Hiva Oa, Iles Marquises,

French Polynesia

Dear Ms. Bender and students;

Polynesian religious sites include many tikis, or sculptures of chiefs, princesses and even of those given to the gods as human sacrifices.  On Ile Hiva Oa there are many tiki, including the largest tiki west of Easter Island.  The tiki shown with Gnomad in the attached picture guards a memorial for Marquesan men who died fighting for France and sits in front of the gendarmerie (police station) in the tiny village of Atuona on Taahuku Bay.

Tomorrow we plan to travel to Ile Fatu Hiva, the only inhabited island of the archipelago that does not have an airport.  Fatu Hiva is the only place in the Marquesas where tapa cloth is still being made from tree bark.   The island is said to have a mysterious aura.

Warmly,
Philip and Leslie with Jake the cat
SV Carina
Ile Hiva Oa, Iles Marquesas, Tahiti Nui
09°48.19'S / 139°01.87'W