Crisscrossing the
Paeke archaeological site in Taipivai - Nuku Hiva
I was back again October 2004 as a part of my 3 months
holiday. Very little has changed. I will add up the new information I came
across later on.
When I was in the
I will write more about this very remote place
later. I though
There are probably very few places on this planet
which are more intriguing then the Marquesas Islands. The island group are very
desolated, very hot, very rich on fruit and have several valleys with
just coconut trees, have their own language (very different from the
language in Papeete), they had great importance in pre-historic times for the
rest of South Pacific and their history are the most visible in the whole
region. Few have managed to keep their very distinct Polynesian way of
doing things without influence from tourists and others (the French) as the
Marquesian. The island group also contains the biggest collection of historic
remains in the whole South Pacific.
I was at the
These pages contain very much hard facts. But I will
try to describe under each island pages I how perceived the Polynesian life
during my stay. Half of the joy travelling there was meeting the locals.
Map for the whole South Pacific you will find here
Generally about
the island group
I've finally got a hand on a
book which is just about the island group and which cover the island group very
well. It's written by the well known South Pacific archeologist (mainstream
fundamentalist) Robert C. Suggs after he had travelled with freighter Aranui.
When he writes about Heyerdahl, it's hard to believe this is written by a
scientist. But after studying no. of years at the university, I'm actually not
very surprised about the level of impartiality some academics are on.
Anyway I've got it from www.amazon.com and it's the only book of all the books which just have information about
the island group and it's not very old. It's a great relief that this
book is not a typical travel guide theme books or a heavy-million hard
facts/scientific book about the Marquesas Islands.
Book facts:
Title: Manuiota'a: Journal of a voyage to he Marquesas Islands
Authors: Robert C. Suggs and Burgl Lichtenstein
Publisher: Pa'eke Pres; Pages: 264; Published: 2000
Price: $ 25; ISBN: 1-887747-38-9
Travelling there:
I travelled with Air Tahiti from
Getting to the island group it's not too
difficult, but travelling between the
islands in the
Booking flights: Easy
to book inter island tickets - done via e-mail to Air Tahiti which can be
fetched at the Airport in Papeete (it worked like a dream). Book early as
possible. There are few flights and even in off season you could be put
on a waiting list. Your credit card will be charged 1 week before departure of
your flights.
You should be aware of:
- the travel schedule is a bit another matter in
FP/South Pacific. Be at the airport at least 1 hour before departure. Have a
buffer on at least 12 hour in Papeete for your outbound international
flight. Most of my flights were on time, but one have very few options
if things are not working as planned. Some have even experienced -
in other places in FP, the flight have left before planed departure time. If
the flight is not on schedule, no one bother too much besides the tourists.
Airports: They
are small and the facilities for passengers are very limited. The airport
in Papeete is pretty descent. On Air-Tahitis homepage, there is a description
about passenger facilities for every destination they serve.
There are a lot of talks
about larger runway which are going to be built in Nuku Hiva. It’s was discussed with
Paris in December 2004. That’s progress…
Traveling around on the islands:
97% of the roads in
There are not many roads, but it is more then what the small maps in
these pages shows.
Taxi: On
these islands you don't pay any tourist price. These taxi drivers are very
honest as in rest of FP. Prices on the transportation arranged by your
hotel/pension will be the same as if you pick up a taxi at the airport. BUT
book the transportation before you arrive. There are no taxi sign on the roof.
Only a small printed license no. on the door. If there are a taxi driver at the
airport, the Air Tahiti people knows about that. Add an extra time for
transport to the airport. You may end up at a beach party or ending up
meeting his family before heading for the airport. The first happened to
me and second may very well happen. Whatever - one is not getting any where
showing ones impatience in FP. "Time" have a bit different meaning
there.
Language:
Marquesian and French. Very few talk English. Using
the French I learned in school for 20 years ago, worked fine for me. English
works well if your English is good. But don't let this deter you from visiting
the islands. You will soon forget thinking about any language barrier
soon as you arrives in
Accommodation:
That is of mixed bag. If one choose
the budget/inexpensive priced places, it can be anything. Even though,
it' s seldom below XPF 2500 . Mid-range XPF 3000-5000. French breakfast adds XPF
500.- to it. The couple of luxurious places which exists in the island
group starts at XPF 25000.- If one choose with cold water showers, it's
awful cold.
Mosquito net is very rare.
