Living on a sailboat provides ample opportunity to enjoy the coastal scenery and the people who live in villages adjacent to the protected anchorages. What is lost without a bit of effort is the opportunity to explore and enjoy the inland terrain with its magnificent scenery and sometimes really cool archeological sites. There's a nice but a bit too easy hike up to a waterfall from Hanavave Bay, absolutely worth the price of admission. The waterfall terminates in a small but deep pool which offers a refreshing swim after the exertions required to access the site. It's important not to look too closely into the pool, as sighting one of the rather large freshwater eels might put one off from taking a dip.
We did that short hike our second day in the bay, but as Pat and Celine are pretty physical people we decided we needed to expend a bit more effort to offset the amazing meals Isabel and Celine were producing. Visiting with Edwin to make a small modification to my ukulele, we discussed our desire to get a boat ride to the nearby village of Omoa so that we could hike the 10-mile road back to Hanavavae. Turned out Edwin had a boat and for the equivalent of about $28 US he would happily transport up to 7 bods to Omoa the following morning. Yachtzee!
So Monday morning at 0830 we were off for the approximately 20 minute ride South down the extremely rugged coastline to Omoa. Arriving there we found a much larger village than Hanavavae with a big church, a nicely stocked store, and what appeared to be a local festival ground under construction. The interior of the church revealed beautiful carvings and decorations, and the store offered up junk food that Isabel and Celine couldn't resist. Isabel refused to pay $7.50 for a can of Pringles, instead purchasing a couple bags of prawn flavored crispy things. I can't recommend them.
Anyway, properly provisioned we were off to walk the 16 kilometers to the Hanavavae waterfront. The road climbed from sea level to over 2000' elevation, still well below the highest peaks in view. It was really steep for the first 5 kilometers or so then got a bit more gentle before we finally arrived at a picnic area near the highest road elevation and about half way along the walk. We had been joined by the occupants of several other boats who had arranged their own (and much more expensive) boat ride, and we all sat down to refresh ourselves with food and water. In all there were 12 of us, and we had a jolly good time before continuing on.
Getting started again was a bit challenging, reminding both me and Pat of our ill spent youth and our various injuries, but after a few hundred meters all joints were functioning and we resumed our somewhat aggressive pace. We wandered along a ridgeline for a while with stunning views of the inland mountains and valleys to the East and ocean vistas to the West, even passing some men operating heavy equipment to repair the road before finally beginning down towards Hanavavae.
I don't know about you, but I'll happily take the cardio of a steep uphill climb over the abuse my knees suffer walking for miles down a steep grade. Remember when we were kids, and had to walk to school and back in the snow, with no shoes, and it was uphill both ways? Anyway, it would be nice to find a trail someday that would offer a steep cardio climb followed by a much gentler descent. Maybe when pigs fly.
Eventually we arrived back in the village of Hanavavae and limped on to our faithfully awaiting dinghy. After a good swim and nap it was time for an extended happy hour to celebrate conquering the mountain as Pat entertained us first with his banjo then with Isabel's guitar. A couple of rum cocktails, a gin and tonic, then a bottle of quaffable white wine paired with our seared ahi tuna and the night was over.
Next time it might be a good idea to forego the gin and tonic. . .
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