the Marquises Islands love? Vestiges of a volcano erupted several million years ago, she is the first witness of these lands.

Beyond the scientific explanation, there is a local legend that tells the Marquises Islands, that of Oatea and his wife Atanua. Lost in the middle of the seas, the couple still wanted to build a house. So Oatea summoned his ancestors the Gods so that a earthly floor would appear. They responded positively to the call and, from there, the Marquises Islands actually came out of land.

Temehea Tohua

Since your arrival the jungle has made you an eye, then finally give way to temptation. Adventure to the north of Nuku Hiva where the remains of Temehea Tohua, remains of the last queen of Taiohae.

This place is known to house many tikis – that is, a statue of a Polynesian god – of all sizes, but especially of all forms! If some have large mouths, the others have a small trunk. Others have the heads enhanced with an elongated helmet and some have the glorious eyes.

These representations always intrigue anthropologists as much. What did Polynesians rely on for their tikis look like extraterrestrials? Pending a rational explanation, you can have fun thinking that the truth is elsewhere...

It's time to get back into the focus of the topic and go to discover our favourite adventurers.

Major explorations

Finally, you are in the footsteps of Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London. Moreover, if London has ventured into this valley, it is thanks to the story of the first city in his book Taip .

The Taipivei Valley

As mentioned earlier, young Merville is committed to the whaler l’Acushnet . When he landed on the island of Nuku Hiva, the author of Moby Dick is subjugated by the beauty of the landscape and the thrill of the adventure crosses the cheek. Powered by his captain’s orders, he then decided to flee the building with his fellow in safety Richard Tobbias Greene.

However, the magic of the place is a slight misleading eye. The jungle has a few traps and Melville eventually gets hurt because of a fall. For 3 days, he and his acolyte wander in this fauna that extends to loss of sight. Fortunately, he fell on the tribe of the Taip who collected them and treated them.

Once on foot, Melville does not want to leave the place and gradually integrates with the tribe. Over the months, the Garden of Eden, as he baptized, is a disenchantment. Yet, the Taips integrate it into the customs and customs of the tribe. It prepares in front of the popoi, a typical polynesian recipe composed of fruit of the bread tree – also called Uru – to which one adds the same but fermented ingredient. Then, thanks to a pilon, everything turns into a kind of paste that each villager shares.

But it is not this tradition that frightens the adventurer. He discovers that his hosts are anthropophages! And, like Hannibal Lecter, they manage to consume human flesh! Except that unlike the serial killer, the Taiwanese do not do this for pleasure.

They only give themselves to this ritual in the event of war and when they capture prisoners. By devouring their enemies, they robbed their "manas" or mystical energy. Melville, however, is not involved in any ritual of this kind but paranoia the guette. What if after being shocked, it became purely and simply the evening meal? Enjoying a moment of inattention, he eventually fled the village.

The archaeological site of Kamuihei

To admire what Melville has fled, you have to go back to the North of the Valley where Kamuihei's archaeological site is hiding. You will then admire a timeless place in the literal sense of the term. Indeed, no dating has been made at the moment.

The foam that covers the large basaltic blocks and the remains of the housing platforms still shows the heights of time. They could have been completely engulfed by Mother Nature if archaeologist Pierre Ottino-Garanger had not moved heaven and earth to restore all this.

Whip what remains of the festivities, admire the petroglyphs and the banians – or divine trees –, walk between the storage food pits and you will see appear before you the Taia in full ritual. Maybe even if you tend the ear, you can hear the pilon that hits the popoi.

Kamuihei is not the only site of the genus in the Marquises Islands. A large number is scattered across the archipelago and shows the high population density that once occupied this valley. Indeed, before the explorers arrived, James Cook had estimated the population to 100,000 souls, they are less than 5,000 currently. Finish climbing the valley to fall on the beautiful bay of Hatiheu.

