First, a note: I spent some time today uploading more photos from our week on Rapa Nui, so, if you're interested, you might want to re-visit the Rapa Nui posts.
It is hard to believe, as I type this, that we left home exactly four weeks ago today. Honestly, what has happened in the interim is a bit of a blur, which is why I am especially glad that I will have my blog to refer to when we are once again home.
We awoke at 7:30am without an alarm, but were slow to get moving. I have several seasons of old TV shows (today it was Frasier) downloaded on my iPhone, and, lacking TV as we are (and as most of the island is), sometimes it's nice to start an episode playing. We've seen them all (many times) in the past, so viewing is not a requirement and listening provides just a cozy touch of home. Still, we made it to breakfast by 9am or so and enjoyed the last of our several bountiful breakfasts from Motel Tau Ra'a. We've seen enough of prices on Rapa Nui to know that breakfasts like we've been getting would easily cost $20-25 each, making our room a bargain.
I had only five goals for the day: get a Rapa Nui passport stamp from the post office, visit the Catholic church, Church of the Holy Cross, call Mom, upload photos and fly my kite. The first two were located on the same street not too far apart, so we set out to walk first to the post office (it closed for two hours for lunch) and then to the church. On the way, we did some souvenir and post card shopping, and came equipped with a pen to write out and mail them from the post office.
The clerk placed the Isla de Pascua (Spanish for Easter Island) stamp right next to the stamp we received when we arrived last Tuesday.
It was darling to see this signage board on which had been posted several of the letters to the Easter Bunny that were sent to the post office this year. Some were address simply to Easter Island, Chile, but were delivered all the same.
The lecturn
The baptismal fount (frankly, I found this a little disconcerting for a baptismal fount but I am trying to maintain an open mind)
There were only four, smaller stained glass windows in the church, and none of them were that Polynesian-inspired (it's hard to top what is in Notre Dame Cathedral in Papeete), but I was glad I was able to visit the church, and grateful to the Guatamalan surgeon for sharing his photos (yesterday) of the priest who celebrated the Mass (because that had to be seen to be believed!).
We returned to the Motel Tau Ra'a in early afternoon (though G left once again later with a 'tarjeta de credito' (credit card) in hand to buy a polo shirt and baseball cap ('cause the 982 he already has are simply not enough). We sat in the downright chilly outdoor seating area to do some interneting; this WiFi is certainly not fast but it is the last free, unmetered WiFi we will have for the foreseeable future. I was also repeatedly checking the flight status of the LAN flight from Santiago, Chile to Rapa Nui; the same plane would be the one taking us to Papeete overnight. If that flight was delayed, ours would certainly be also. It was more than windy enough for me to fly my kite right from the Motel Tau Ra'a courtyard, and now I can add Rapa Nui to the growing list of places I've flown it (including Tiananmen Square and Bondi Beach).
I should take a minute to inject some information about G's tour with Chris yesterday. They ended up not returning until 4pm, and so had a full day. Despite the all day rain we had had in Hanga Roa, the other side of the island was overcast but dry. They repeated some territory (like viewing the petroglyphs and moai pieces on the back side of Tongariki) and returned to Rano Raraku (the quarry) for...something (I not exactly sure what), but spent most of their time retracing the eastern coastline that G and I had driven up on Saturday but this time stopping at the ahus that we either skipped or were unsure of their significance. I cannot emphasize enough how much having private tours with a English-speaking guide added to our visit to Rapa Nui. It was not a small cost (as much as 7 nights in the hotel), but we would have gotten only a small percentage as much out of coming here without it.
So, back to today...
It was getting colder sitting there in that outdoor sitting area, waiting for notification that the Santiago flight to Rapa Nui had departed. Today was not raining but the air had a wet chill anyway. We have both grown quite tired of wearing the same stretchy pants and fleece pullovers we have worn every day since Saturday (I even slept in mine one night, I was so cold). Which leads me to comment on Rapa Nui: Fact or Fiction, the several things we had read over and over again before we left home.
