Live - SIlver Explorer October 25 2017, Guayaquil to Valparaiso

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3 - Te Pito Kura

A few minutes down the road, we stopped near La Perouse Bay to visit another archaeological site. Looks like there will be a little bit of walking to do.

We had a short walk to get nearer to the coast. Here we saw Paro, the largest moai ever transported and erected on an ahu. El Gigante, the unfinished moai in the quarry at Rano Raraku, is slightly more than twice as tall as Paro. But he never walked.

In the background, you can see the waves out there. It's really windy!

Paro is 10 meters tall and weighs 80 tons. Massive! His pukao alone weighs another 10 tons, and is 2 meters tall. El Gigante is 21 meters tall and estimated to weigh 180 tons, for comparison. To put that into scale - El Gigante weighs as much as a fully-loaded Boeing 767-300 airliner! Paro is "only" the size of a fully-loaded 737-700, or an MD-90. That is insane.

Unfortunately, he is split in half from when he was toppled over. Too bad. It would be so impressive to see this moai stand upright again.

The so-called "navel stone" is also at this site. It is now encircled by a rock wall, so that you can't get close to it. The reason will become clear...

There are many legends associated with this stone. First of all, the oral tradition says that it was brought to Rapa Nui by King Hotu Matua, from the ancient homeland of Hiva.

The rock has several unusual physical properties. It is round and smooth. It has a high iron content, and is magnetic. We saw one of the other guides demonstrate that it did indeed make a compass needle spin around when it was placed near the rock.

It also heats up rapidly in the sunlight. Perhaps because of this, it was thought to concentrate mana (a supernatural energy force). People would touch it to try to gain some of that power.

It was also rumored to increase female fertility. Sometimes women would touch it for that reason. Apparently, some tourists did more than just "touch" the stone, which is why it's now surrounded by a fence...

The South Pacific sure is pretty! Yet another beautiful location here on the island, despite the wind.

We made sure to stay well away from that stone, in case the rumors are true... Let's see what other sites there are around here.

The beach looked a great place for a zodiac landing.:D;)

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3

We made a brief stop at Papa Vaka to see the petroglyphs. They are quite exposed and therefore a bit worn. Some kind of fish. Maybe a shark on the bottom?

Some kind of humanoid figure? Or maybe a sea turtle? Art is always subject to interpretation.

The two long lines here represent an outrigger canoe. You can't see it well, but the rest of the rock is covered with petrogyphs. Many of them are very worn down. Perhaps this rock tells a story about how Easter Island was discovered. We don't know how to read the petroglyphs.

This looks very much like a whale.

Another view of the outrigger canoe. It's a huge petroglyph. The steps on the right hand side are probably 5 feet wide, for comparison.

The petroglyphs were mildly interesting to see but I wouldn't make a dedicated trip out here just for them. If you're already here they are worth a 5-minute stop. So we continued on.

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3

Just a random rock by the side of the road?

Actually, it has holes in it and lots of carving.

This is Pu o Hiro, AKA the trumpet of Hiro. So Terry filled in for Hiro and gave us a demonstration.

The trumpet was supposedly blown in order to attract fish to the coast. No word on how effective it was.

It was also a war trophy. It's reportedly been moved around the island on multiple occasions, after being taken by one clan or another. It looks like a big heavy rock, but if you consider that the Islanders have moved moai, this would be child's play.

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3

From Hiro's trumpet, we headed down the eastern part of the island until we reached Ahu Tongariki. Since the lighting was nice, we decided to stop for pictures.

So we got photos of each other with moai.

And a group shot, of course. Thanks, Terry!

A little nicer in the sunshine. It was good to have some blue sky in the background.

Since we were still doing well with time, Terry wanted to show us one more spot along the south coast. It is amazing how much you can see when you're in a smaller group.

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3

We drove along the south coastal road, and stopped at Ahu Akahanga. There were a few adorable local tour guides waiting for us. The third one was camera shy.

Down by the coast, the surf was crashing and the wind was whipping around. The site itself has not been restored so the ahu is in disrepair.

A few heads from broken moai lie scattered about, where they fell.

And a pukao.

Legend says that Hotu Matua was buried here. This is not widely believed, or supported by any evidence. There is evidence of a settlement - house foundations, cooking ovens, etc.

Further inland, there is a cave. We sat for a while to take refuge from the wind.

It wasn't a totally pleasant refuge, though. Terry said that this cave was used to store captives during the civil war, and that some of the captives were eaten!

