Day 18 … onward to Rapa Nui

So today we began the 7th leg of our journey with a super early pick up to take us to the airport for our flight to Rapa Nui. Rodrigo was going to be at the hotel at 6 am, so we had an alarm set to allow us sufficient time to dress and do the final pack and check out. Our hotel had organised a bagged breakfast for us to take with us. We were ready before the set time so waited in the very quiet lobby until Rodrigo arrived.

A fairly quick drive to the airport … about 25 minutes on some very quiet streets. We passed a number of places we had seen on our city tour with Rosa so it felt a little like going full circle on our 2 days in Santiago. Rodrigo dropped us off right at the terminal door and after a handshake and a hug we said a final farewell to our trusty driver (he spoke a little English but could understand what we were saying. He took great pride in acting as tour guide during our brief drive).

And into the airport we headed. We had a lovely man assist us with check-in … they don’t have staff assisting at a counter but rather self check-in for both tickets and luggage, and whilst we are pretty comfortable with doing that in Australia, trying to navigate the functions on a Spanish screen was a little more challenging. We aren’t sure if he was an official staff member or just someone who pretends to be an airport staffer … but he got a tip for helping us navigate that step.

Luggage checked in and boarding passes in hand we headed to the special exit lane for departures to Rapa Nui. Because of the status of the island as a historical and cultural space with limited hotels and return flights, they require you to have a special permit, a receipt for accommodation and a return flight ticket. The process was pretty simple and with three booths operating we whizzed through pretty quickly.

And then the usual airport wait … a tedious but very necessary part of any trip! Our flight boarded earlier than we anticipated, and we were bemused at the people jostling for position in the line to board! It always amazes me that people feel the need to stand in a queue for half an hour … you have a ticket, you have a designated seat … calm down!

The 5 hr flight passed with little problem. Ian watched a movie, I watched The Crown whilst doing some colouring in. The breakfast provided was yummy. So all in all a good flight. We were given seats in the LATAM+ seats which gives you an extra 10 cm leg room. (I had booked us these seats for our first flight and our return flights but hadn’t been able to do this one leg so we were rapt when we boarded and found we could stretch out. We think we might look at booking these types of seats on future flights (I am only thinking of Ian’s well-being … I am a good wife!).

We were met at the airport by our guide and driver Maitu who placed gorgeous floral leis made from bougenvillia flowers around our necks. She drove us to our accommodation with a little side tour of the town to help us get our bearings. She then left us to settle in saying she would be back at 3.30 to take us on our afternoon tour.

Easter Island (aka Rapa Nui aka Isla de Pascua) is a small island - 166 sq km and 9,000km from Sydney. The tour companies offer a standard menu of four excursions - three half day and one full day. Most visitors do 3 of the 4, we will cover all 4 before we hop on a plane home.

Our half day tour with Maitu this afternoon took in Orongo, Rano Kau and Ahu Huri a Urenga. But as amazing as those sites were the essence of the afternoon was immersion in: i) the history of power from kings to the bird man competitions to the Catholic missionaries and the modern day (which includes 'hate' signs); and ii) the everyday life of the islanders from someone who was born here and has always called this place home.

Orongo is a site atop a mountain overlooking the tiny rocky island of Motu Nui. In a crazy power sharing system for about 100 years from the 1770s the clans on Easter Island would pick a champion to compete in the annual bird man competition. The aim ... collect the first Sooty Tern egg laid on the small nesting island and bring it back to the mainland. It was a bit Hunger Games in that a couple of champions would die each year, but the prize was that their clan got to rule the entire island for the next year - when the birds returned for the next nesting season. Saves all the trouble of elections, and fewer people died than was occurring in inter-clan warfare.

The hilltop has small low buildings where people slept, and during the day there was entertainment as they watched what was happening on the island below.

Rano Kau is a volcanic crater, spectacular in its formation ... round flat marshy base, steep sides, with one bite in the caldera giving glimpses of the ocean. The first view stops you in your tracks - jaw-dropping.

There is also a small viewing area further around the crater rim which also gives you views back over the town and the airport. Just for scale, at this narrow point of the Island the airport runway runs almost the entire width from the east coast to the west coast.

Our final stop was supposed to be at Vinapu but timing and road condition saw us heading to a small inland moai (statue) on its ahu (altar). The statues were carved in the local quarries using several different materials and then transported to their altar. This small solo one has not yet been restored but it gave Maitu a good chance to explain some of the rationale behind the construction of the moai (ownership, navigation worship, etc.).

The drive back to our hotel showed us a few potential stops for our walk to town tomorrow morning. And reinforced the challenges of living on a small island with a population of 8,000 where small distances, watching eyes, family connections, and gossip culture mean that you have no secrets.

And finally our dinner ... at the restaurant next door to our accommodation. Complimentary sopaipillas with tomato salsa, followed by papas caseras ... homemade chips served with chunks of beef and a blue cheese sauce and chives (basically loaded fries - but very yummy). We ended the day by walking down to Tahia to view some statues silhouetted by the setting sun (these moai are visible from our verandah, 150m away).