We arrived yesterday after a sweet sail from Ua Pou, but we did not make it in time to finish the 2-hour Vaipo waterfall hike before nightfall. Along the way, we met Kua (Koo-awe) and she asked if we were interested in exchanging goods like olive oil and chocolate cake mix for fruits. We had heard this was a good place to stock up fruit and with our two-week sail to Hawaii, we were excited to exchange. We had heard that a trail maintenance charge of 1,000 Francs ($10 U.S.) per person had been implemented in order to hike the waterfall. We were unsure who this money is paid to so we arranged for the charge to be included in the items we were trading, along with a lunch after we finished the waterfall hike. Kua warned us to be careful and avoid talking to a guy named Paul, who she explained steals money from people and is not mentally stable.
Today we prepared the boat for departure and headed into shore to begin our hike. Along the trail, we met Paul who was guiding a group of cruisers along the hike. He asked us for 2,000 Francs and we explained we had paid Kua. Paul said that he would check with Kua and leave our ticket with her. We continued on our way to the waterfall, crossing back and forth through the river, and braving the freshwater eels.
On our way back through town, we passed by Paul’s house, he came outside and stood in front of us. He asked us to pay the 2,000 Francs and we said that we had already paid Kua. He replied that he had checked with Kua and we did not pay for the waterfall hike. We were really confused, but per Kua’s warning, we thought he was making up lies to get more money. Wade suggested walking with us to Kua’s so we could straighten it out. Paul started to shout that we needed to pay him now, so we kept walking slowly toward Kua’s house. He then started to get aggressive and shove Wade. Sara tried to stay in-between the two men and asking Paul to please stop we’ll get to Kua’s and figure it out. He kept shoving and trying to push us both back. We kept slowly walking back to Kua’s house when all of sudden he started pounding his chest and pulled out his machete and pointed it at us. Paul positioned himself in front of us and he would not let either of us pass as he shouted, “Pay me now”. Sara said we don’t have any money, we already gave it to Kua, and Paul started swinging and chopping the machete at us. Wade started to yell Kua’s name and Sara started yelling for help. No one came, then Sara said we can stand here all day but we do not have any money. Paul then said, “I’ll take your sunglasses”. Sara quickly handed over the sunglasses to Paul and he ran off. We walked quickly to Kua’s and explained the situation.
Kua tried to smooth things over and said that it was a misunderstanding because our exchange did not include the waterfall hike maintenance charge and that Paul was mentally ill. We said that’s fine we do not have a problem paying the 2,000 Francs but there is no reason Paul should be waving a machete at us for trying to sort things out at her home and if Paul is mentally ill then maybe he should be in a facility to help him. We were lucky that an off-duty policeman was also anchored in the anchorage. We reported the incident to him and he took our information to keep us updated.
We have enjoyed French Polynesia so much and we are so sad that this was the end of our trip.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
Hakahau (Daniel’s) Bay Nuku Hiva Vaipo Waterfall Hike Coordinates:
Dinghy landing and potable water at high tide only: 8° 56′ 31″ S, 140° 10′ 8″ W Kua’s house: 8° 56′ 25″ S, 140° 10′ 8″ W
First river crossing: 8° 55′ 36″ S, 140° 10′ 11″ W
Waterfall lookout: 8° 55′ 1″ S, 140° 9′ 49″ W
Turn left if hiking from Kua’s (248°) and right if you are taking the trail from the beach: 8° 54′ 50″ S, 140° 9′ 43″ W Second River Crossing: 8° 54′ 46″ S, 140° 9′ 51″ W
Trail along the water: 8° 54′ 39″ S, 140° 9′ 52″ W
Third River Crossing: 8° 54′ 42″ S, 140° 9′ 57″ W
Forth river crossing: 8° 54′ 40″ S, 140° 9′ 58″ W
Waterfall pool: 8° 54′ 31″ S, 140° 9′ 56″ W
Hakahau (Daniel’s) Bay Nuku Hiva Marquesas Anchor Coordinates: 8° 56.658′ S, 140° 09.823′ W
