Is it wrong to visit a distillery after feeding sacred eels?  Hmmm…I guess its better than visiting the distillery first?  We continued our exploration of Huahine by car and stopped at “Anguilles Sacrees” which means “Sacred Eels.”

I am sure you are wondering who would deem eels sacred? Legend has it that a charming prince courted and wanted to marry the King’s daughter.  However, the Kind did not approve of the union and transformed the prince into an eel.  The locals don’t want to kill or eat the eels for fear of eating the prince.

They have beautiful shells, benches, and lovely gardens around the fresh water run off where the eels linger.

Sacred Eels Sanctuary

We planned ahead and brought sardines with us to feed and honor them.  I will admit that there were not the prettiest thing to gaze upon, but there was something fascinating about them.  They were huge and seemed to use their sense of smell more than their sense of sight.  Which is odd being that they have electric blue eyes.  Unfortunately, their eyes did not come through in the photo.

Sacred Eels of Huahine

MARAMU LEAVES A TRACE

We drove all around Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti.  For the most part the road was in really good shape as it wound around the mountains and edged up to the water.  However, the maramu left its mark in several places making it challenging to forge ahead.  At one point we passed a dump truck clearing the road way.

Maramu leaves a trail of destruction

ANINI

We came across another set of Marae along the water’s edge that formed an immense wall.

Anini Marae Stone Temples

I am sure these would be gorgeous photos had it been a sunny day.

Vista Views on Huahine

DISTILLERIE HUAHINE PASSION

The small island has a distillery.  They make dozens of flavored liquors and sell them to the tourists.  They don’t have an online business or export to any other island. All of their business is by word of mouth.  The Distillery was an impressive little operation and remained crowded the entire time we were there.  It was better than any happy hour we’ve been too – they were heavy handed on the pours and wanted us to try every flavor.  Not possible considering their “lite” stuff was 22 proof and their heavy stuff was 55 proof.  Some tasted like fire!  But, we walked away with a Huahine rum and a Dried Banana Liqueur (over ice or ice cream).

Distillery Huahine

The photo collage below shows a giant stone welcoming visitor to Huahine.  Below it are stones from its neighboring islands.  The top right photo is the bay where Sugar Shack is anchored (she is the catamaran on the left) and the bottom is a sweet horse grazing on the shores of the bay where we anchored.

Fare Bay in Huahine where Sugar Shack is anchored