Hatiheu Bay

On the beach of Hatiheu, the resssac of the waves gets you. Lie on the sand or on a long chair, you finally get some rest. Know that you are not the first to feel this feeling of tranquility.

More than 130 years ago, Robert Louis Stevenson stood in your place, feeling the same emotions. His coming was concomitant to the death of his father in 1887. He therefore decided to leave the United States to travel the world with his wife. Like London, Stevenson sets the course on the Marquises Islands to learn more about Melville.

When it finally arrives, it is seized by the beauty of the place. Nuku Hiva has the chance to be her first port of call since her departure from the American continent and, as he describes, she becomes the emotion of a first experience that cannot be repeated. Of its own words, the Marquises Islands remain forever grave in its memory. They're for him. "the first love, the first sunrise, the first island in the Pacific that forever remain unique memories" .

Like Melville, Stevenson blends with local populations. Regardless of the language barrier and the wild aspect of the inhabitants he meets, he wants to discover the Polynesian world. This experience will be different from that of Melville. Europeans have begun to impose certain rules such as the ban on Maori tattoos. Fortunately, more is needed to eliminate customs more than millennia.

Stevenson tirelessly claws in his notebook to keep intact the moments he lives with his wife. He carefully describes the landscapes of the islands he travels aboard his schooner called the Casco . From this port of call will be born his book "Les Marquises", finalized when he stayed in Samoa, his last place of residence.

Living your own adventure

The wild tribes are unfortunately no longer the island of Nuku Hiva. Despite this, you were able to discover their cultures. But why not make your own adventure discovering the natural treasures of Mont Tekao and the Cascade de Vaipo.

Mont Tekao

From Taiohae, take the road to the North towards Mount Tekao. The majestic massif overlooks the Toovi plateau. Over 1,224m, it will allow you to have a global vision of the Marquis Islands. But the planned hike will not be any rest. The denivels prove to be stiff and it will be necessary to redouble efforts to pass the collar.

After these obstacles, you will understand once at the top that it was worth it. You will have a breathtaking view of the green plateaus of Toovi composed of majestic pines and bosquets that give enchanted forest looks.

Aakapa’s hands are also available to you. Moreover, they attracted adventurers from modern times. French people dreamed of reaching a thread between two peaks to create a balancing number on it. Unfortunately, the project could not be completed. Between the dengue and the deflection of natural elements, the organizers preferred to throw the sponge.

At the end of your escapade, you better go back to Taiohae to rest because your next destination requires you to be in shape.

The Cascade of Vaipo

It is the apotheosis of your trip. In order to be able to admire it, drive down the Hakaui valley – west of Taiohae Bay – where a 5-kilometre hike awaits you. But don't worry, it fits any kind of walkers.

Apart from finishing with wet feet, you will not risk anything, only in case of diluvian rains. Better yet, the path is already all traced. One of the queens in the valley had the rich idea of erecting a “royal” path that leads almost to the cascade.

On the way, you will cross old dwellings because, at the time, nothing was built on the shore for fear of seeing a shaved tsunami. There are not only the old dwellings of the living who are jealous of your journey but also those of the dead. Tombs are present on the cliffs, whose braided nape cordages always hold after all these years.

When you arrive at 2/3 of your ride, you should see the waterfall in its entirety. High 350 metres, it is the highest waterfall in Polynesia and ranks at 202nd place in the world. Admire as much as possible and let yourself be carried by the noise of the water flowing.

It is not, however, that we have to go back. Continue until you find yourself at the foot of the waterfall, where the water finishes its course in a large boat dug in black basalt. If you have not dragged too much on your way, you will arrive when the sun floods the natural pool at the base of the waterfall. Swing a head is tempting, however, because of possible stone falls, swimming is forbidden.

So your adventure is about to end. So you would have understood that it was the total disbursement and the discovery of a distant culture that charmed both Melville, Stevenson and London. Like them, you have to go home but with a lot of memories engraved forever.