ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Yesterday we visited the remote and isolated island of Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Fatu Hiva is the place where Thor Heyerdahl chose to spend a year in the late 1930s and later published the account of his experience in a now famous book entitled: Fatu Hiva; Back to Nature. Our visit was blessed with showers but everyone enjoyed the magnificent scenery of the Bay of Virgins. The welcome ceremony was actually performed towards the evening with Marquesan-style dancing and singing and, as is the custom, local delicacies for the tasting. Arts and crafts, including tapa and wood carvings, were on display and some of us even elected to get a Marquesan tattoo.

Early this morning the Clipper Odyssey approached the island of Hiva Oa and entered the bay in which the village of Atuona is located. Hiva Oa is the quiet location where both Paul Gauguin, at the end of the 19th century, and Jacques Brel, at the end of the 20th century, decided to spend their final years. Both are buried in the local cemetery and we stopped to pay our respects at their tombstones before heading down the road into the village itself for a visit. We had some time in town, enjoying a little bit of civilization, before heading back into the wilderness for the afternoon.

During lunch the Clipper Odyssey repositioned around to the eastern end of the island, where Zodiacs took us ashore to the village of Puamau. Our goal was to see the largest tiki in the island group located on an important Polynesian marae (sacred place). We were greeted with very energetic war dances performed in a clearing surrounded by lush and tangled vegetation. In the midst of the festivities, the President of French Polynesia arrived, unannounced, for a visit to this historical site. Our expedition leader said a few words in French and the President replied with greetings in English and the festivities continued with music servings of tropical fruit.

We have just spent a superb week in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. The Clipper Odyssey sailed amongst the many atolls with enchanting names – Fakarava, Tahanea, Motu Tunga, Raroia, Napuka – under clear blue skies, with an occasional cumulus cloud bringing a welcome moment of shade, and the reliable south-easterly trade winds kindly cooling the atmosphere. Wherever we went ashore we were greeted in the Polynesian tradition, with lei, singing and dancing, and magnificent buffets of local delicacies. We’ve been feasting on papaya, watermelon, pineapple, raw fish in coconut milk, oysters in lemon juice, and coconut bread, all served with chilled coconut as a refreshing drink.

Every day, our expedition team organized a session of water-sports for us. Read more

On our last day in the Marquesas Islands, we were treated to a real Polynesian experience. While having breakfast, the Clipper Odyssey entered Hatiheu Bay on the north side of Nuku Hiva. The nature show was grandiose: the little village of Hatiheu is located at the bottom of an amphitheater shaped basin. The jagged peaks surrounding us provided an impressive backdrop to the black-sand beach onto which the long Pacific rollers broke in the early morning light. On either side of the bay stood magnificent basalt dykes with lush tropical rain forest covering their flanks. A lone statue of the Virgin Mary stood on one of the high peaks, almost reaching to the clouds. Read more

Over the last couple of days, the Clipper Odyssey has been sailing through the sapphire waters of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Our first stop at uninhabited Matureivavao gave us an introduction to the geology and wildlife of atolls. Without a passage leading into the lagoon through the coral reef, Matureivavao itself is inaccessible. However, we could see the lagoon through the palm-tree forest and between motus from the top deck of the ship. Our expedition staff set up a couple of snorkeling and diving platforms on the outer edge of the reef, where we dove into the inviting water. The crystal-clear waters allowed us to view an underwater world that was amazingly rich with lots of colorful corals and numerous fish species. Read more

Today featured one of the highlights of our journey across the eastern South Pacific Ocean: Pitcairn Island. Over the last two days, as we neared this tiny, isolated, but famous island, we explored two uninhabited islands in the Pitcairn Island group. Ducie Atoll is a haven for seabirds, with numerous species nesting amidst sparse bushes: red-footed boobies, Murphy’s petrels, fairy terns, and red-tailed tropicbirds. Henderson Island is an uplifted coral platform with sheer limestone cliffs rising out of the ocean, and a World Heritage Site for the rare and endemic species it shelters: Henderson’s petrels, masked boobies, and frigatebirds.

Early this morning, the Clipper Odyssey approached Pitcairn Island under clear blue skies and gentle swells. Read more

On our small-group Eco-Expedition through Botswana, we enjoyed many mammal highlights: hyenas feeding on a leopard’s kudu kill at Chitabe, a morning spent with a male and female leopard at Mombo and then the subsequent discovery of her little cubs, a lot of time spent with two male lions when they were separated and eventually found each other and walked off together. It is quality viewing such as this that makes a safari truly special. I would much rather spend the morning watching something like that than get glimpses of lots of different species. Read more

The Clipper Odyssey has been navigating west from Easter Island for the past 48 hours and the passage has already been filled with enlightening lectures on the peopling of the Pacific as well as the natural history of the region.

We are scheduled to make our first landing tomorrow at the uninhabited atoll of Ducie. Not only is it the southernmost atoll in the world, it is the most easterly atoll of the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Ducie is the island where the vessel Acadia ran aground in 1881, the exact location of the wreck was unknown until it was discovered (by yours truly) in 1989. Read more

When we take a voyage we are most often thrilled with the wonderful visuals and intense learning experiences which a new destination affords. Zegrahm’s Black Sea voyage has certainly provided all of these things but is also, almost magically, set to music.

While exploring the Gelati Monastery high up in the Caucasus Mountain Range of Georgia we happened upon a service taking place. Looking out over the misty valley, we were enveloped by the haunting hymns of the small a cappela choir which filled the beautiful cathedral with heady strains of Ave Maria.

On Yalta’s Crimean Peninsula we found ourselves at Livadia Palace, the late summer residence of the Romanov’s— the last imperial family of Tsarist Russia. As we explored the palace, delicate Ukraine folk songs wafted through the windows from the garden courtyard. Read more