In reality, the evidence that cannibalism actually existed on Rapa Nui is sparse, and not many still believe that it happened. But it was a little creepy to sit in that cave and wonder...

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Day 3

Back to the hotel, then we had to hit up an ATM to pay Terry. We hadn't brought cash because we had arranged a different type of payment with Edmundo, but now that plan was kaput. Still, the private tour had been a lot of fun today.

Terry dropped us off in town so that we could do a little shopping at the local handicraft market. It was wrapping up for the day but I was able to find a little moai statue, at a decent price, so we were happy with that.

We checked out the local supermarket for fun, then Terry came back to give us a ride to the hotel. Now it was time for a glass of wine in our room, and a leisurely dinner.

We started off on the outdoor patio, where they were serving snacks and drinks with a view. A great time was had by all, as there was plenty to celebrate after a few nice days on Easter Island!

The evening light was beautiful, though not quite as warm as you'd imagine in the South Pacific.

In any event, we'd managed to make it to most of the important sites on the island. Here's a map of our exploits over the past two and a half days. I think that we covered a lot of ground, and we still have free time tomorrow morning to go back to town before our flight leaves at 3:00.

Eventually, dusk fell, and it was time to move inside for our last dinner here.

Saturday, November 11th

Easter Island, Last Night

Dinner was back at the same restaurant as the first night. As before, the portions were a bit on the large side, but we went with it. Chris started with some crispy dumplings.

I had shrimp two ways. One part was prepared as a cold salad, and the other was fried. The pickled radishes, and the crème fraîche, were a nice touch.

One entree was grilled fish.

And a nice filet, with grilled vegetables and a mushroom risotto.

Dessert was a deconstructed apple pie. It was served with cinnamon ice cream. And chocolate. And ground cherry slices.

Back to the room to take care of important business. We still had a little wine to finish! And some preliminary packing, but that job would be much easier without the wine.

Because the one daily flight from Santiago to Atlanta departs exactly 5 minutes after the flight from Easter Island is scheduled to land, we didn't think we should try to make that connection. So we arranged to spend another night at the airport Holiday Inn on Sunday. Then we have an all-day tour with Jeanette on Monday, where we'll visit Santiago, and some wineries in the Maipo Valley, before we fly home Monday night.

That was the end of day 3 on Easter Island. Off to bed, to dream of moai, before we take our leave tomorrow. But there is no escaping that the vacation is almost over.

Thanks for the memories JP.

We were there in 2009 and it looks like the most visited sites have been smartened up since we were there.

Our blog http://thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/South_America_2009/Entries/2009/2/1_EASTER_ISLAND.html

Our photo album, without descriptions as a computer problem wiped them off.

http://thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/South_America_Photo_Album/Pages/Easter_Island.html

The beach looked a great place for a zodiac landing.:D;)

It sure did. And if you didn't want to land directly on the beach, you could probably land on the jetty. Although it was high above the water, so that might be a bit of a climb from a zodiac.

The only problem is that the landing site is on the opposite side of the island from the main town. So it would be inconvenient for embarking / disembarking. But it would be a nice landing site for a quick tour of Anakena, Ahu Tangariki, and Rano Raruku.

Thanks for the memories JP.

We were there in 2009 and it looks like the most visited sites have been smartened up since we were there.

Our blog http://thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/South_America_2009/Entries/2009/2/1_EASTER_ISLAND.html

Our photo album, without descriptions as a computer problem wiped them off.

http://thefletchers.com.au/The_Fletchers/South_America_Photo_Album/Pages/Easter_Island.html

Thanks for posting those links. I enjoyed your blog and your photos. I am a little envious of your weather; the sunshine and the blue sky was much more photogenic than the weather we had.

I can relate to what you said about Chilean food. It is surprisingly underseasoned. In fact that was quite a surprise to us, because after coming from Peru where they do use spices and hot peppers, the contrast was stark. But luckily we didn't encounter anything too inedible. On second thought, maybe that would have been good for us. We ate way too much on this trip.

Absolutely fabulous photographs and very interesting commentary. Many years ago we sailed from Valparaiso across the South Pacific to Tahiti. We were on the Whisper and Captain Cosaro was in charge. He tried to land us 2x, but ultimately felt it wouldn’t be safe. He had been promised floating docks and it was obvious from his announcements, and from a later chat, that he was very unhappy that nothing had been done. It was too rough to launch the tenders, so we wound up sailing for more than 1/2 an hour as close to the shore as possible. This is why I am so thrilled to see your wonderful posts. Thank you!