Insects: Not a one. No mosquitoes, no flies, no cockroaches, but I did see one ant
Horses: Many of them. Everywhere, especially outside of the town of Hanga Roa but they are used as transportation within the town, too. They are doing serious damage to the ahus and moai with their trampling and scratching.
Dog: 100 times more than horses. They bark loud and long, all night, every night, only stopping around 4am when they are trumped by the...
Roosters/chickens: ...crowing of roosters. Also loud and long. They actually continue through the day on a lesser scale but are drowned out by the...
Scooter and dirt bikes: ...the latter with modified mufflers (to make the MOST noise). These tear up and down the town's Main Street at all hours of the day and night, and make even more noise than the...
Battered cars: ... with loud mufflers. Nearly every car is running on its last leg.
Wind: Huge. Every day and all day. I would expect this to feel good when it's hot, but when it's not...I'm anxious to warm up a bit!
Sun: It's hard for me to comment, since we are here at the very beginning of spring, but even our sunny days were not oppressively so.
Heat: No, not now. We wore shorts for four days and everything we had with us for the last two. This weather, we're told, is typical of the winters here.
Poor plumbing: Yep. You bet. It's the whole 'toilet paper in the container next to the toilet' thing, which is damn difficult for this spoiled American to adapt to. Try breaking that habit!
Power cutouts and surges: While we never experienced a power cut, we did have lights in our room going on and off under their own volition. We plugged in our iDevices to charge and prayed.
Language difficulties: Absolutely. Our Australian host and American guide (he's married to a local Rapanui lady) saved us.
Food shortages: Well, there certainly isn't a Kroger here. We spotted three tiny stores, none of them anymore than a very small 7-Eleven. We ate out three times (always empanadas) and ate Dinty Moore beef stew on three other occasions. One lunch was provided with our first tour (we made two meals out of that). We ate plenty of fruit but not a single vegetable for the entire week and are craving salads (we wouldn't dare have one).
Water: Well, we've been drinking coffee and tea made with it, but not drinking it outright. We were told to expect to pay $10 per person per day for hydration, and we spent no where near that amount (again. It's not summer)
Handicapped Accessibility: None what so ever. Nothing is accessible. Rapa Nui is an active person's destination. We expected lots of seniors wearing travel vests and zip off pants/shorts and Tilley hats. What we saw instead were lots of 20 and 30 somethings traveling with just backpacks and outdoor gear and hiking boots. Sidewalks are broken and intermittent in Hanga Roa, toilets are all low and wobbly on their bases, faucets are of the 'turn the knob' variety, showers lack grab bars. Don't wait too long for this destination.
Motels: Most of cabins on the back of someone's property. All are expensive. This is as far as you can get from the St. Regis Bora Bora, and just one step up from camping. But (at least) we were treated like family, even having our suitcases carried into the airport when we flew out. Edith stayed and talked to us for awhile at the airport until the LAN counter opened despite the fact that she had spent the afternoon with at the hospital with Bill who would have to fly to Chile the next day for medical care (we hope he's soon better!)
I was sitting outside the church today, waiting for G to come out of a souvenir shop, and took note of what I was seeing. Dirt bikes, ATV, a scooter with two men on it, the passenger carrying long 2x4s and pipes, a horse with rider, several dogs, a man wearing medical scrubs carrying a chainsaw (I was intensely curious about that!), a surfer with his wetsuit open to the waist, walking barefoot and carrying a surfboard and a couple of 18-person buses (the largest on the island). And it occurred to me that this island is exactly like the fictional town of Cicely in the TV show Northern Exposure. Very friendly, but rustic, and very, very quirky.
G summed it up best: One of the strangest places in the world with the some of friendliest people in the world.
We spent the late afternoon and early evening resting, interneting, showering one last time and packing. Edith picked us up at 8pm for our flight. We honestly don't know what time it's scheduled to leave; LAN has, in its usual fashion, changed the flight time (we think) without notifying us. But sometime between 10:55pm and 11:25pm will suit us just fine. We'll be arriving in Papeete and taking a taxi to the Hotel Tiare Tahiti sometime around 1am, which will be after 6am in Rapa Nui.
And then, I will sleep!