It was double adventure day, as we
were taken out to a giant manta ray cleaning station. These behemoths, with up to 20 feet of
wingspan, come in to a place just across from our motu each morning to have a
kind of underwater spa treatment. There,
small cleaner fish pick off the parasites that have accumulated on the massive
bodies. Nature has two objectives in
this activity: the good health of the
mantas and breakfast for the cleaner fish.
That the mantas and cleaner fish know when and where to meet is just
another of her many miracles.
With masks, snorkels, and fins
affixed in anticipation, the pilot of the boat gives the word and all eight of
us roll over into the water to take a look.
The water is at least 20 feet deep, with a fair current, so it is a
strenuous activity to keep up with these giants. They are as graceful as any ballerina,
gliding through the water with those magnificent wings. We stay until we are nearly exhausted. At one point, Gerald from Poe Iti, who is
ferrying out another group of snorkelers, pulls up and gives me a free tow back
to the action.
Two mantas at cleaning
station
Charlie filming one of
the mantas
(movie compliments of
Arnaud, one of the other guests)
What Charlie was
filming
Back at the pensione to shower and
change, we headed over to the main island for the second endurance test of the
day.
Mountain at
the south end of Maupiti
Camille, one of the owners of the
pensione, had arranged for bicycles; we had been told that it would be a great
adventure to climb a mountain that looked down on the monster you see in the
photo above. I thought I detected a
glint of wickedness in his eyes as he gave us directions to the path upward.
The tallest mountain on the island
of Maupiti is Teurafaatiu Mountain.
Loosely translated, the Polynesian word teurafaatiu means “killer of old people and young fools”. This mountain
rises 1200 feet above the sea, and the path to the top is sometimes rocky,
sometimes slippery, and always challenging.
We needed to be at the top within an hour in order to make it back down
before the only restaurant on the island discontinued lunch service at 1:30.
View from one tenth of
the way up Teeurafaatiu Mountain
A quick reference to the mountain
climbing chart designed by sports doctor Jonathan S. Meriwether will inform anyone who cares that the normal one hour vertical ascent limit for a 66-year-old
man is 625 feet; the limit for any person not in superb
physical shape is 1,000 feet in any one day.
We would have been wise to consult the chart before making this
particular ascent. That would have led
to another day of underwater photography in the crystalline lagoon in front of
our pensione. But in any event, we were
not about to let a couple of twenty-something honeymooners get to the top of
Teurafaatiu Mountain without us.
A faraway view of Poe
Iti on our first motu
Dear reader, if you are ever
challenged to climb up 1200 feet in elevation in one hour, along a narrow,
dangerous, twisting path—parts of which can be scaled only with the assistance
of ropes anchored in the rocks—you would be wise to politely decline the challenge
as one issued only to fools. As you may
be able to tell from one of the photographs, we were soaked by the time we
reached the peak, and it was not from rain.
My tee shirt was so full of perspiration that I had to swim in it later
just to get some of the moisture out.
The half gallon of water we took with us did not last the trip, and we
ordered four more quarts at the restaurant down below.
We made it!
Looking down on the second highest mountain
Just as we reached the peak, we
could see a rainstorm heading in from the north, and we knew a wet trip down
would be far more dangerous than the climb.
So we quickly snapped a few photos, and took another hour to get back to
Polynesian civilization. The view was
just incredible; looking down on the mountain we had photographed on the way
over made us feel we were dreaming.
At the local restaurant, our fellow
traveler Charlotte translated to the owner our offer of a present from Georgia,
one of the kind we have spread around the world in local hangouts. Next time you are here, let the owner know
you are familiar with Camden County, Georgia.
Presenting a Camden County tag on
Maupiti
We biked all the way around the
island, stopping at a most beautiful palm-lined beach for a swim, before returning
to our pensione for another great meal, several tablets of Ibuprofen, and about
14 hours of sleep. Oh, God, the pain!
Charlie and
Tricia
©2012
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