We arrived in the most isolated inhabited island mid-day to the single gate airport and walked from the plane to the "terminal." Outside, the son of our hostal owner was waiting for us with a flower necklace followed by a fresh guava juice back at the hostal. As we made our way through town and the surrounding area, I knew immediately that I loved it. (Hint Hint Lee: Great place for a future getaway!) It exudes a relaxed, laissez-faire, beach town atmosphere without even trying to. As our horse guide said: "People here don´t care about rules, like having doors on cars."
The island reminds be a bit of southern Utah, with its dry, rugged and rocky terrain. It is only lightly forested. You have to actively seek out shade on this sunny island. It´s triangular in form, with a volcano marking each corner.
Like sheep in New Zealand, horses seem to outnumber people and roam where they please. Watch where you step, cause "fertilizer" is everywhere. I love it!
The main village, Hanga Roa, is wonderfully small with just 1 ATM in the middle that has a view of the ocean. The whole village closes down from 1-5, our first experience with the siesta. Only farang venture out during these punishing hours. It seems everyone disappears inside or to the surf. The main roads are bricked or paved, but the others are still rocky paths which made getting to our hostal in our rental jeep an adventure every time.
Rapa Nui is expensive, but definitely not luxury like Tahiti or Aruba. There aren´t any "real" hotels, mostly home stay type places. We´re staying at Hostal Akapu (B-,unbearably hot without a fan, family atmosphere, most agreeable dog ever). Akapu has a great unobstructed sea view, only meters away from nearby Moai. Our stay here has been an experience to say the least. They have a banana tree and aloe bush. I´ve never picked either of those fresh before. Partly out of necessity, we´ve become fast friends with the families staying next to us. The walls are paper thin and everybody leaves their doors open for a breeze at night. When someone clears his throat at 2:30am or farts in his sleep, everyone´s the audience! In addition, there is a common room/dining room where everyone hangs out waiting for their rooms to cool down. We also spent a lot of time playing cards with the kids, learning carioca and nurturing our baby Spanish. In fact, this is the first place in 3 months where English does NOT work as the common language. It took Lee and I some serious effort just to find out how we could do laundry. Kinda fun.
On Saturday, we went on a 5 hour horseback ride through the hills in the center of the Island up to the highest volcanic hill. It was great to see a part of the island that cars can´t go to. It was the first time I´ve seen Lee on a horse and he seemed very comfortable. According to him, the last time he was on a horse was in Disney World, so take that Mickey! This ride was uber-cool and worth every ache and pain of the knees, butt and back for the next 2 days. For relief from the tropical sun, we cut aloe from the backyard to cool Lee´s crispy nose.
After the horse ride, we decided to rent a 4x4 to see more of the island. Although not in our budget, definitely worth it. I guess you just can´t do it properly without the right equipment (small knife, big tool). One full day was spent exploring the south coast Moai and Ahus, while the second day we lounged and swam on the 2 northern coast beaches: Anakena and Ovahe. I like Ovahe better. It´s a small beach by western standards, tucked into a shadow of cliff with bright, turquoise, clear water. When (not if) we come back, we´ll spend more time here. For any Lee-like nerds out there, Anakena is where Thor Heyerdahl landed with his Kon-Tiki expedition. Adding more to the cool factor, big surf surrounds the island. We´ve seen more board riding here than Bali, Tahiti and Bondi Beach combined.
But let´s not diminish the coolness of the Moai sites, particularly Rano Raraku. Lee says this is what all the tiki mugs are modeled after. How these didn´t make it to the new wonders of the world list, I don´t know! For me, it´s more impressive than the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat. Oops...did I just say that out loud?! To use the Lee, it ranks a 10 on the crazy shit scale.
As we taxied the runway on Tuesday, on our way to Santiago, I saw our Hostal owner in his orange vest on the tarmac. Es una vida dificil, no?
The island reminds be a bit of southern Utah, with its dry, rugged and rocky terrain. It is only lightly forested. You have to actively seek out shade on this sunny island. It´s triangular in form, with a volcano marking each corner.
Like sheep in New Zealand, horses seem to outnumber people and roam where they please. Watch where you step, cause "fertilizer" is everywhere. I love it!
The main village, Hanga Roa, is wonderfully small with just 1 ATM in the middle that has a view of the ocean. The whole village closes down from 1-5, our first experience with the siesta. Only farang venture out during these punishing hours. It seems everyone disappears inside or to the surf. The main roads are bricked or paved, but the others are still rocky paths which made getting to our hostal in our rental jeep an adventure every time.
Rapa Nui is expensive, but definitely not luxury like Tahiti or Aruba. There aren´t any "real" hotels, mostly home stay type places. We´re staying at Hostal Akapu (B-,unbearably hot without a fan, family atmosphere, most agreeable dog ever). Akapu has a great unobstructed sea view, only meters away from nearby Moai. Our stay here has been an experience to say the least. They have a banana tree and aloe bush. I´ve never picked either of those fresh before. Partly out of necessity, we´ve become fast friends with the families staying next to us. The walls are paper thin and everybody leaves their doors open for a breeze at night. When someone clears his throat at 2:30am or farts in his sleep, everyone´s the audience! In addition, there is a common room/dining room where everyone hangs out waiting for their rooms to cool down. We also spent a lot of time playing cards with the kids, learning carioca and nurturing our baby Spanish. In fact, this is the first place in 3 months where English does NOT work as the common language. It took Lee and I some serious effort just to find out how we could do laundry. Kinda fun.
On Saturday, we went on a 5 hour horseback ride through the hills in the center of the Island up to the highest volcanic hill. It was great to see a part of the island that cars can´t go to. It was the first time I´ve seen Lee on a horse and he seemed very comfortable. According to him, the last time he was on a horse was in Disney World, so take that Mickey! This ride was uber-cool and worth every ache and pain of the knees, butt and back for the next 2 days. For relief from the tropical sun, we cut aloe from the backyard to cool Lee´s crispy nose.
After the horse ride, we decided to rent a 4x4 to see more of the island. Although not in our budget, definitely worth it. I guess you just can´t do it properly without the right equipment (small knife, big tool). One full day was spent exploring the south coast Moai and Ahus, while the second day we lounged and swam on the 2 northern coast beaches: Anakena and Ovahe. I like Ovahe better. It´s a small beach by western standards, tucked into a shadow of cliff with bright, turquoise, clear water. When (not if) we come back, we´ll spend more time here. For any Lee-like nerds out there, Anakena is where Thor Heyerdahl landed with his Kon-Tiki expedition. Adding more to the cool factor, big surf surrounds the island. We´ve seen more board riding here than Bali, Tahiti and Bondi Beach combined.
But let´s not diminish the coolness of the Moai sites, particularly Rano Raraku. Lee says this is what all the tiki mugs are modeled after. How these didn´t make it to the new wonders of the world list, I don´t know! For me, it´s more impressive than the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat. Oops...did I just say that out loud?! To use the Lee, it ranks a 10 on the crazy shit scale.
As we taxied the runway on Tuesday, on our way to Santiago, I saw our Hostal owner in his orange vest on the tarmac. Es una vida dificil, no?
4 comments:
Oh wow, I have nothing cool to say, so I'll just sit and stare at your pictures in awe (sitting of course in my little jail like cubicle). It is amazing!!! I hope one day to get there.
Lisa,
Yeah, this place just blew me away with its simple raw beauty. The whole thing was just such a unique experience.
Fantastic!!!!
Wow! Bry...hint hint!
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