Easter Island…A spectacular surprise awaits...

Easter Island is in the same time zone as US Mountain Standard Time. Chile, however, adjusted time so there is less difference between island time and mainland time. This puts the island behind Chile by 2 hours.

Easter Island reminded Deborah of Ireland. The landscape is lush and green. Wild horses roam the land. Unlike Ireland, Easter Island is over 2,000 miles from the nearest population center (Tahiti and Chile).

Resting on volcanic rock in the South Pacific, it is known for the giant stone monoliths known as Moai. The early settlers called the island ‘Te Pito O te Henua’ -- the “navel of the world”.

Admiral Roggeveen, who arrived on the island on Easter day in 1722, named it ‘Easter Island’.

Our ‘Blue’ group, upon arrival at the airport, decided that a ‘hostile takeover’ of the other groups – Green and Red – might be in order to secure ‘appealing’ accommodations. (To put it politely, our stay in the Galapagos had mixed hotel accommodations – i.e. no hot water, no TV, no headboards, no locks on the door, dripping water from the ceiling…and so on.) Thankfully, the ‘coup’ wasn’t necessary. Our ‘home’ on the island was the Iorana Hotel, a wonderfully comfortable place. Everyone agreed that this was a welcome place to rest our very weary heads.

However, our first stop was not the hotel. Directly from the airport our bus took us to the Ceremonial site of Tahai, which also featured an amazing ‘cocktail party’ under a tent with lit torches and music provided by Rapa Nui musicians.

Chuck and I bought some gorgeous native jewelry before we headed into the party tent.

On Friday October 6 we departed for an island tour, the highlight of which was a drive to the beach of Anakena where we visited Ahu Nau and enjoyed an amazing BBQ lunch with a wonderful performance by Polynesian singers and dancers. Chuck and Deborah participated in the dances…but we were told to stick with our day jobs as we didn’t quite make the cut.

The late afternoon was spent visiting Ahu Tongariki and Rano Raraku where many of the carvings from the mountains are found.

At dinnertime, Elveira Mueller, our ever-energetic tour leader, and Deborah decided that it was appropriate to ‘borrow’ some flowers from the hotel garden in order for all the female attendees of the dinner to wear in their hair….

The next day brought more adventure – Tahiti!