Travel guides:
Best and compact information source is still
the travel guides:
Stanley's guide book is the best on French Polynesia. His books are the
best because he is one of few who is capable of telling the reader about
different local specialties one should avoid or should enjoy. Here is his
homepage:
www.southpacific.org/tahiti.html
BUT:
It seems to be a slight.. confusion among travel guide writers about what type
of information they put in their guides: statements of facts or
recommendations. The last one is obvious for most travellers, but not for
travel guide writers. This is especially true for accommodations. Some on
the net have suggested that the authors have just visited 60% of the places
which are mentioned in the guides. It would not surprise me. Lonely
Planet's guide books are very often mentioned in this matter by travellers on
the net.
Lonely Planet's guide on Tahiti is a nice collection
of information. As with the rest of LP guides - their list over accommodations,
contains mostly plain facts which one can get from any accommodation list on
the net.
I have not yet discovered it for
Hidden..(the
name of the place): Many guide books tries to stick out from the rest of the
pack - trying to get a potential buyer to believe his guidebook could contain
information which "no one else" have found before. In 99% of
the cases are not so. Try Stanleys book or book written buy researcher
from the university if one want to know a bit more then the usual facts.
The locals:
This was the big bonus - getting in touch with locals
(of Polynesian origin) which I always thinks about when my mind heads for the
This friendliness is typical for French Polynesia, but
in the Marquesas Islands,
it's very striking - because the influence of the
modern world way of living is much much less. It's REAL Polynesian way of
living.
What ever village I went to, I always got in touch with some
locals. Voluntarily or involuntary. The pictures on the
This is a minor thing and didn't bother me, but one
should be aware of it: in some instances when one is lining up paying
for food or checking in at the air-port, the Polynesian animosity towards the French is shown
(which they often expressed). They just pass you in the queue. Ask some
stupid questions and the whole thing is another matter and your French looking
- is not so French looking anymore. This animosity is mainly due to
historical happenings.
Guiding: In this matter one
is a bit dependent on luck. Driving around to the different archaeological
sites with a taxi driver is easy to do, of course. The knowledge beyond the
general - about the sites - are in many cases a bit limited. The owner of
Pension Gaugin in Hiva Oa knows a lot about the different sites, but he speaks
only French.
One could also experience that several member of the driver’s family
joins you on one of your tours. This is one of things in FP which one
should expect. For a 7-8 hours tours, it normally costs you 15-2000 XPF.
Anything above XPF 20 000 is a discussion matters. But just
don't forget where you are.
Archeological sites: This
is one of my main reason I headed for this island group. It contains lot
of visible history. In the South Pacific
Beaches and diving:
There are not many of white sand beaches and they are
certainly not crowded. BUT the beach in Hakahui - Nuku Hiva is a
dreamer’s beach. Under each of my island pages, I will try indicate where
you will find them. Ask for local advice because some beaches which may have
too many sharks close by or too many Nono's etc.
Diving/snorkling: Diving in the island group is only recommended for the experienced ones.
As far as I know - there are no one who gives diving lessons there for
beginners.
Maps:
There is one bookshop in
As many are
visiting the island group by sailing boat, the island group is well covered on
nautical maps. This site
www.bluewaterweb.com/nauticalcharts/prodpages/f7353.htm
seems to have good selection on nautical maps, but I don't know too much about
the site.
Weather:
Very hot and sunny. The average temperature at the time I was there was around
33 degree Celsius all the time. In the afternoon and during the night -
the rain poured down in very large quantities. Addition there was also a lot of
lightning some days. Very spectacular when I saw this in horizon over
open sea when it passed Nuku Hiva.
Music:
One thing one should do if anything else concerning
shopping, are buying CD's with music from FP. It's very difficult to get FP CD
outside FP.
Ohotoua Rataro
is a contemporary male performer from Ua Pu. The CD: Kaoha, Les Marquises is
very good. I didn't find his CD in the island group. It cost me XPF 3200.- in
This site - Pacific Islands Radio, are broadcasting music from the whole South Pacific and Rataro
and other performers from
As I traveled in middle of an off-season period, I did
not catch any dance performance. When Aranui is visiting the island group, the dance group will
perform.
Money matters:
Banks
are in each main village on each of these 3 islands. Banque Socredo www.socredo.pf
is the only bank there. Finding the bank, is also a bit trickier then you
are used when traveling to unfamiliar places. Look under the different island
pages. Changing EURO to local currency XPF in the banks is normally
without any fees. There were lot of posters/info about the currency changes in
EU in the banks in the island group when I was there. But one may get in
touch with bank clerks who don't knows nothing about the EURO .
