I think we’ve been at sea a little too long. You should have seen the excitement when Easter Island or Rapa Nui as the locals call it, first came into view. Even as just a vague suggestion of land on the horizon, everybody was up on deck with cameras. Rapa Nui, as I will continue to refer to it, is the world’s most isolated inhabited island. We are still 3700 km from Chile who maintains control over the island. As its name suggests, the Polynesians were clearly the original settlers and today the majority of its population are descendants of the original inhabitants.
As we pulled into our anchorage, the Chilean Armada pulled along side to deliver the customs agents that would clear our ship for disembarkation. They brought on some officials, one of whom was aboard each tender that headed to shore. They’re sure watching these Americanos!
The tender to shore was a rough one. The swells were easily 3 to 4 metres and the actual dock on shore was in a protected little cove accessed by a tenuous narrow passage and pounding surf. Ride ‘em cowboy!
Of course, the reason we’ve arrived here almost a full day ahead of schedule is that we had a medical emergency that finally got offloaded to an ambulance which made its way to the airport. There’s lots of speculation and stories about the subject of this emergency, but we really haven’t ever received any reliable information about the nature of the issue. I guess it’s none of our business. I have to tell you that there are many disgruntled passengers who feel otherwise.
As we walked from the dock to town, our first attraction was a very large tortoise laying on the beach. I’m not sure whether or not he was a prop for tourists - becoming cynical I guess - but he was a great photo op.
As we walked into Hanga Roa, the only town on Rapa Nui, we noticed a lot of stone architecture and fences made from lava rock. All the people on Rapa Nui live in this town, so I wasn’t kidding when I said only town.
Since it was Sunday and since it was apparent that the locals didn’t expect the cruise ship this early, things were pretty quiet and most shops were closed.
We saw our first of what will likely be hundreds of moai, huge faces carved from volcanic rock. These sculpted monoliths are found in large numbers all over the island in various states of preservation. How and why they were built remains a mystery. Thanks to National Geographic, these faces are what has made Rapa Nui such a famous island. Expect a few more photos of these in the next two days.
Not all moai are in recognizable form, due to weather and violent destruction. These remains are none-the-less important for the island.
Not unlike Bora Bora, with their extremely high ratio of people to dogs, we quickly discovered that dogs rule on Rapa Nui. They ran into dog packs in a couple of places today that seemed to be focused on who could do what with specific females. Dawn was less than impressed and of course that made them gravitate to her.
After our brief but enjoyable walk on terra firma, we returned to the ship to watch the sun go down on Rapa Nui. This is one of those times that it pays to ask for a port side room, because we can sit on our balcony and totally enjoy the vista of Rapa Nui as well as watch it fade into darkness. While doing this we noticed for the first time three white crosses atop Mount Tuutapu. Maybe we’ll find out what they’re all about tomorrow.
As we pulled into our anchorage, the Chilean Armada pulled along side to deliver the customs agents that would clear our ship for disembarkation. They brought on some officials, one of whom was aboard each tender that headed to shore. They’re sure watching these Americanos!
The tender to shore was a rough one. The swells were easily 3 to 4 metres and the actual dock on shore was in a protected little cove accessed by a tenuous narrow passage and pounding surf. Ride ‘em cowboy!
Of course, the reason we’ve arrived here almost a full day ahead of schedule is that we had a medical emergency that finally got offloaded to an ambulance which made its way to the airport. There’s lots of speculation and stories about the subject of this emergency, but we really haven’t ever received any reliable information about the nature of the issue. I guess it’s none of our business. I have to tell you that there are many disgruntled passengers who feel otherwise.
As we walked from the dock to town, our first attraction was a very large tortoise laying on the beach. I’m not sure whether or not he was a prop for tourists - becoming cynical I guess - but he was a great photo op.
As we walked into Hanga Roa, the only town on Rapa Nui, we noticed a lot of stone architecture and fences made from lava rock. All the people on Rapa Nui live in this town, so I wasn’t kidding when I said only town.
Since it was Sunday and since it was apparent that the locals didn’t expect the cruise ship this early, things were pretty quiet and most shops were closed.
We saw our first of what will likely be hundreds of moai, huge faces carved from volcanic rock. These sculpted monoliths are found in large numbers all over the island in various states of preservation. How and why they were built remains a mystery. Thanks to National Geographic, these faces are what has made Rapa Nui such a famous island. Expect a few more photos of these in the next two days.
Not all moai are in recognizable form, due to weather and violent destruction. These remains are none-the-less important for the island.
Not unlike Bora Bora, with their extremely high ratio of people to dogs, we quickly discovered that dogs rule on Rapa Nui. They ran into dog packs in a couple of places today that seemed to be focused on who could do what with specific females. Dawn was less than impressed and of course that made them gravitate to her.
After our brief but enjoyable walk on terra firma, we returned to the ship to watch the sun go down on Rapa Nui. This is one of those times that it pays to ask for a port side room, because we can sit on our balcony and totally enjoy the vista of Rapa Nui as well as watch it fade into darkness. While doing this we noticed for the first time three white crosses atop Mount Tuutapu. Maybe we’ll find out what they’re all about tomorrow.
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