January 27: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
We’ve arrived! From the air the island appears to be long and skinny. Numerous volcanic eruptions created its land mass. As we approached we could see the remains of a huge caldera. It was beautiful to see. As far as I can see the the island is made of lava, of all kinds. It’s greener than I expected! It’s very hot and humid as well.
It took a long long time to get into our room this afternoon, oh and what bliss it was to walk into the cold room with the air conditioning blowing. Our guide is an indigenous young man named Amato, which means big sky in the local Rapanui language. We found a little shop with cool little Moai magnets and Keith insisted that I buy a big brimmed hat to keep the sun off of my face. Lord that hat is goofy looking.
We went tonight to see the Moai at sunset. It was spectacular. Keith and I sat on the grass in front of the one statue that had his “eyes” (more on Moai eyes in a later post). I just wanted to sit with the Moai. The sunset, the breeze from the ocean and the Moai felt like we were in a moment of timelessness. It was remarkable.
Mari Sparkjoy 