Island Paradise

The South Pacific islands have a reputation for tranquility and beauty.  We visited out first today, the town of New Haku, Island of Taiohae, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.  As we approached the island, I wondered how anyone could live on this mass of brown rock.  We are here in the dry season, so a lot of the lower altitude vegetation looks brown from the distance.

However, when you are closer and especially at higher elevations, the real beauty shows up.  Green mountains, black sand beaches  and coconut plantations blend to make a relaxing scene.

 

It is not only the land that is beautiful.  We were met with local dancers and drummers.  Our driver told us all about his country, showed us his home and shared pictures of his wife, his 2 year old daughter and his 2 horses.

Tattoos are common.

Part of our welcoming party.

This child was enchanted by a passenger's cane.

Our driver had a necklace make of the teeth of wild pigs he had hunter

We boarded pickup trucks (a convoy of 17 trucks) and rode a few blocks to the cathedral.  The Marquesas, unlike much of the area, are Roman Catholic.  Their churches reflect this religion and incorporate local traditions and customs.  The building is made of local stone, using many red stones, since red is considered to be a sacred color.

Altar area with local carvings.

The Marquases cross combines a Christian
 cross with local symbols.

The road with many switchbacks took us part way up the island for a view on our ship anchored below.  

Most sacred sites from the time before western explorers arrived are deep in the mountains and jungles.  This is where the people lived to avoid invading peoples.  Since these are generally inaccessible to tourist and locals alike, they have constructed a model of one of these sites.  Complete with "tikis."  A tiki is a stature or carved face to represent a power protecting the people.  Most are very obviously male, but once in a while there will be a female as a goddess of fertility.  All of these have large eyes to see danger approaching.

This brings me back to my original question.  How do these people live?  They are modern people.  They have wi-fi and cell phones.  There is a hospital on the island.  Their children go to school either public or Catholic.  For high school they may have to go to boarding school on one of the larger islands in French Polynesia. It would be possible to live on the island without outside support, but most people do not.  The land is fertile enough to grow what is needed to eat, to construct dwellings and there is game to uimt and oceans to fish.  However, if you want electricity and trucks, you need fuel Which is imported.  Tourism provides employment but there are the usual support and governmebnt jobs which would exist without tourists.  Our driver has lived on the island all his life in one of the smaller villages (about 300 people) and drives for tourists a day or 2 a week.  The rest of the time, he takes care of their 2 year old daughter while his wife is employed by the schools.  He loves to hunt and fish and has plenty of time to do that.  There are many coconut farmers.  The coconuts are harvested, bagged and loaded on horses before being split.  The coconut meat is dried and shipped to Tahiti where it is processed to get Coconut oil for food and cosmetics.  It is a relatively simple life, but I am not ready to give up my refrigerator, freezer and washing machine.