May 22, 2007 – On Tuesday morning we awoke early in eager anticipation. We were going on an all day horse back ride through the mountains of Nuka Hiva. It was supposed to be beautiful and we were looking forward to it. Christi had managed to make reservations over the phone in French, which is quite a feat. It was raining a little bit as we got ready and dinghied in, but the rain did not concern us. It has rained every day so far and has not lasted very long.

Our tour guide, Patrice, met us at the dinghy landing. Patrice has traditional face and arm tattoos that are really cool. Despite the intimidating looking tattoos, you could tell the second you looked at him that he was a nice guy. He ushered us into the back of his pickup truck, which had two bench seats installed. Eric and I realized that we had not been in a car at all for 24 days, which is a record for us both. As you may have noticed from the photos, the town of Taihoe is at the base of the mountains. We drove up a steep mountain road for what seemed like a long time. The mountains were lush and green, and the view of the bay below became even more spectacular with each meter we climbed.

We arrived at our destination. Initially, it seemed as if we had just pulled to the side of the road, but once we looked around, we saw a bunch of horses in a field on the other side of the road. Patrice retrieved two horses from the field and brought them to our side of the road, then past the car and around a bend to a sort of stable area. The stable area was on a cliff up about 2,000 feet overlooking the bay and the view is stunning.

We also noticed a couple cows hanging out around the stable, and on the hill above the stable were a couple dozen horses running around. It was cool and drizzling ever so slightly, which was a welcome relief form the stifling heat and humidity of the last few days. We waited while Patrice got the horses ready. Check out Patrice’s hand carved wooden saddle that he uses. Our saddles, were leather, thank goodness!

We traveled along the road for a bit.

Then we turned off onto a dirt road that led to the top of a summit, which was 2800 feet up. The clouds had rolled in and were surrounding us. It almost felt like we were in the middle of Lord of the Rings the misty fog, the lush greenery, the tropical birds calling out to us, the clop clop of the horses on the dirt. Neither of us would have been surprised if Patrice pulled out a huge sword and the “LOTR” soundtrack started playing, since it would have perfectly completed the setting. It was like we were in another time completely, not in the 21st century (except when we happened upon the construction crew building a road, but that is a side point).

By the time we got to the summit, the clouds had become very thick and we couldn’t really see anything below us. As we came down from the summit, the slight drizzle became a little stronger of a drizzle. We got back to the road and headed towards another view point. Along the way we got some very close up looks at the cattle. The bulls were intimidating, standing ready to pounce on us if we got too close to their clan, but Patrice just shooed them away and they moved for him. Check out mama and baby

The next view point was a cute little picnic area off the side of the road with a spectacular view. Since we were not as high up, the clouds weren’t as thick and we could see somewhat.

As we were walking out of the picnic area to head to the next destination, the sky opened up and it began to pour down rain. I guess Patrice decided the tour was over now that it was raining so hard. He pulled out a rain slicker for each of us, it was too late. We were already soaking wet. Up until the rain had started, we were going at a slow pace. With the rain, we picked up the pace. Richard and Delores, we have a new respect for you two. It really takes some serious muscles to ride a trotting horse. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to ride at full gallop.

So, our full day trip was over by noon, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Christi was beginning to get a little saddle sore. Patrice charged us about 2/3 of what he charges for a regular two hour ride and we were out for well more than two hours. We didn’t realize how huge of a discount we got until after the fact. He must have felt bad about cutting the trip off so abruptly.

We headed back to the boat, took a nap, and did a few boat chores. We went into town to have dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. Prices for food here are equivalent to the US, and the food is excellent. On the way, we ran into the people we had dinner with on Monday, and they wound up joining us again for dinner. We had a great time with them. Our second dinghy ride in the dark was a little less scary, and once again we made it back to Kosmos with no accidents and no one going for a swim.