Tag: Fatu Hiva

New Zealand

Grotto Falls On Fatu Hiva

Dan and I aren’t the type of people to let a little setback keep us down so we woke up this morning with a renewed vigor and dedication to make it to the ever elusive Grotto Falls here in Fatu Hiva. Of course this time we have made certain to get a little better directions. Ernie of SV Patience was happy to provide a bit more information to us so we’re pretty sure we’ll make it this time. If not, we just won’t see it. I’m sure we can find some photos online if we ever get internet again. LOL

With a blister the size of a half dollar on my left heel I’m not going to be wearing my trusty hiking boots. Nope, I’m relegated to my tennis shoes. They are great shoes, Sketchers, in fact, but they don’t have any ankle support. Ahhh, it will be fine. How hard can this hike be anyway?

We hop in the dink and head to shore. I’m not going to lie, we are both a little sore from our mountain hike yesterday. I mean, after all, we aren’t kids anymore and four hours of serious hiking took its toll on our bodies. Neither of us has that spring in our step today that we had yesterday but we are bound and determined to get there.

As we head down the road we get to the place where we took the wrong path yesterday and it hits me…we are going UP, UP, UP! There is a sharp, switchback in the road to the right that goes at a very steep angle upward and this is where we are headed. My thighs and calves are already burning and I’m thinking to myself that we must be gluttons for punishment. I mean honestly how great can this waterfall really be? I’ve seen lots of waterfalls in my life. What makes this one that I have to see? Oh yeah, I’m whining but I’m still trekking. We get to a halfway point in the steep ascent and take a water break. It’s hot today! The sun is out and it seems as there’s not a cloud in the sky right now so we are baking.

Dan won’t let us stop for long though. He keeps telling me it will be worse if we do so we keep walking up the hill from hell.
At the top of the hill we come to a fork in the road and there’s a local man walking a large horned cow from one tree to another. In the islands they use them to maintain the grounds and apparently it’s time for him to mow the other side of the road.

Yes, this is the cow we were supposed to see yesterday. We also see some people walking down from the path to the left. Dan knows one of the men from cruising in Mexico. We stop and chat for a bit and he tells us where to find the trailhead and also says the waterfall is just a “click or so” up the path. GREAT! We are almost there. I can’t wait to cool my aching feet in the cold water.
We continue on up the path and pass a small home. There is one man there working. In the yard are a bunch of banana trees and it appears he is harvesting them to sell. There are a couple of dogs running around with a lot of bark but one move toward them and they are gone. Not far past his home we finally see the trailhead. It is marked with carins. Carins are small groupings of stones that are arranged and used to mark trailheads.

I’m finally starting to get excited as we exit the main path onto this narrow trail. Of course, it’s going up but at least I know we are “just a click or so” away.

As we traverse this new path I realize this is not going to be an easy trek at all. It’s narrow and pretty steep in places. There are rocks covered by forest floor leaves that are wet and slippery. There is some wonderful shade from the trees and it’s pretty cool compared to they hike up to this point but it’s a bit treacherous. This is when I should have my hiking boots. I need the ankle support today.

So, this guy we ran into that said this is “just a click or so away” clearly has no concept of distance. He’s the guy that says it’s a block or two away only for you to find out it three towns over. Yes, I have a few choice words for him if I ever see him again!
The forest does have a magical beauty about it and the strong, pungent scent of decaying foliage envelops us. We can see the river down to the right about thirty feet below the trail. At one point, however, I’m so exhausted I can barely lift my legs to step up to the next level of rocks. Talk about feeling the burn…Oh yeah I’m feeling it. Just about the time I’ve had all I can take Dan hollers back to me to tell me we’re there. Thank you Lord!

Now if you count yesterday’s hike I’ve hiked close to six hours to get to this mystical waterfall and grotto and honestly I’m expecting something so spectacular that it will take my breath away. Well, you know how it felt when you were a kid and you wanted that one special toy from Santa and you open your last present expecting it to be inside only to find a ducky sweater knitted by your Aunt Thelma? Yep, that’s how I’m feeling right now.

Don’t get me wrong, it fine and it’s pretty, I guess, but it’s certainly nothing I’d have hiked six hours to had I known what I was going to see. In fairness, there hasn’t been much rain in the past few days so that accounts for the fact that there’s not much water running down the face of the rock. The grotto itself is okay. The water isn’t very clear and I certainly don’t see myself jumping in for a swim. You know they do have fresh water eels in this part of the world so I’m not going for a swim if I can’t see what’s coming up around me even though I know some who did swim here.

We do stop, take off our shoes and cool our tootsies in the ice cold water. AHHHH! That feels amazing! I could sit here all day but of course there’s the matter of that two hour hike out of here so we hang out for twenty minutes or so and then head back.

