About the Marquesas Islands:

• The tattoo is synonymous with the Marquesas, where traditional symbols and designs are found today. The traditional tattoo is meant to convey courage and power.

Symbols were inherited from their god and were often tiki figures, lizards, turtles, sharks — animals of reverence. The tattoo allowed the Marquesan man or woman to show their social importance, family lineage, geographic origin and rank.

Marquesas women were tattooed from the hips down, on the arms and under the ear. The craft was exact as distinctive marks were tapped with a mallet into the skin with very narrow bird bones, mother-of-pearl oyster shells or animal teeth. Coloring came from candlenut resin mixed with water or coconut oil.

We found traditional tattooing but with modern, clean instruments. One Aranui passenger received a tattoo beneath her ear as a souvenir.

• The word for statue in Marquesan language is tiki, a figure symbolized throughout Polynesia as the creator of the human race. Marquesan priests, priestesses and chiefs were honored in life and deified in the afterlife as a tiki. Tiki were recreated as a squat, heavy figure with both hands clasped over a protruding stomach. They were often carried to high platforms away from warriors on flat ground — a tradition some of us Aranui hikers will never forget!

• Hiva Oa was artist Paul Gauguin's last resting place; he also lived and painted on Tahiti. His gravesite, museum and "house of pleasure" should not be missed.

• Finally, a thrilling adventure all on its own: Getting ashore from the Aranui3 via whaleboats. Landing on island beaches through strong swells — even with help from an experienced crew — was quite an adrenaline rush. We all survived doing things a bit differently, which makes travel interesting.