Sunday, November 12th

Easter Island to Santiago

No organized plans today, so we had a leisurely breakfast, then we finished packing. We brought our bags to the front desk, and we were checked out and ready for a little sightseeing by 11:00. The pool was tempting.

But, our ride to the airport wasn't until 1:00, and we never sit still. We had time to go into town instead. You can swim anywhere, but moai are much less common. We left the resort and walked the short distance into Hanga Roa.

Along the coast, we saw the familiar plaque with the tsunami warning system. The weather looked beautiful again today.

There were surfers out, testing the waves.

Some even got up. Better be careful how long you hold that wave. It looks like it's heading straight for the rocks!

We didn't have a set agenda so we ambled onward. And the surfer didn't crash into the rocks, by the way.

Sunday, November 12th

Departure from Easter Island

Further along the road, more statues.

And moai. You can see the little harbor of Hanga Roa Otai in the background.

Since we were at the harbor, we stopped to watch the turtles. Unlike yesterday, they put in an appearance.

Past the harbor, there is an open park area called Hanga Vare Vare. It has a number of rock statues.

We walked onward through the sculptures.

Sunday, November 12th

Departure from Easter Island

Let's assume they are wrestling. It looks like a Minotaur. I didn't know that Greek mythology had influenced the art here.

Lots of faces in this carving.

From here, you can see the Tahai Ceremonial Complex which we visited yesterday. It's a bit further than we plan to walk today.

There are stairs which lead down to a natural swimming pool, at the edge of the coast, called Poko Poko.

And more carvings on the other side.

But there are more moai in the distance, so we'll head that way. We need to get our fill before they kick us off the island today.

Sunday, November 12th

Departure from Easter Island

Further along Hanga Vare Vare, this moai sits on a wooden platform. With the backlighting, those eyes are all you can see, and he really looks intense!

He must be friendly, though, as he is called the moai of peace. He is rather small at "only" 3m tall, and svelte at "only" 5 tons. He is a modern moai, carved in 1992, and the rock came from a different volcano in the northwest part of the island.

Cool carvings on his back. Birdmen, and many others. This moai toured the world before coming back home in 2010 - that's quite a long time away! I am not sure where he visited, and haven't found more detailed information.

Back to the moai hunt.

Looking for that perfect Christmas Card photo. The other one won out.

We walked to the edge of Hanga Vare Vare and looked at the cemetery. Such a beautiful setting here.

Somebody has a moai as a tombstone. The Tahai complex is just beyond the cemetery; you can see the those moai as well.

From here, we walked a few blocks inland until we got to the main street of Hanga Roa Town. Since it was Sunday, we didn't expect anything to be open, but surprisingly there were a number of shops to choose from.

We looked for T-Shirts but couldn't find ones that we liked. Chris bought a pair of moai earrings for 1000 CLP (about $1.50), and that was that. We completed the circuit by heading back to the hotel to await our shuttle to the airport. If we are lucky, maybe we'll get another flyover from our airplane?

So, in the end analysis, I am glad that we ended up staying in town. Though we were disappointed to have missed staying at Explora, which we had looked at for years, I think that this worked out pretty well for us.

Sunday, November 12th

Departure from Easter Island

We were back at the hotel by 12:30 and found some loungers outside. Our patience was rewarded shortly. Off in the distance, our plane made a sweeping left turn and came back on its final approach to the runway.

From our angle it looked like it was heading right towards the hotel! Certainly the photobombing bird thought so.

And the final approach.

So now we knew that our plane had arrived. Time to head over to the airport. It was a bit chaotic but overall not too bad. We had to go through agricultural inspection first, then check our bag at the counter.

There were a bunch of souvenir shops in the main airport terminal as well as another building right outside. So we looked at more T-Shirts and found some designs that we liked, but they were not in the right sizes. Oh well.

Back to the terminal and through security. In the secure area, there were more shops, and we finally found the shirts that we wanted.

The airport reminds me of Kailua-Kona, in that it's an open design, and there are seats in the waiting area where you have a nice view of the tarmac. We could see our plane, awaiting our arrival.

Soon it was time to line up and board for our flight. A simple process - certainly no confusion as to what gate we were using. It was a little sad to leave, but we'd had a great time, and we still have one more day of vacation tomorrow.

Thanks, JP, for taking us along your exciting, wonderful journey. It was very informative and it increased my brain cells with new new knowledge and facts.

I enjoyed your review very much! Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us. I so want to see Easter Island now!

Lisa

Sunday, November 12th

Departure from Easter Island

So boarding was a simple process. Business class lined up on one side, economy on the other. Then we walked out to the plane, climbed the stairs, and settled into our nice comfortable seats. Hanga Roa Lodge had gaven us a little parting gift of a shell lei.

