Easter Island!

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We've arrived back in Santiago!

Wow...5 days in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was incredible! From the moment we flew over the Island after travelling 5 hours from Santiago, turned to the left and had a view of the whole island basking in the sun and turquoise waters we've had an amazing time. We were greeted with flower necklaces (to my delight and Tom's dismay) and taken to our B&B on the coast. We sought out the maoi straight away and strolled through the 'town'. This place has laid back to an art...nothing opens before 9am, shuts between 1 and 5 for siesta and gradually rolls into evening if they have guests.

The sunset is a daily event and our view on day 1 did not disappoint. We ran over the hills to get their on time - stunning red, pink and purple sky highlighting the restored maoi on the hills. A stray dog accompanied each group of guests (hoping for food or a stroke?!). There was a run of 5 maoi which the sun set perfectly between, plus a further maoi with a 'topknot' (which I recreated somewhat perfectly with my scarf - great photo opportunity) and one with restored coral eyes. We walked back through the most beautiful graveyard which had been planted with hundreds of flowers and solar lights which lit up throughout the night.

Food is the same throughout the village and fairly expensive. We managed well with local beer, freshly caught fish and their version of pizza (which comes in a bowl..enough said!). There seem to be tuna circling the island though which makes the food rather delicious - I've never had tuna well done which still tender and suculent but they seem to manage it!

The next day we headed off on our tour of the island. Marcus showed us around caves and national parks giving us the history of the area. Were fortunate enough to have glorious sun to enjoy the crashing waves as a perfect setting to our trip. We met a fairly ecclectic group of people exploring the island to have dinner - the fresh fish was sensational...but the waiter was definitley partaking of something throughout the evening which made the service erratic but his facial expressions all the more amusing...

We hired a 4x4 the next day with a couple of people we'd met. There's only a couple of tarmac-d roads. NASA funded a rather nice one as a payment for extending the runway of the island to land space shuttles there if they need, but otherwise it's dirt tracks. And I have never seen quite so many rocks as on this island! We explored the local museum before stoping at all the archaeological spots. Still feeling rather sorry for the maoi that have not been restored - they were all pushed forward so they're lying on rocks facing the ground instead of proudly on their ahu (platforms).

Followed the advice of our Kiwi guide and followed the caves out on to the cliffs. Pretty gorgeous views but lets just say that the island laundry service made good business that evening after our gruop returned...just wait til you see the photos!

We completed our trip with the wettest day they've had in a year. I haven't been that wet in a very very long time (our shoes are currently still drying out upstairs by an electric fire we found!). We went to the maoi quarry or nursery where they made the maoi. Unbelievably impressive as they're sitting in the places that they were found - unlike everywhere else on the island where they've had to be restored from being pushed down. The hill is just full of heads poking out from the grass - some with only their forehead showing where they've been buried by the mud coming down the volcano. I remained determined to dip my toes in the water despite the weather...but surprisingly it was rather warm...bet that's the most isolated place I ever manage to go for a paddle!

The airport definitely has the right way to organise a flight - check in during the morning then enjoy your day on the island before returning for the flight. Will have to remember that when I'm next at Heathrow as one of hundreds waiting to board a flight that I could have been sat looking out to sea for hundreds of miles with no chance of life for thousands with a coffee instead...

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Comments

[Nanny]

Easter Islands
Loved your report - looking forward to the pics. Have fun you two! Lots of Love and Hugs xxxx