We wanted to leave MaRe early in the morning to hike, while it is still cool. However, we had rain when we got up. Thus, we left only later in the morning.<\/p>\n
I tied up MaRe’s dinghy with the gear described before, which took about 5 -10 min because it was the first time.<\/p>\n
Then, while walking on the pier towards land, a gust of wind blew my very much liked light blue MaRe cap into the water at the outside of the pier. My first thought was 4-letter-word accompanied farewell. Then I saw that I can deal with the low surf, took off my clothes and went in underware for the rescue of my cap. Luckily I found a freshwater tap close to the beach to get rid of the saltwater at my body, underware, and cap.<\/p>\n
Then we started our planned hike to the chocolate farm of Manfred & Th\u00e9r\u00e8se about 4 km into the jungle. The only description we had was to turn right 50 m after the street bridge onto a dirt road into the jungle and that there are plenty of signs along the way. The first sign we saw was at the beginning of the dirt road and it says “cascade” with an arrow to the right. As we knew that there’s a waterfall somewhere closer to the farm, we went into the jungle. Immediately, we felt the hot and humid air of the jungle. I expected that now mosquitos are coming to suck our delicious blood; but they didn’t. In the Marquesas I never had problems with mosquitos except for places which have nothing on common with the jungle.<\/p>\n
The hike was not difficult on the dirt road. However, when you want to drive a car here, you better have a 4-wheel-drive one.<\/p>\n
“Many signs along the way… ” turned out to be two, fixed at the same tree about in middle of the way to the farm. One sign says “Schokomann” the other “Manfred 1500m”. Confirmation that we are right.<\/p>\n
We kept walking and I was wondering what made a man moving with his wife that deep inside the jungle? How did he find the place? What gave him the idea to grow cocoa plants?<\/p>\n
Then the jungle opened to the right side and we got a great view to one of the high and very steep rock formation with almost vertical walls. They dominate the hill line sand are of different volcanic material thus withstand lava flowing around them and also wind and rain erosion didn’t do much to them. The highest one reaches above 1200 m another one above 1000 m. Others are in the 600 – 800 m range. The higher ones always keep there heads on the clouds. Maybe they are tired of seeing these 2 legged animals who can’t really live in peace. Inge always complaints about the clouds…<\/p>\n
A few curves further there is an arc over the street with the inscription “Manfred Ville, Tukua”<\/p>\n
I asked ChatGPT for the meaning of “tukua” and got the answer “In Polynesian languages such as Marquesan, “tukua” typically means “to release” or “to let go.” It can also imply giving permission or allowing something to happen.”<\/p>\n
At the right side of the portal hangs an old gold digger pan and a old spanner. The door bell. Inge “rang” it. The dogs immediately reacted and came running. Then a man came walking down the long drive way. A bit longer, thinner grey hair and a beard like the last German emperor sported one. He appeared to be a bit skinny in his jeans and jeans shirt. Manfred welcome us.<\/p>\n
He is alone, he said, he brought his wife into the village earlier this morning.<\/p>\n
He invited us to sit down at a table in the shade of an old triangular blue plastic sheet just beside a round pool of maybe 5 m diameter. A question triggered a watershed of stories about his life.<\/p>\n
He is 70 years old, left Germany 37 years ago after his sauna burned down and the insurance didn’t pay. In Tahiti he became a helicopter pilot (he later showed us news paper articles, which describe him as a pilot of “Pacific Helicopter Service). He came to Oa-Pou through his 3rd wife Th\u00e9r\u00e8se. She, or better her family owns the land in the jungle of Oa-Pou, where they are living now. Looking at what is to be seen now and at plenty of photographs he showed us, he definitely did a great job building all this in the middle of jungle on a plot of land high enough to have a very pleasant climate.<\/p>\n
The rooms of the “house” are separate buildings. Only the kitchen and a kind of workshop is a 2 room little house. Next to this is s living & bed room house. A one-room guesthouse, he built for the time his sister spent there. There is also another very small house, which is his chocolaterie. Nobody is allowed to enter to not steal his special method to make chocolate. His recipe, he told us, he sold to a lady in Tahiti who gave him immediately a 4-wheel- drive SUV in return. There was also an newspaper article about that.<\/p>\n
We moved from the entrance area over to his kitchen; a distance of about 20 m under trees and trees to the left and right. One of them cocoa tree. He opened a very simple made kind of window and there was a counter, where about 4 -5 people could sit comfortably on the bench outside of the house. Inside was a table built at the wall of the counter, big enough for 2, maybe even for 4 people inside. A perfect “dining room” partially outside, partially inside. The kitchen layout was well designed, equipped with a huge US model of gas stove and oven, with a range hood above it, fridge with a freezer department, microwave etc. No dishwasher. And old car radio was built in as well. All very tidy.<\/p>\n
Energy for all he needs, he gets from 2 kW (water power) turbine, which drives a small alternator, which could have its origin from a truck. The mechanical unbalance and the missing better quality of ball bearings reduces the output power of the turbine a lot. However it works. He charges a set of 8 lead batteries and somewhere he has an inverter to make 230 V. It’s not about perfection as I would built it, it’s about does it work sufficiently for their needs.<\/p>\n
He put some teaser chocolate in front of us and it tasted very good! From my experience in Panama, where the teasers were excellent but the sold products where not at all good, I was wondering. However, the teasers he put in front of us gave me on the other side the impression they are just broken of the bars he makes for selling.<\/p>\n
I asked if I may walk around and take pictures and got permission. In summary I can say that he built his small paradise for him and his wife. Green and colorful blossoms dominate the main part of the used part of the plot. Around at the outside is jungle. Here and there I saw cocoa trees. Beside this all the typical trees like pampelmouse (shadock) lime, papaya, breadfruit, banana were too be seen. I bet somewhere there a yams, taro, and other roots for their diet. Plenty of chicken and some ducks freely run around and he knows where the chicken put their eggs. At the end they give them chicken meat.<\/p>\n
Being back to him and Inge who kept talking to each other, we bought some chocolate. The chocolate bars are wrapped in thin aluminum foil with permanent pen written 1 – 2 characters indicating which taste of chocolate it is. I’m curious how they will taste on board of MaRe where I’m try to keep them or at least some of them until OBM arrives at the end of the month. To carry them back to MaRe in a 32 degC environment the bars were put in plastic bag and this was wrapped in piece of fabric made wet. Physics keeps the chocolate cool and hard.<\/p>\n
Being about in the middle of the way to the street in the village, we made a short detour to a waterfall. Looked inviting for taking a swim. As Inge was afraid of unknown dangerous animals in the water, no swim. I remembered the swim with my OBM in the basin of a waterfall along the winding road of the NE corner of Maui, an Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\n
When we reached the village, we kept walking along the street leading to the N of the bay where MaRe peaceful swayed at her anchor. We walked maybe 2 – 3 km to a point offering a great view into MaRe’s bay and N of it. A bit a tiring walk but worth to do it because of the view we have.<\/p>\n
Satisfied and happy we arrived at MaRe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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