By this time my legs are like jello and I’m feeling pretty weak and unstable. Dan promises not to get far ahead and help me through the more steep and narrow parts. He tells me to step exactly where he does and I do. We aren’t ten steps away from the falls when I put my right foot down on this large rock in the path and it collapses under me. Suddenly I’m sunken down to my knee. I smack my right elbow against the rock wall beside me. “Son of a biscuit eater” I yell. Dan looks back to see me half in and half out of this hole. He steps back and helps me out and all I can think is “Thank you God that I didn’t break something”. Yep, this is going to leave a few marks but I’m still able to walk so on we go.

I kid you not we haven’t gone another thirty steps when I step on a rock…exactly where Dan just stepped and I go sliding down on my butt into the dirt and mud. Well now, this is getting more fun by the minute. NOT! By this time I’m tired, I’m frustrated and I’m questioning whether or not I’m going to make it out of this jungle alive.

Somewhere along the trail Dan stops to wait on me and he looks down at the river. “Come here. You’ve got to see this.” he calls back to me. I muster up a bit of speed and he starts pointing into the river. “Look at it. It’s an eel” he says. What? An eel, really? Sure enough there is a freshwater eel making its way upstream. It’s about three to four feet long and maybe four or five inches tall! It’s snaking its way around the rocks in pretty shallow water. Only Mr. Observant would see an eel in a stream thirty feet down in the middle of a jungle. I’m just glad I didn’t jump into that grotto!

We keep moving even though we are both exhausted. I keep telling Dan I’m not sure I can make it but he won’t let me give up. He keeps telling me jokes and prodding me along and before I know it we’ve exited the main trail and are on stable ground again. Of course now that we are out of the forest we are back in full sun and it’s even hotter than before. The only good thing is that it’s all downhill from here baby and soon we’ll be back on Dazzler enjoying an ice cold Pacifico. Dan keeps reminding me of that. He’s using it like a stick and carrot to keep me moving. I think he’s afraid I’m going to just sit down and quit but I’m a pretty tough ol’ broad so I keep moving.

Back on the boat we put up our hammocks again and relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. It really is a spectacular island and I’m glad I’ve been able to see so much of it but I’ll tell you this right now….I’m done hiking for a few days! This old body needs some well earned rest and this hammock is where I’m going to find it.

Until next time,
Jilly

Note: If you aren’t somewhat athletic and able to negotiate tough, rocky trails then I’d recommend that you forgo this hike. If you are going to make the hike then you might want to check out our Grotto Falls Visual Walking Guide which will give you photos of the twists and turns as well as an overhead Google map to keep you from getting lost. You can get that guide by clicking below.

New Zealand

Fatu Hiva Adventures

Have you ever started out on a journey feeling so confident you knew exactly where you were going only to find out you were completely clueless? You know what I’m talking about. You have read or heard about how to get someplace and you can picture it in your mind but when you actually get underway nothing looks as you imagined?

Well, we had one of those days here in Fatu Hiva which is why I originally wanted to title this article, “The Hike From Hell”. The thing is, however, we were out seeking an adventure and let’s be honest, just about every true adventure story is the result of the main characters doing something they never planned on doing, right? So, why should this be any different and why should I call it something horrible when it wasn’t really horrible so much as it was exhausting and a little disappointing. But, it was a true adventure…oh wait, I’m telling you too much, let me start from the beginning and you decide.

Much has been made of the hike to the grotto and waterfall here so of course we had to see it. It didn’t sound like too bad of a hike, maybe about two hours one way at most so why not? It’s our first full day here and we are rested and it’s time for an a new experience. We don our backpacks and hiking shoes and with bottles of water and cameras in hand we head to shore. What could possibly go wrong?

The bay is spectacular to say the least and we are so excited to see this well touted village and its famous waterfall. It’s said that this is the best place to visit in the Marquesas. So far it’s living up to its reputation. As we arrive at the beach on the left is a manmade breakwater that provides a small jetty for local fishermen as well as cruisers to dock their fishing boats and dinks. Let me warn you though, when the tide is out, the wall is very high and it’s not all that easy to get off your dingy. Good shoes as well as strong arms and legs go a long way to keeping you from plunging into the water. But then this is just the first of several places where you’ll be glad you had all three. Thank God for me that Dan is a strong man as he pulls me up to the landing.

With the dinghy secure and me still dry thanks to Dan, we head into town. We don’t have the greatest directions to the waterfall but hey, it’s a small village, how hard could it be to find? After all, the river is running into the bay right beside the road and Helen of SV Nightide gave us some simple directions. It sounds pretty easy to us so off we go.

