Nuka Hiva Road Trip

May 25, 2012

Nuka Hiva, Road trip


Along with 3 other couples, we decided to rent cars and drive around the island.  Nuka Hiva is a volcanic mass that rises straight up our of the ocean.  So our trip began with s short trip through the town and then a switch bcd ascent up and up through lush vegetation to the top of the island.  As you can imagine the views were extraordinary from the top.  Steep cliffs going straight down into brilliant blue ocean with an occasional sailboat at anchor or underway.  An interesting twist is that whenever we saw a boat we tried to identify it.  Often we knew who it was. 

The sides of the mountain were covered with ferns, orchids, hibiscus, mango trees, palms, banana trees papaya and so many others. Coming from Southern California. most of them were familiar but I kept thinking to the early English botanists and how overwhelmed they must have been at the rich variety of unknown plant species.  I can just see them with their shovels and bags and notebooks, making their way through the jungle  finding one new plant after the other and then huddled over their workbench during the next passage trying to organize and categorize it all.  I think I must have some of their blood in my veins because I could not stop myself from collecting small species of ferns and orchids to take back to the boat.  By the end of the day my pockets were stuffed.  I doubt that they will grow but I will give it a try.

Deep in the jungle we cane to the partially restored ruins of an ancient town several thousand years old.  Large stone blocks were piled up to form road ways and platforms that ran for miles through the jungle.  There must have been thousands of people living here at one point.  Now there are only a few living along the coast and the old buildings are overgrown with vegetation.  But it has only been a few hundred years since the white man arrived with the diseases and new ways that decimated the population and some of the old knowledge has survived.  Today there are attempts to clear out and rebuild some of the ruins and colorful festivals are held here once or twice a year. 

After an hour or two we came out on a small village set in a lovely bay.  The restaurant here was supposed to be the best on the island and we were very ready for lunch.  The menu featured goat and pork stewed in cocoanut or rum, raw fish in coconut juice or grilled fish, pork stew and several varieties of curry.  Portions were huge  with sides of sweet potatoes and rice and everything was delicious. 

After lunch we piled back into the cars to continue our circuit of the island.  We had been warned that soon after this town it would degenerate into little more than a goat track and it proved to be very true.  For the next 2 hours we wandered through jungle, across rivers, through pastures and fields dodging cows, horses and goats and passing only the occasional house.  Luckily the cars were 4 wheel drive because we needed it before we were through.  We went straight up and then straight down again hugging the side of the cliff.  the pavement had long since disappeared.  As we got higher the trees thinned out and we found ourselves on an open plateau  It almost looked like the high desert in Arizona.  And then, around several more gullies and up and down some more cliffs the air became very cool and we found ourselves in a thick forest of pine trees.  Entirely unexpected.  We found out later that they had been planted and had quickly become naturalized to the point that they had begun sucking up water that previously had poured over the cliffs as waterfalls and endangering native vegetation.  As we continued we came to a spot where giant tree ferns, 30-40 feet tall, were intermingled with the pines.  It looked like something out of Jurrasic Park. 

As the afternoon began to fade we once more found ourselves looking down on the bay where we had started and our own boats riding quietly at anchor.  We ended the day with drinks on the terrace of a lovely hotel watching the sun set.