DESTINATION un enviRonnemenT queLquefois TRès minéRAL, mAis qui esT ToujouRs emPReinT de beAuTé. ci-dessous Le gRAnd cRATèRe, ThéâTRe d'une RAndonnée PédesTRe PARTicuLièRemenT déPAysAnTe./A sTArk miNerAl eNviroNmeNT, whiCh is somehow AlwAys sTeeped iN BeAuTy. A view over The greAT CrATer, The highlighT oF A pArTiCulArly iNTeresTiNg hike.. Discoveringua huka is guaranteed breath of fresh air. Lying near the Equator, around 1,300 km Northeast of Tahiti, fourteen kilometers long byeight wide, it is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Marquesas’so-called «northern group». about a 20-minute flight from nuku hiva the archipelago’s main island, you can get there on board a small fifteen-seater aircraft. You land at the airport that was built in 1972 –the oldest in the Marquesas – situated between the villages of Vaipaee and hane. quite different from the land of Men’s other islands,ua huka is known for the arid soils of its plateaus, the sparse vegetation grazed by the many semi-wild horses that are found there. This is also why it is sometimes called « the island of horses », as it is said there are more horses than people. Relatively young – in geological terms – it was formedby several distinct periods of volcanic activity, that occurred between 3 and 1 million years ago. Shaped a bit like a giant croissant, facing the south,ua huka is lower than the other main islands of the archipelago. This is one reason why it catches fewer clouds. Which gives it a drier climate, characterized by the yellowish plateaus that contrast strongly with the darker and more lush greenery found in the protected valleys. huge coconut groves also climbup the hills. For its part, the coastline offers an attractively rugged mineral landscape, the rock grading through shades of ochre, set against an ocean in a symphony of deep blues. Thousands of birds wheel around their nesting sites in the cliffs and rocky islets that surround the island. Thirty-five different species have been recorded, both marine and terrestrial, 8 of these are endemic. The island also overflows with archaeological treasures, you find me’ae (sacred sites, called marae in Tahitian), tikis and petroglyphs engraved in the rock at some point in the past. Despite its small size,ua huka has several museums and a botanic garden, the famous Papuakeikaa arboretum. it is also renowned for the quality of its handicrafts. A complex geological origin The geological process that formedthe island, with its highest point Mt. hitikau reaching 884 meters in altitude, also created the current landscape. The northern part of the island, called the Terre déserte or no man’s land, rolls gently to the ocean forming small valleys while the southern coast, is deeply cut by the largest valleys. Formedaround 3 million years ago by a shield volcano, similar to those found in hawaii, the southern part of the island gradually collapsed towards the end of the volcano’s activity, creating a large oval caldera (depression) bordered by a vertical cliff. Within this caldera, two smaller volcanos grew. Finally, around a million years later, volcanic activity started again, at the island’s western tip. The two craters Tahoatikihau and Teepoepo, with their characteristic circular forms remain clearly visible today, and can be visited on a spectacular hike. FliR TFIF1Ti 41