There’s only one main road in the village and it leads to and from the quay so it’s hard to miss. As we head up the road we are immediately struck by how clean and manicured things are in this place. The plants don’t hang over the concrete road. No, they are trimmed yet still have a very natural feel. It’s quaint and beautiful and you instantly know you are someplace truly magical. There are so many scents that it’s almost overwhelming. You have the sweet smell of flowers and citrus combined with the crisp scent of water and yet there is this pungent, earthy smell of the forest. It’s not too sunny today so the air is thick with moisture from the clouds. It’s warm and a little humid but it’s still very comfortable. This truly looks and feels like everything I expected in a South Pacific village.

As we travel up the concrete road that runs from the wharf area up through the village, to our right there’s a small soccer field that looks out across the beach to the bay and just past that is a small church. As we continue along the road we pass the school and can hear the children singing in Marquesan.

We’ve been warned that everyone here is going to try to sell us something but so far we’re not experiencing any of that. Instead we find the very small village to be completely welcoming. Each and every person stops to say, “Bonjour” as we pass. Rather than the typical wave, they all use the Shaka hand sign. If you have seen even one picture of Dan or me you know it well. It’s when you put your pinky finger and thumb up with the other fingers closed. It means hang loose

We really don’t know exactly where we’re going but we know we need to take the second left and there’s going to be a large cow with horns tied to a tree. Just after that we will find the trailhead on our left.

We walk through the village relishing each and every sight. There’s a small river to our right which is obviously coming from the waterfall. There are small, open air, Marquesan homes with tropical print curtains in the windows, chickens and pigs in the yard and an abundance of fruit trees. There are verigated hibiscus in bright red, these lovely, sweet smelling white flowering trees and so many more colorful flowers. The white and yellow Tiare flower blooms everywhere. The flowers add the perfect amount of bright colors to the lush green landscape. Dogs are playing in the shallow river and villagers are tending to their daily chores of laundry, cooking and making copra.

To our left we are overwhelmed by the steep, black, volcanic wall that rises high above us. It is strong and bold and wreaks of history. You can feel the energy literally vibrating from it. We continue up the road as if we actually have any idea of where we are going. A few times we stop to question whether or not we have reached the appropriate turn but never agree that we’ve found it so we continue on.

Soon we reach a small bridge over the river and see three men, cruisers presumably, approaching from the opposite direction. We ask if we are going the right way but they appear to speak French and don’t understand us. They hardly even acknowledge us and very rudely keep walking. We can’t help noticing they have taken mangos from the nearby trees. There are no locals nearby so it’s easy to assume they were taken without permission.

One thing we are acutely aware of here is that each and every parcel of property is owned by someone and taking fruit without permission is just plain wrong, Unfortunately we’ve seen a lot of cruisers do it. It’s sad because most all of the islanders would gladly give it if you asked. They just would like you to respect that it is their property rather than assume it’s yours for the taking.

We continue up the road and just as I’m questioning if we are going the right way we see a large horned cow tied to a tree. In fact, we don’t just see one, we see three. Oh yeah, we must be on the right path. You know, because if the directions say to look for one and you see three you absolutely must be going the right way, right?

Not long after seeing the cows we come to an area where there are some ancient stones and a platform of sorts. It’s here that we both feel it, the mana. Mana is what the islanders call the spirit of the island. They believe the island is filled with the spirit of their ancestors. In this place we could feel it. It’s hard to explain but you know it’s all around you. It’s a peaceful feeling but very powerful. My hair stood on end and my arms and fingers started to tingle. Dan said he could feel a presence around him as well. The moment we moved further along the trail, it disappeared. It was pretty cool.

We’ve been going up this road for quite a while and I do mean up! In places it’s pretty steep and I feel like we are going up too high to find this huge waterfall. After all, if you reach the top of the mountain, where can it be falling from, the sky? We are well over an hour into this journey and it’s about this time I start questioning our path. Sure, we can still hear the river but I am looking far off to the right and I can see a huge waterfall coming of a cliff quite a distance from where we are but Captain Dan assures me we are on the right path so I keep moving ahead…up, up, up!

The dirt road twists and turns with many switchbacks and each time it makes a more steep ascent Dan assures me we must be just around the corner from the falls. The further up we go the hotter it becomes as there are less trees to shade us. Oh yeah, we are quickly rising above the treetops which should be a clue we’re on the wrong road but no, Dan is absolutely certain we are “almost there”.

Now almost two hours into this hike we reach a very steep part of the road. Dan is a bit ahead of me as quite frankly, I’m exhausted and running dangerously low on water. What’s that? Is it a gate ahead? No way! It appears we have hiked to the top of one of the mountains only to reach someone’s home. Are you kidding me? No ice cold waterfall or grotto to cool down in? What the heck?

