Part 21: Baguettes of the Marquesas
After 23 days at sea we had arrived in the Marquesas, and they’re everything we imagined. Steep volcanic ridges divide lush valleys that are home to sleepy idyllic villages. These islands once supported a population upwards of 80,000, but today are home to around 10,000. Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, spent some time here in 1842, and wrote the novel Typee based on his experience. At that time the islanders still engaged in some light cannibalism. Between then and…