The
mysteries of the huge stone Moai of Easter Island have always held a
fascination for me. So as we flew in to
land at the island I was looking out the window to see if any were visible from
the air. I was surprised to see an island
that is virtually treeless. Thousands of
wild horses roam freely eating the yellowy grass. The air was warm and windy.
We
arrived at the O’tai Hotel and thought it would be a good idea to get some
money out of an ATM machine so we could buy some bottled water. This was not as straight forward as it
sounds. The Polynesian people of Easter Island call their own island Rapa Nui
and their language is very similar to the Maori language of New Zealand Chile
So by
the time we had managed to get some Chilean currency Peso money out from the
Santenda bank ATM, the shops were closing.
I was getting desperate for a drink and did not want to risk using water
from the tap supply. We found a small store and bought two 1.5 litre bottles of
water, only to find that we had bought fizzy soda water. We had hardly slept on
the overnight flight from Tahiti and our
patience was wearing a bit thin.
Across
the road from the hotel was a large gymnasium where a huge cultural dance
practice was taking place. Close to two hundred people were singing and dancing
in preparation for a big festival which unfortunately would be held the day
after we were scheduled to leave. It was great watching them rehearse.
We
walked along the coastline near the town and discovered several small sandy
beaches for swimming. For the most part Easter Island
has a rocky volcanic coastline with heavy surf crashing in on the rocks.
Vegetation was similar to Papua New Guinea with an abundance of flowering
shrubs and beautiful striped flaxes.
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