Fatu Hiva
24.04.19 to 28.04.19
First night at anchor, undisturbed sleep for over 8 hours, just bliss... The view in the early morning sun is just breathtaking. We can just glimpse the little white church and a few houses, a very small village. We also have a new neighbour.... Quo Vadis turned up during the night and are just next to us which is brilliant. Shame they arrived in the dark, we would have loved to make a fuss at their arrival. We still make a fuss of them and arrange for a sunset gathering for dinner. In the afternoon, very kindly, Hans comes and sort out the halyard whilst Roos takes me for a walk ashore. Beautiful little tiny village, clean and tidy peopled with very friendly inhabitants. They all want to talk and give you fruits for free. Never seen so many pamplemousses, and certainly not bowing the branches of the trees this way. Mango trees are also everywhere but they are only just bearing fruits. A few more weeks before Ian can gorge himself. And flowers everywhere. We walk along the valley meandering along the little River, passing the church, the school and a tiny shop. It is so clean, no litter anywhere. People are just going about their business, a group of youngsters, boys and girls, all clad in lycra are jogging under the hot afternoon sun, complete with flowers in their hair. Sun is really hot here, but it is nice to stretch my legs. There are a few pickup trucks, surprisingly, only one road joining the only 2 villages on the island. With a population of around 500 inhabitants you could get to know everyone in a couple of weeks. Sadly all the fishing boats are now in aluminium, long gone are the wooden outriggers. Back on board the boys are just finishing the halyard repair when Roos signals that we should get in the water... Not sure what we'll find in there but in I get with mask and snorkel. Very close encounter with 2 manta rays... The water is a bit murky, the visibility is not so good, and I find myself nose to nose or rather mouth to mouth with one of them... Absolutely stunning, they are enormous but so graceful in the water....it is a privilege to be there with them. Think I am going to like the Marquesas.
Dinner on Quo Vadis is a nice end to a great first day on Fatu Hiva, we had a feast and the company was just so entertaining. We had a ball.
We spent 4 days on Fatu Hiva, we needed that much time to put the boat back together, clean and repair a few things. We also managed to explore the waterfall and the highest point nearby with Quo Vadis which was nice. When David caught a fish as big as a whale trawling around in the bay, we were kindly invited to share it. Made my first coconut rice....6mn in the pressure cooker....love that!
