Ka'Oha Polynesia

We were not able to dig deep into the culture of the Marquesas (called Fenua Enata or Land of Men in the Marquesan language), which shares some aspects of cultures of the other islands of Polynesia but also differs somewhat from other parts of the islands and archipelagos. Marquesans might claim their culture is older but in some respects, it is certainly different. The  Marquesas Islands  were colonized by  seafaring   Polynesians  as early as 300 AD, thought to originate from  Tonga . The dense population was concentrated in the narrow valleys, and consisted of warring tribes, who sometimes  cannibalized  their enemies. Much of  Polynesia , including the original settlers of  Hawaii ,  Tahiti ,  Rapa Iti  and  Easter Island , was settled by Marquesans, believed to have departed from the Marquesas as a result more frequently of  overpopulation  and drought-related food shortages, than because of the nearly constant warfare that eventually became a prominent feature of the islan

Up again with the roosters and the dawn. MAC resumed her methodical packing regimen trying to fit everything into bags and keep the weight reasonably within limits. We went up to breakfast at 8 a.m. and afterwards bought a couple of tikis to retain as mementos of our South Pacific stay. The hotel was lively as the Director General allows locals to come up and have brunch and use the swimming pool on Sundays. It was nice to have the children playing in the pool and generally having a good time and allowing their parents to relax and enjoy the buffet. The wonderful wooden tiki in the hotel lobby. (the ones we bought were rather smaller!!) We paid the bill and checked out and at 10 a.m. M. Jean-Jacques Boillet, the Director General of the hotel drove us to the airport. We commented on the quality of the airport road and he told us that it was built for the visit to the island of M. Jacques Chirac, French President in the early 2000’s. In the end he cancelled his visit but the

I was up at 6 a.m. and writing the blog from the previous day. The roosters at Hanakee Pearl Resort do not allow lying in bed for long. The management have provided earplugs but, really they do not bother us much even though they do start their crowing very early, sometimes before dawn. This morning we decided to skip breakfast in favor of a quick cup of coffee. Then it was on to the 9 a.m. hotel shuttle and into the village of Atuona. Here we visited the Artisanal Center and bought a few things. Then we made a short detour to the bank across the street just to make sure we had enough money for the rest of the stay. The mural on the wall of the supermarket dedicated to Jacques Brel with his famous saying that in the Marquesas moaning (complaining) is not allowed!! We visited a couple of  stores before arriving at the supermarket which was very busy with shoppers stocking up for the weekend. Here we bought some cat food for our cats at home and a few other things i

This link is to a video about the increasingly industrial fishing of, especially tuna, around the Marquesas islands and the need to form a protective zone where the breeds which sustain the islands can regenerate. Unfortunately, human greed once again invades paradise. Most of the fishing done by the islander is in the traditional way by free diving and catching the fish either with spears or just  taking lobsters by hand. This is not enough to deplete the stock and can be sustained. The large tuna boats take vast quantities of fish which cannot be sustained.  Fishing Conservation

Today we did not have an activity until 2 p.m. So we sat around in the morning after a quick breakfast and enjoyed the warm sun and the idle time. In the late morning, David and Marga returned from a trip to the village where David flew his drone for some new photo perspectives. They were to leave that day for home. We had a nice lunch with them and said our farewells as they left for the airport at 1 p.m. for their flight to Papeete, then L.A. and then London. At 2 p.m. we met Henri for our trip to the Taaoa Valley and the large archeological site there called Upeke. First he took us for s short tour to the village and pointed out some places we had not seen on our first trip there, then we drove up into the hills to the site. It is a large area which many large stones arranged around a grand meeting area with the Chief’s throne at one end. There are, of course tiki and hieroglyphs everywhere as well as evidence of tool sharpening on the rocks and the small indentations wher