The most beautiful bay to anchor in Nuku Hiva, is definitely Hakatea Bay, aka Daniel’s Bay. We were surrounded by steep, dramatic mountains, and from the anchorage we had a beautiful view of a lush, green valley.
The captain even got the drone out, for the first time since it crashed in the Namibian desert some 18 months ago. He got some great footage of the mountain range, valley and of Noxoma at anchor in the bay.
There were quite a few boats in the bay, and we were pleased to see our friends from SV Aspro, Ann and Thomas, were there as well. We originally met them in Los Roques, Venezuela, last June, and haven’t seen them since Panama. They invited us over for espresso and banana bread, together with SV Sauvage. Always fun to visit other boats!
It is so nice to see some of the same boats over and over again. We are still hanging out with Tom and Kamen from SV Sauvage, and had them over for a sundowner one night. The guys discussed boat stuff, as we have issues with both our watermaker and generator, unfortunately . And, the ladies planned a hike for the next day to a nearby waterfall.
For the hike, we also met up with another boat we know from before, Mark and Donna from SV Coral Moon, whom we first met in Dominica in the Caribbean, back in April last year. And, we randomly bumped into them on the streets of Bogota, Colombia, last September.
So, together with the Sauvage and Coral Moon crews, we headed off for a hike to a beautiful waterfall in the valley. We started out in the tiny village, which had just a few houses.
We stopped by Te’iki and Kua’s house in the village. They are well-known in the sailor community for making a great lunch which they host at their house. The concept of using one’s home as a restaurant is quite normal here, and it gives us a great opportunity to not only taste proper, local food, but also to connect with the locals and learn their ways.
The rumors are that there was cannibalism on these islands. As we walked out of the village, we noticed a sign reading “Cannibal Art“. It seemed to be the workshop of an artist, but unfortunately, no one was at home.
There is really nice local art here, and we wanted to buy a Tiki for our future Tiki bar we are planning to build in our place in the mountains. So, we were a little bummed out that the place was closed. We did, however, find an awesome Tiki in Taiohae a few days later, when we returned there after completing our the circumnavigation of Nuku Hiva.
The hike was really beautiful, it took us through a lush jungle on a road made of rounded stones, original from when there was a town with thousands of people living here.
The waterfall was beautiful, and we stayed for a while shooting some photos and videos. We did hear several rocks drop around us as we were there, so we were a bit cautious to move too close to the vertical walls surrounding us.
We made our way back to the village again, and the captain is always on the hunt for a coconut. The older ones, that have sprouts growing out of them, are lovely for dessert. Normally, the coconut milk has turned into a creamy, sweet substance, if they are not too old.
He brought the coconut to Te’iki and Kua”s house, where we had booked our lunch. It turned out that showing up with a self picked coconut for dessert was not such a bad idea, as we ended up getting a full blown lesson from Te’iki on ways to open and use coconuts. But first, we had a fabulous lunch of barbecued tuna, which was so delicious!
As we had brought our own dessert, Te’iki decided to give us a coconut lesson. We learned all of the different ways a coconut can be used, from shredding the meat and get the juice out for milk, to burning the coarse matter around the nut to chase mosquitoes.
We also learned that unripe papayas and mangos can be shredded and serve as salads, with for example a vinaigrette based dressing. We are so happy to be learning new recipes from both locals and fellow sailors, and are constantly expanding our repertoire.
We left Te’iki and Kua’s house, well stocked up on fresh produce from their garden, such as grapefruit, basil, bananas and mangos.
We are now getting ready to leave Nuku Hiva and explore the last of the inhabited northern islands of Marquesas, which is Ua Pou.