All the prices are in XPF in FP. Prices are fixed in FP and are not a discussion
matters in 9 of 10 cases. Because of their honesty, they are a bit baffled when
you try to figure out what you are paying for. In this particular
matters I could not care - Polynesian way or not.
I did not come across a single place besides the bank
which accepted credit cards in the Marquesas Islands.
Cash transaction from Socredo's ATM machine charges your account in FRF/EURO.
Postcards: Don't
take this for granted. Buy them in Papeete, because the supplies of it are very
limited in the island group. You may do a scoop - finding a postcard from
1950's or even before that.
Internet cafe: It does not exist. They have done local weird
twist to this: The internet pc is at the post office in Hiva Oa (in Nuku Hiva I
don’t now). To get an access to this, one has to buy a phone card at the
post office.
Phoning/faxing to FP: Bad idea between December and end of January. Because it's the peak
season in FP and the lines are very easily jammed.
Medical matters: There
is a hospital in the main village in Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. In Ua Po
just a nurse. Medicine is free even for foreigner. There is no pharmacy
there as in Papeete. The hospital has that function in the Marquesas Islands.
If one needs medical help outside the main village, one should expect that it
will take a very long time. I heard a story about a small girl who fell of a
jeep in Puamau -
Vaccines: Other
then the basic shots, there are no other needs then that. Many many people says
that this is far from needed. It all depends on what kind of risk level your
prefer. Travelling to remote place as this island group, the margins are very
small.
Having done the basic shots again which
one also did in the childhood, will save you for a lot of problems if you are
unlucky.
The mosquito matter: Nono is an awful creature. Buying the Monoi oil available in most
places in FP, will help you pretty much against the Nono's. Use it at least
before going to sleep and travelling to archaeological sites. Some
beaches have problems with this creature.
Final general advice: I prepared for this journey in the same way as I did/do for hiking in
the wilderness. There are very limited supplies of many items in the island
group. They are also very expensive - even compared with average price level in
FP.
It all boils down to how much risk you will dare to
take. I always asks myself: what will I do if the worst case happens and I
can't count on others for help? Just a habit I have from week long hiking
here in Norway.
Books about the Marquesas Islands:
There are few about just this island group. Often one
find much written about the island groups in books which covers the whole South
Pacific. Even books written long time ago, are often very interesting. Many
researches have published articles in different academic journals on the
Marquesas Islands. It's possible to buy for downloading articles on-line.
Where? Cambridge University press have that kind of service, but I've not yet
found anything on the island group. BUT Pacific Studies Journal may have
something. See under miscellaneous
web.adr . in
this page.
A very good and small book on the island group itself
is: Sharon Chester (et al.) : Mave Vai, the
The first "fiction" book I've read in 20
years is Herman Melville: Typee - A Peep at Polynesia
Life (publ: Penguin Classics - 1996) Catches much of how
Polynesian life is.
Thor Heyerdahl book Fatu Hiva: Back to nature It was so many
things Heyerdahl experienced in 1937 on how things are working in a Polynesian
daily life - which I also did during my trip. Just amazing.
Useful web adr.:
A note on the links: It's mix of typical tourist sites and scientific sites. In many
ways, it seems that there have more scientific travellers then ordinary
tourists to the island group. The Marquesas Islands must have been re-searched
in all kind of manners. Many of the sites are about research done throughout
French Polynesia with the Marquesas Islands as central area.
Each link leads you to sites with information which should
keep you busy for many weeks ahead.
Enjoyable reading.
P.S: December and January is a busy period in French
Polynesia and it's not always possible to get in contact with sites in FP.
Sometimes some newsworthy from
www.airtahiti.pf/index_uk.jsp
Air Tahitis home page.
www.aranui.com/
Boat connection: The lifeline for the
www.marquises.pf/infos.htm
The official tourist office for the island group: They are pretty helpful with accommodation
booking. Very few places have e-mail's adr. - so far. The mid-range
priced places I went to, had started the process - when I was there - of
putting up a home page. By now in 2003, most places have a e-mail.
leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/hiva.html
This is one of the best site on the historical background
of the island group.
www.pearlresorts.com
One should ask the hotel to join their excursions.
