A weird little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean

Okay, so Todd just covered our quick four day trip to Easter Island. But seeing as it has been a place I have been oddly infatuated with for a while now, I couldn't let this trip roll by without participating in the blog. Todd covered the itinerary but when you are in charge of writing the long blog, you get burnt out, which means cute, witty, details and observations are sometimes omited. With my clear head here's what I have to add.

So we left our house Tuesday night with high hopes. It has been a long time since we have been on an overnight bus. It was a bit surreal and exciting. The ride went well, minus the 2hr delay, which meant we arrived at the tent city aka airport, right as we were supposed to be boarding. Luckily, when an international airport is being operated out of tents, things don't run on time. So, we made our flight. LAN is awesome. Even the food was good, not okay or edible, but pleasing both visually and in taste. I was a little nervous as we were preparing to land. Out of nowhere appeared this island, with massive cliff faces, and there we were, flying directly into it. Apparently, the view was better from the cockpit b/c we didn't hit the cliff we had a nice little landing.

Easter Island smells like Hawaii to me. Luckily, the connection is not too far off base. Both are Pacific islands which means they have similar climates. But that smell, it is a grass that has a potent smell when wet, hit my face right away. It was beautiful! And on top of that, there was a nice man waiting there with a lei for us. I love leis. You can't buy them for yourself, they have to be given to you. And let's just say that I may have lived on another tropical island where I envied all those that got leis. Until one day, I too was one of the lucky ones. We were off to a good start.

The campsite was packed. A little tent city. We parked ours right up front on the little piece of flat ground that was left. That meant a view of the crashing waves, the fake Moai, and the fence. Apparently, we picked a good spot. What Todd failed to mention was that it rained a majority of the time we were on the island. Well, maybe I should clarify and say poured. And I hate camping in the rain or being wet while camping period. I have gotten a lot better, but I am still not a fan. But I must say, our little tent rocked. #1 in the tent city. She was even complimented by other campers who were not so lucky and had soggy little puddles to keep them company all night. Todd and I passed the first night under the fire pit canopy drinking beer and analysizing all the tents; "Ooh, that one isn't going to make it in this wind. Wow, the RV (our nickname for the huge two room tent) is holding up well. Who designed that tent? I don't even understand how the guide ropes are helping, etc. " It was a great evening.

The one town on the island is Hanga Roa. I thought maybe there would be little villages scattered about the island, but nope. Just Hanga Roa. Seeing as the sole income for the island is generated through tourism, one would think they would have a good efficient system lined up to fully capitalize on every tourist dollar available. And yes, there were an abundant amount of souvenir shops. I was actually tempted to buy a little moai replica carved out of stone, but settled on a cheap molded magnet version. I am a sucker for most things cute and small and if they happen to have a magnet attached to their backside all the better. Anyway, the people were set up for everything but food. I eat, I am happy, I don't eat, I am grumpy. And when it is pushing 10am and I have had neither coffee or food, I am definitly grumpy. And yet, on this tourist island we managed to find one spot open for breakfast at this hour. Weird. And let's not forget super expensive. But when you visit the middle of nowhere unprepared with your own rations and unable to let hunger pass without a noticable change in personality, you suck it up and pay incredible prices. So that is what we did. Even for Nescafe.

We were there during shipment day. Trucks and trucks full of food rolled into town from the airport. It was incredible. Everything, simply everything comes from the mainland. There aren't even a lot of tropical fruit trees. A couple rogue banana trees and tons of guava but those two alone don't equal tropical fruit paradise. But are nice when mixed together in a smoothie. The trucks led to talk of the enormous ecological footprint our visiting the island had. And a little chat on self reliance. We didn't know what to expect from this island, but what we kept finding sure kept us thinking.

We wanted to rent motorcycles and tour the island but due to cost and the rainy skies we opted for a little jeep thing. I think it was called a jimmy. First time I have driven in a while and it was fun. And a good decision because it rained a lot.

On to the Moais. Wow, wow, incredible, wow. Some are big, some are medium, all are massive mounds of carved rock. Rock that comes from one specific quarry, Rano Raraku. That means that all these huge statues had to be moved somehow across the island. The theory is, and there are a lot, but the most accepted theory is that the Moais rolled the statues across the island on logs. The size and distance the Moais moved was a sign of strength for each clan, which in turn meant power. A family would sponsor the clan and they would carve and carve and move and place the Moais until the family ran out of money to pay them. In this case, the money was excess food from their farms.