Dogs are barking, chickens clucking and Dan hollers to see if anyone will come out. He wants to see if he can get directions. This should be good. His French is limited to about a dozen words and given the remoteness of this house I’m guessing they speak Marquesan and French but no English.

Now listening to Dan try to communicate in French is pretty darn entertaining in itself. Most of the time it’s a lot of Spanish, a little English and a sorely pronounced word or two of French all rolled up in one sentence. Oh yeah, you really need to watch this in person to truly appreciate the humor in it. But, to his credit, he tries and they do say 75% of French words are the same as Spanish only with a slightly different pronunciation. Well, with a lot of hand gestures, mispronounced words and big smiles he finds we are not only on the wrong path (didn’t I say that already?) but the falls are way across the valley on the other side.

At this point there is no way we are reaching the falls today. In fact, all I want is to do is get down off this mountain, get back to the boat and find an ice cold beer and a hammock! Thank God the return trip is almost all downhill!

Now I don’t want to sound like we didn’t have fun along the way and if I seem like I’m whining I’m not. Well, maybe just a little. We did enjoy some spectacular views of the island, we got to experience the mana around the ruins and we got some great photos along the way. And, of course, as always we enjoyed a lot of laughter. That’s something we do a lot of no matter where we are or what we are doing. In the immortal words of Dudley Moore in the movie “Arthur”, “Fun, isn’t fun the best thing to have?” We think so anyway.

I’ll never understand it but it always seems to take less time on the return trip than it does on the initial journey which in this case is perfect. I haven’t worn my trusty hiking boots in a while and I’ve amassed a huge blister on my heel. I’m so glad to see the wharf I could almost kiss the ground.

Back on board Dazzler we put up our hammocks in the cockpit and kick back with a couple of frosty cold ones. Damn I love our Engels freezer. There’s nothing like a perfectly frosty cold beer after a hike to nowhere.

Captain Dan’s Big Catch

After a little rest we decide it’s time to hop in the dink and cast a few lines. We need to see what kind of fish we can catch in this tropical paradise. We start fishing along the northern wall of the bay and follow it out to the mouth where we snake along the edge of the island. The water just a hundred feet off shore is 200+ feet deep and there’s lots of rocks so it should be good fishing.

We aren’t out more than 20 minutes when Dan hooks a fish. This isn’t some small reef fish either, it’s putting up quite a fight. I’m at the bow of the dink poised to get photos and video and the Shimano reel is making that awesome spinning sound. In the background I see ice blue water crashing on the black volcanic rocks and huge white puffs of spray shooting from the blowholes in the rocks as the waves crash upon the shore. Dan is moving side to side in the dink as this beast swims back and forth. The tip of his rod is bent over like an old man trying to tie his shoes. Soon we see the flash of silver about ten feet below the surface. Oh yeah, this is a goodly size fish here.

It takes about ten minutes to get it up and in the boat. HOLY COW! It’s huge! First question from me is, “What is it?” It’s beautiful and silver with bright blue specs and fins. Neither of us can identify it specifically but Dan is quite certain it is of the jack family. Turns out it is a bluefin trevally We decide to take it in to the locals to find out if they are edible. Remember, you don’t eat reef fish here unless the locals say they are okay to eat. We certainly don’t want Ciguatera.

Jilly’s a little excited about this one. It’s a 40 lb Bluefin Trevally

We get back inside the bay and there are three locals on their fishing boat near the shore. They are fishing for bait. We pull alongside of them and show them our catch. Dan asks if they are good to eat by using the French words for food and to eat. One of the guys smiles and points to his mouth and shakes his head up and down. Dan offers the fish to them. The man says, “No, you eat, good.” Dan replies, “Est cadeau.” That means it’s a gift. The men in the boat smile big and say, “Merci”. I ask if I can take a photo and they agree. We leave them with their fish and head back to Dazzler.

So you’re probably asking why we gave away such a prized catch. Well, we believe that it is good karma to give your first big catch to the locals. After all, we have a refrigerator and two freezers full of food and while we love fresh fish, this was far too much for us. These guys surely have families and this will feed them all. I guess it’s just our way of making certain we are not those type of cruisers who come and just take. We will always give back to the communities we visit.

Well, it’s been one heck of a day and it certainly was an adventure. I’m exhausted and my hammock is feeling just right. Who knows, maybe we’ll try again tomorrow to find that dastardly waterfall.

Until next time,
Jilly

To see more photos of Fatu Hiva be sure to check out our Fatu Hiva Gallery by clicking below.

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