Hiking Hiva-Oa

A few days after we arrived in Marquises, our friends Natali and João joined us after making the same passage from Panama on their boat Babilé. They chose a route more north of ours, above Galapagos, and unfortunately had an entirely different experience from us – multiple squalls, auto pilot broke, main sail ripped and the list goes on.

We were so excited to see them in our anchorage and they were obviously extremely relieved to have arrived safely and finally get a chance to properly rest at anchor after thousands of miles hand helming in bad weather.

Once they had caught their breath and rested up, the four of us rented a car and spent a day driving around the island and hiking the hills and beaches. The rental was $100 p/day and a must do to properly see the island!

welcome to the island of Hiva-Oa! (Melody in the background) overlooking the entrance to the anchorage dinner on Melody the first night João and Natali arrived freshly caught fish grilled on the braai! one of the first bay views on our day trip goat lookout these two were quite taken with Rufus goat central

this guy took a shine to Natali

Tiki ruins

the locals let you pick the fruits from their gardens – no fruit is sold in the shops because of the natural abundance Rufus scouting a trail

the only white sand beach on the island and quite a mission to get to but well worth it

finally made it to the white beach

the best part of the day – Rufus taking the first dip on the deserted beach Natali & João