my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti – day 5, Mo’orea & Fare Hape

This post is the fifth in a series of 10 (one for each day) of my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti, where I’m reliving this amazing adventure and sharing it with you. Ever since travel has come to a grinding halt (like everything else), I’m very grateful to have had this experience and look forward to future adventures.

bye bye Mo’orea, hello Fare Hape (the house of the catepillar)

Hands down, day 5, was one of my favorite days of my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti. We got up early, had a quick breakfast of bread, fruit & coffee in the meal house. Then we were on our way to our next adventure.

jeep adventure

We piled into a van to catch the ferry leaving Mo’orea. Then we hopped into a 4×4 jeep for a bumpy 18 km ride that would take us to the center of the island. Matu was our driver and local guide for this part of the adventure.

marae (sacred grounds)

We were heading to Fare Hape to do some jungle hiking, waterfall chasing/jumping, and volunteering. Fare Hape translates to the house of the caterpillar. According to Tahitian culture, we had to stop to ask the ancestors for permission to enter the marae (sacred grounds).

In French Polynesia, marae were religious temples where priests could go to call gods down to Earth and ask for strength. In Fare Hape, they focused on worshiping the god of the dog.

Bertie, the youngest of the group, performed a ritual by knocking on a tree with a rock. Then we provided them offerings of vegetables & leaves. It was quite a serene & spiritual experience.

home sweet home away from home

After the ceremony, we arrived at our camp and toured around our new digs which would be home for the next few days. There was a communal area with a large table where we ate all of our meals. Prepared by the wonderful cooks, they kept us fed & happy. We had a separate fridge to store the libations & other snacks we picked up along the way. We took turns making coffee in the morning & we cleaned up after ourselves. I didn’t mind doing the dishes at all since the view from the sink was spectacular. We figured out who was in each hut and fit our beds with mosquito nets. Then we scoped out the grounds locating the bathrooms/showers. Susie’s headlight (once again!) came in very handy finding them in the middle of the night. Note to self, get a headlight for the next adventure!

jungle hiking & waterfall chasing & jumping

Time to go jungle hiking. Little did we know we were going to partake in waterfall jumping as well! The choice was yours but we were an adventurous group so most of us were game. Make sure you check out the video! Thanks to Leni for bringing her Go-Pro and Arii who filmed it. It was breathtakingly beautiful, slightly scary, and definitely exhilarating.

wow!

Needless to say, we were exhausted after our jungle hiking & waterfall adventure but in the best way possible. Thanks to Matu & Arii for their expertise in leading the way. With machetes in hand, to clear the brush, carefully guiding us through the jungle over slippery rocks, and in bare feet no less. What an incredible day!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my jungle hiking & waterfall chasing/jumping on day 5 of my adventure & volunteer trip to Tahiti. New to my blog? Click here (day 1) to catch up from the beginning or click here for day 4. Click here for more Bamboo adventures.

Stay tuned for day 6, a day dedicated to volunteering.

Until we can safely travel again, my friends. Be well & stay safe!