April 15-19
Well leaving La Paz was a breeze, 50 Boliviano’s to the airport. Flying over Chile into Iquique you could see snow capped volcanoes out of the window, the Salar de Uyuni off the left wing into the distance and the Atacama desert down below. Iquique, my stop for the next 8 or so hours before arriving into Santiago is situated right by the sea. Large sand duns/escarpments overlook the city. The airport is located some 40km south. Venturing into the city, the Mall las America’s I took in a movie to kill some time. Finishing the movie I walked into town via the ocean front. Near the waterfront of the CBD are situated old Victorian era buildings with a wooden boardwalk and old tramline. The city sort of reminds me of Las Vegas in a way with the desert setting, it only has one casino in this case! A quick dinner then winding my way back to the mall I was whisked back to the airport by shuttle bus. All in all a flying visit.
Eventually arriving into Santiago Airport around 12.30am, I spent the next few hours resting among other travellers in the metal backed airport chairs catching one or two hours of shut eye. Checking into my Easter Island flight around 5am I spent the next few hours wandering the confines of the airport. Bound for Easter Island (or Isla de Pascua) at 8.10am, the 5hr flight was very good, a change from American Airlines. We flew a 767-300, each seat equipped with AVOD (Audio Visual on Demand), the film “Kite Runner” was the order of the day, an excellent film with a happyish ending (don’t want to give too much away) to those who may want to see it.
Easter Island, appeared as a speck in the middle of the ocean (it is 3700km west of Santiago, and 2000km from the nearest inhabited island of Pitcairn) growing ever larger as we set down on the runway located adjacent to the main population centre of Hanga Roa.
Greeted by the proprietor of the hostel Kona Tau, with lei’s I joined Mahema, Kati and Andrew for a brief tour of the town, the 1.5km long main street dotted with tourist operators, rental car agencies and supermarkets of varying sizes. Dropping our gear off we made it into town, a short walk from our accommodation’s for a lovely empanada lunch. One thing I can say for Easter Island is that if it is not one of the most expensive places to stay and eat in in South America, then it is certainly up there. OK it’s probably priced about the same as Australia! An empanada will set you back around $AUD 5, a can of coke $2.50. You compare this to Bolivia, where I had a 4 course lunch (small salad, soup, main of pork chop and rice, small ice cream) for $AUD 1.25.
We explored the township, down to the wharf and back around to the main street before heading back to rest. That evening we all had dinner at Aloha Bar, an exquisite cerviche for $20. Tired from the previous days journey I was in bed by 10.30pm whilst the others continued on.
Easter Island is laid back, people meandering around. Scooters and small 4WDs predominate the main street. You have the occasional horse or two being ridden down the street. The Island is reliant on tourism and the 4 or so flights to the island by LAN either from Papeete or Santiago. Most of Rapa Nui is National Park, with an entrance fee of $US10, not too steep by South American standards. This gives you multiday entry.
It was late in the afternoon of my second day on the island before I garnered the energy to make the trek up the ceremonial village of Orongo, atop a hill South of Hanga Roa. The road winds it´s way past the end of the airport runway before slowly making it´s way towards the crater of Rano Kau. A dirt track veers off the road at the CONAF (Chilean National Park Service) Office and slowly makes it way up initially through Eucalypts (Yes, they are one of the predominant trees in South America, bought to the continent by the Spanish. It´s a little bit of home away from home) and then through ankle/knee high grass before emerging on the edge of the Rano Kau Crater. Inside the crater is located a marshland with a variety of plant life. It´s not unlike the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania albeit on a much smaller scale. The Orongo ceremonial village is only a shadow of itself, a few buildings having being restored . The most spectacular aspects are the rock petroglyphs (pictures) carved into the rocks facing out into the Pacific. Spending time around sunset makes for wonderful viewing before winding my way back down to Hanga Roa via Ana Kai Tangata (for some more petroglyphs, this time carved into a cliff facing the ocean!!). All in all a perfect day with the sun setting through cloud over the horizon.
One of the best ways to see the Island, as it is relatively small at (164 Square kilometres) is to rent a 4WD or scooter. So it was that I rented a scooter for a self guided tour of the Island. It´s low season at the moment, but renting a 4WD (Suzuki Vitara/Daihatsu Terios) is about 30,000 pesos for the day, while a scooter will set you back about 20,000 (450 peso=$1US)
Riding around the Island is fairly easy with limited traffic but some of the roads are gravel and need some time to negotiate. Riding around I made my way to Vinapu, where there are fallen Moai (at one end of the Airport runway) then around the coast to Hanga Havave before heading back inland to Puna Pau. This is a volcanic crater where most of the red scoria top knots (placed on top of the Moai heads) were carved. It was then a bumpy ride through wet puddles to Ahu Akivi, where some 7 Moai are situated in a line. My tour concluded back in town at Tahai, again with a number of Moai (which invariably almost all face inland, towards a village). The Museum was the last stop, informative and to the point. It should be the first stop on any visit to the island.
The next day began with returning the scooter. It should be remembered that Easter Island has limited banking facilities but they do have an ATM, however it only accepts Mastercard, Maestro or Cirrus Cards. It´s bad luck if you have Visa or Plus cards. So bring enough money to the Island if you can. US dollars are widely accepted too, with change given in Pesos. After returning the scooter I joined a tour with Kiakoe Tours. A full day around the remainder of the Island I had not yet visited. All in all we were a group of 10 with Guy from Kona Tau joining me and we met a German girl, Simone. The weather was showery, with the first stops at Vaihu and Ahu Aka Hanga damp. These consisted of fallen Moai. The highlights were just around the corner at Rano Raraku Volcano, where most of the Moai were carved. Some near 400 are still in the quarry, one near 21m in height and weighing more than 160 tons. A picnic lunch was had here before progressing to the impressive site of Ahu Tongariki. This is where 15 Moai are sited in a line, restored in the early 90´s after a Tsuanami in 1960. They vary in height from 5-9m or so from the ground. Amazing. Each one has a different face, no two are alike.
Moving to the Northern side of the Island the penultimate stop was at Ahu Te Pito Kura, each of us touching the magical magnetic rock. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my head! Finally we ended at Anakena Beach (one of only two beaches) and Ahu Nau Nau (where 5 Moai have been restored) along with a lone one raised by Thor Heyerdahl. The heavens opened up on us once more before we headed back to Hanga Roa, at 4.30pm. A wonderful tour (only $US60 including lunch).
Just one more thing to see before I leave and that´s the Church service in the Rapa Nui language on Sunday morning, something to look forward to before the flight to Santiago and the end of my journey to South America. It´s been a truly amazing experience, so many wonderful people and places…..