It's quite possible for non guests if their 4w car is not full.
http://rathbun.si.edu/botany/pacificislandbiodiversity/marquesasflora/index.htm
This site is just absolut great! I don't care to much about flowers, trees
etc. aka the flora. But in South Pacific, the variety is so great that
even with my kindd of disinterest, it's hard not to notice the flora in this
part of the world.
gohawaii.about.com/travel/gohawaii/cs/marquesasculture
One of the few good link pages on the Marquesas.
www.bishopmuseum.org
This museum which is located in
fineedge.com/BOOKS-NAUTICAL/marquesas.html
Traveling to island group with your own boat? This site above
should be very useful.
money.cnn.com/markets/currencies/crosscurr.html
Gives you an idea what Pacific France XPF - is in your local currency .
www.tahitiplanet.com/transport/marquises.htm
Gives you the travel schedule for freighters heading
for the
www.iaora.com/Main/references.htm
List of books which covers all kind of subjects related to the South Pacific. I
mainly use Barnes & Noble s (www.bn.com) because they have a large network of out-of-print dealers.
www.tahitipresse.pf/index.php
Nice source on what's happening daily in FP. It have English
section.
South Pacifics Island Radio
My favorite site.
Miscellaneous web.adr.:
spc.byu.edu/pages/pacificstudies/pacstudies.html
What a gold mine!! Pacific Studies Journal on-line. Many
well-known South Pacific Archaeologist are writing articles for this journal.
www.wsu.edu:8080/~ivorycs/research.html
Here is a homepage for one of many many scientist
who have travelled to the
www.worldtimeserver.com/time.asp?locationid=PF1
Gives you the time in the
www.alptuna.com/public/marquesas/home.htm
A very stuffy home page. You may find something useful
on this site.
www.explorers.org/
The Explorers Club. An organization for where many of the world most famous explorer is
member or have been. Very good pages on research project different members have
around the world.
www.cnr.berkeley.edu/evolab/FP2000/
All you need to know about spiders, insects etc. in FP. The
Marquesas Islands is well covered here.
biomar.free.fr/
Lots of information on what kind of lobsters and other similar
kind of creatures exist in FP and the
community.webshots.com/photo/7506298/TUwLvFMNZW
A real tourist site(!) on the
www.manu.pf/
All you need to know about birds in FP with a good section on the
www.polynesie-francaise.gouv.fr/hc/iles-marquises/dossiers.as
All kind of information about public matters in the island group.
www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=French+Polynesia
This site covers all aspects of the language issue. The island group is
well covered here.
This link goes to a brand new site. It’s very ambiguous to cover the whole
world and the number of links under each region around the world is very very few.
I only put this on this page due to link
exchange.
|
www.kon-tiki.no
The
Kon-tiki museum Oslo, Norway He lived at Fatu Hiva (just outside Hiva Oa) for 1
year 1937-38 and his discoveries at this island led him to believe that it
could have been connection between the South Pacific islands and South
America. To further investigate this, he did the Kon-Tiki expedition in
1947.
|
Fatu Hiva
I've not been there, but I will certainly go there in
2003.
Traveling there: Not
many ways. The most predicable - book a speedboat for XPF 50 000 (one is not
buying the boat). One may also try to catch Aranui or the government yacht
which are heading for Fatu Hiva. The government yacht does a round trip once
week between Fatu Hiva and Hiva Oa.
There are not many tourists which
visits Hiva Oa. Even much less Fatu Hiva. Therefore different kind of services
can be quite limited for tourists.
Travelling with Aranui: For XPF 2000 it's
possible to jump onboard Aranui when it arrrives in Hiva Oa before it heads for
Fatu Hiva. The boat will retur the day after back to
Life on Fatuiva - life in an extreme island
setting
Very good site on island.
My other travel pages:
A completely different Polynesian island group
what FP is. Ok travelling there to learn more about a different Polynesian way
of living and culture.
I went to Tonga after I have been in FP. I
traveled via
Auckland - New Zealand.
Any question about the island group? Just ask
My e-mail adr: blaaam86@yahoo.no
Christian Halle
Oslo, Norway
Tokelau
This country which consists of 3 main atolls is my
dream of South Pacific. If one heads for this place, is like travelling 50 years
back in time. The connection to this island - which is freighter/passenger
boat, arrives at the atolls once a month. There is no harbour and getting
onshore is pretty risky. It's reminds me very well about travelling the
Marquesas Islands in the 50's.
I managed to visit this place from 20th
November to 16 December 2004.
I've a book written by some academics about Tokelau,
but as there are only 10 tourists a year and there is not much tourist
information on this country.
Here I'm in a complete Hawaii'n
outfit. The picture is taken on a beach in Tonga. The sharpness is far
from best as it have been cut out from a much larger picture.
Last updated: 1st January 2005
Copyright © 2004