Our friends were behind us, so some celebration was in order. I'm not sure why we look so happy to be leaving, though.

It seemingly took quite a while to depart. We sat for more than a half hour after it seemed that most of the passengers had loaded up. I don't think that there was a line for takeoff...

But we had pre-flight snacks. I also kept my camera out in case we had any nice views of the island after we were airborne.

One last view of the little airport, from our seat, before we started to roll. Maybe we had been waiting for this guy?

Then we taxied out to the runway. Next stop, Santiago! Only 3650 km to go.

Engines at full speed.

And, we're off. Goodbye to the moai.

Thanks, JP, for taking us along your exciting, wonderful journey. It was very informative and it increased my brain cells with new new knowledge and facts.

I love to learn about our destinations too. Glad that you found it fun as well. We saw and learned so much on this trip.

I enjoyed your review very much! Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us. I so want to see Easter Island now!

Lisa

It is worth the time and trouble to get there, and I hope that you do. But be prepared for that. Because of the timing of the flights to/from Santiago, it is very difficult to connect to an international flight on the same day. So we had to spend an extra day on each end, coming and going, in order to make it work. I am so glad that we did, though. One of the most interesting places we've visited.

Thank you for sharing! The detail given here was wonderful.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Hi JP and Chris,

Thanks for posting all the great phots and the commentary.

We had visited some of those areas on Celebrity Infinity many years ago and it was nice to see them again.

We have booked our first Silver Seas cruise which will be on the Explorer to Antarctica in January 2019.

After seeing your photos of the food I am even more excited...

Kathy

Sunday, November 12th

Easter Island to Santiago

We got some beautiful views of the southern coast from our window. The surf is intense, even from here.

Well, I had a good view. Chris was in the aisle seat. I had let her have the window seat on the flight here.

Do you think that the same aliens who moved the moai were responsible for these geometric patterns?

On the right bank of this heart-shaped cove is Ahu Vaihu. It's one place we didn't get to. Can I claim that we "saw" it? No, I think that we shall have to return some day.

The eastern part of the island came into view. At the far right is Rano Raraku, the moai quarry, but you can't even appreciate it as a volcanic cone in this photo. It seemed so big when we walked there! So tiny from here.

The shield volcano Poike, on the easternmost tip. This is the oldest volcano on the island. Rano Raraku is visible here, just to the left and in front of Poike.

The window for photography is closing quickly as we approach the clouds. Time for a few more shots if things cooperate.

Sunday, November 12th

Easter Island to Santiago

I got a closeup of Rano Raraku as we flew by. This shows a glimpse of the lake at the bottom of the crater.

And Ahu Tongariki, though that was hard to see, even at full zoom. It's the nondescript black line (well, more like a thick smudge), running near vertically, in the center of the picture.

We were now over the clouds and the island was slipping away.

One last glimpse of the eastern tip, and it was goodbye, for now.

We consoled ourselves with dinner, and wine, of course. The food was only OK. The tuna was quite well-done. And I think those were potatoes. We are not on Silversea any more.

A few uneventful hours later, we made our final approach to Santiago. The sunset colors were beautiful as we turned left, and took a northerly approach for landing.

Back in Santiago, we collected our bag and walked across the street to the Holiday Inn. They had our other bag waiting for us, and we checked in quickly.

Since we had lost an hour in the time change, we were worried about starting our tour too early tomorrow. It was scheduled for 8:00, but I had e-mailed our agency this morning to see if they could change. They pushed our tour back until 9:00, which was super nice of them on short notice.

So we had time for a quick snack in the hotel bar, and then we headed off to bed.

JP that brought back a lot of memories.We spent 4 nights on Rapa Nui and were very fortunate to have as our private guide a young Englishman who was studying the history of the island.He initially came for a year to write a thesis but stayed on. by the time we met him he had been there on and off for 10 years.He didn't intend to stay much longer though.

He knew most of the researchers still working on Rapa Nui at the time.So recommended reading.The short story-

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-mystery-of-easter-island-151285298/

And the alternate view of Rapa Nui history by a fellow who has studied it over many years but to me rings true.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275701235_Rethinking_the_Fall_of_Easter_Island

Download the full PDF-it is free.

I certainly can back you up that it is a fabulous place to visit.I did do a trip report but unfortunately before I learnt how to add pictures.We stayed at Taura'a.Run by a local and her Aussie husband.He had met her when he was on the special effects team for Kevin Costner's film Rapa Nui.