Hakahetau Bay, Ua Poa, Marquesas, French Polynesia – Rocky spires, tropical waterfalls and a mad German making organic chocolate in the jungle

TAIOHAE BAY, NUKU HIVA

Taiohae is one of the best places to stock up on fresh vegetables and fish before heading off on a longer voyage. The humans stopped in to do just that and got delayed when they found out the place was hosting a big ‘bi-annual’ music festival. The music ranged from traditional to reggae, rock, indie and even country all done Marquesan style. But weather windows do not wait for any sailor and we were off again.

THE ISLAND OF UA POA

The humans could not leave the Marquases with out giving the last of the island group at least a cursory stop over. So we headed to the northwest coast of Ua Poa to stop in at the islands old main village of Hakahetau. Ua Poa is a very high volcanic island and you can clearly see it from Nuku Hiva 27nm away. As you sail closer you can make out giant basalt spires that shoot up into the sky from the mountain tops. These are old volcanic cores. The rest of the volcano’s top has worn away, but the harder rock of the core remains to stand tall like sentinels over the island.

HAKAHETAU BAY

The bay is easy to sail into, with no obstructions. You get the best protection from the swell anchoring on the east side, against the cliffs, but the best view is out from their protection a bit. The reason I mention this is, the view of the spires from this bay is stunning. Especially as the sun goes down.

The village is very pleasant, clean and the occupants charming. The school teacher speaks excellent English and tries his best to greet cruisers who stop here. Everyone in the village is happy to help you with fruit, just ask. There is a lovely church on the south side of town. The village has a sea wall to tie dinghies to or you can land on the pebbly beach. There is a corner of beach, in front of the sea wall, that they launch all their canoes from that is less effected by the surf.

HIKING UP TO THE SPIRES

There is a wonderful dirt track that will take you up the valley here to just below the islands spires. You follow the road through the village to the school house. Here the road splits and you take the turning that crossed the river to the left. Just after crossing the river you will see a dirt track on your right that follows the left bank of the river. Follow this track up, up and up the valley.

MANNFRED THE CHOCOLATE MAN

About halfway up the jungle track you will see a sign that tells you Mannfred’s place is 1500m further ahead. You will find Mannfred in a small rich river valley just below the islands spires. Mannfredd is a mad German man who, along with his second Marquesan wife, has built himself a ‘home stead’ up in the mountains of Ua Poa. Here he grows everything he needs to, not only for himself, but also to produce his own version of organic chocolates. He grows his own coco and all the nuts and fruits he also adds to flavor is bars. He uses a homemade water turbine (incorporating old bicycle tires) to power the whole operation.

If you come up to visit Manford, do be prepared to spend a few hours here. He will insist you see his whole operation and hear his life story, including photo albums to prove it. As he tells you this story you will be surrounded by his 30-40 chickens (to keep the bugs out), 10-20 cats (to keep the rats out) and his dogs. And be prepared for his dirty sense of humor as he continually blames it on the aphrodisiac properties of the chocolate he produces. He has a very nice property and, set right below the spires, he has hosted many climbing expeditions.

After you have had your fill of chocolate, old photos and dirty jokes it is time to buy a few bars, before heading back down the valley with a wonderful stop along the way.

WATERFALL

Remember that sign I told you about half way up the valley, well you want to keep an eye out for it as you descend. There is a trail that spires off the road here for a wonderful tropical waterfall. Below this perfectly formed cascade is a lovely gravel based swimming pool. My humans brought their shampoo to wash away all that sailors salt. It was lovely to just laze in the pool looking up through the opening in the canopy at the sky above and let all the heat and humidity of the hike melt away.

MANGOES

I stayed behind on the boat, while the humans went off on their little day stop. But I did insist on one thing. Bring me back lots of mangoes. And they did.

OFF TO THE TUAMOTUS NEXT!