Fire Ant Highway

On Friday we went on a beautiful waterfall hike in the mud to test our waterproof shoes. What we weren’t expecting was to see ancient ruins and to get a lunch of fresh fruit from our guide’s garden, as well! We saw both the King’s and the Queen’s waterfalls. Apparently, they didn’t like each other enough to share. The Queen’s waterfall was pretty cool, but the King’s one was amazing. It is the only waterfall that is on the island all year round, not just during rainy times! And since we went right after a storm it was really going. On the way up we followed ancient stone staircases in the winding jungle trail and passed rocks that represent turtle heads that mark the way and remind visitors that the area is reserved for royalty, something the guide told us as we promptly ignored that warning. A carving of the king’s head, which our guide decorated with flowers, watches over the waterfall, just to be extra safe. Ben went swimming under the waterfall, which we think makes him royalty now, or he has a curse. Not sure which.

Thought the entire trip we were treated to warnings every 100 feet of “Careful. Fire ant.”, which obviously resulted in Jess hiking much quicker and being careful not to touch anything and constantly knocking imaginary ants off her feet. Apparently, fire ants were a recent introduction and now prevent Tarzan swinging through the jungle :( .

Our guide definitely only led tours as a way to fund her gardening habit. She couldn’t stop raving about her garden and taught us about how all the plants we saw on our walk were integral to her ancestors’ way of life and how they are still used today. We learned that all of the fruits and vegetables on the French Polynesian islands (of which there are a lot) were intentionally introduced by humans during the ancient Polynesian migrations. However now they all grow everywhere throughout the islands and I marvel about how poorly our apple tree did at home.