The creation of the Moais is incredible. You can see where they were carved straight out of the rock. The silhuettes left in the rock don't lie. But this amazing feat led to the deforestation of the island. Hence, why we saw very few trees on our hikes. That part was a little weird. I think sub-tropical Pacific Island and I think dense jungle with vines, trees, humidity, bugs, etc. Nope, not at all. The lack of bug part was nice. Having the quarry to ourselves was a treat. It created a tranquil feel where you could picture the men working hard to prove their worth. Not the tourist play ground it has become.

Orongo, a major archeological site that sits along a crater rim, was so cool. Todd and I nerded out as we stared completely enamored into the crater. It was filled with what looked like a bog or marsh nestled into it's own cozy little ecosystem creating happy endemic species. And right next door, the ocean. I wish we could have scuttled down the steep crater walls for a closer look, but if all nerdy tourist were allowed to do such things, I believe the happy little endemic species would die. And that would be sad. So, we stared in aw and took pictures posing in the Livingston lunge and one as a panther. Good times.

Our massive hike was massive. I knew it was 20+km and it was me who totally pushed for the crazy hike but for some reason I figured it would take around 3hrs. Back by lunch. Not so, not so at all. We taxied up to Anakena beach and followed the coast line back. Todd mentioned my two foot stick of protection. Yes, it is true. But apparently cows with calfs and staring bulls in large herds rattle my nerves a bit. And in addition to the cows, I have never seen so many colts in my entire life. I think there are more ungulates then people on Easter Island. The guide that suggested this massive hike mentioned that the path was littered with toppled moais. Well, first off what path? And secondly, we saw two and a ton of ahus. They were pretty neat though. The moais were toppled because when the indigenous people ran out of trees to move the moais they simply started knocking over rival clans moais. The evolution of civilizations is an interesting thing when removed from all outside influence for 1,500years.

The hike was spectacular though. Our friends the horses and cows would sporaticly appear and keep us company. But more often then not just stare while releaving themselves. We weren't sure what to think of this, so we just kept walking. The coast line was steep. The west side of the island is obviously where most of the volcanic activity occured. We could see smooth lava laying probably where it cooled thousands of years before. The contrast of the blue ocean and the black coast line was stricking. And the blow holes kept me entertained like a kid watching Barney. First we heard the jet engine sound and then saw the water spout. It was a first for me, delightful. We walked for 7hours under the hot sun. We were lucky that it didn't rain. It was all worth it.

I had done a little research before we left and read about a show that offered traditional dance and dinner. At this point in our travels, we have seen a lot of these types of show. I would like to thank Jeanne for getting me hooked. They are always hooky but I love them. We ended up at a little spot around the corner from our hostel, not the $60 per person tourist rip off. Thank goodness because I was set on going to a show so if the $60 one was it, we were going. Luckily, Todd did a bit more research and found a good alternative. Let's start with food.

They boasted traditional cuisine which was cooked underground and covered with banana leaves, palm fronds, and garbage bags. Did I mention it was raining again. I opted for the pork. Pig is my new favorite animal. The meat was so rich and tender. Pair that with the sweet potato, a bit dry on its own, a super sweet pumpkin cake mash thing, and a salad with a mayo based dressing and the meal was a success. It was a ton of food. The dance was awesome. As Todd mentioned I was front and center. Between the harrassment from a small child on my left, I think her momma was one of the dancers, and the loin cloth draped men in front of me, it made for an interesting show. Now, I for one can say that the loin cloths were very well made. I don't know if I should share these thoughts, but too late. Given my proximaty to the dancers and the precarious attire that kept moving closer and closer into my personal space I couldn't help but thinking about undergarments. And I will tell you, I saw no undergarments, but no balls either. I was very thankful.

Easter Island was great. A weird little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean covered in massive man made stone carvings. Let's not forget the signage. Both everywhere and highly entertaining. One last thing, I always thought the statues stared out to sea. Not so, they all faced inland.