Finally, after five days at sea, the Amsterdam arrived to Easter Island, belonging to the country of Chile. It is rather small with only 63 square miles. There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 locals, but Easter Island’s most famous residents are the mysterious moais, almost 900 of them in fact. When the crew of a Dutch ship discovered this island by accident on Easter Sunday in 1722, they found a civilization that was comprised of people from Polynesia. They called themselves Rapa Nui, and were more Tahitian in nature than anything else. That is why their custom of carving the volcanic rock in the moai statues we see today, can be also seen throughout French Polynesia.
The theorists have decided that this island was so limited in resources, namely forests and food crops, that the population had decreased to a bit over 100 people in the 1800’s. The introduction of rodents from European ships also decimated anything that grew here, especially food crops. Now a protected World Heritage Site, this Chilean-run island has earned its reputation for one of the top spots for personal “bucket lists”. In fact, this is what we have been hearing from fellow passengers that have never been here before. We can relate to that excitement ever since the first time we visited here too. And for the following times we have been lucky enough to come back, which we counted to six.
Every evening at bedtime, our room stewards leave a “good night” card with a saying that gets us thinking….usually travel-related. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that SCARES you.” OK, that is how we began the day going to Easter Island. On today’s newsletter, the entire front page was dedicated to tender operation procedures going and coming back. At 7am, tender tickets were handed out in the Lido pool area for those who were not booked on ship’s tours. The funny thing was that passengers were lining up at 4am! That’s how passionate they were to getting ashore.
We were lucky not to have to get tickets, since our ticket was our cruise card with the President’s Club logo on it. So we got up very early, skipped breakfast, watched the sunrise (gorgeous), and went down to deck A at 8am. Only the officers and crew were there to set up the landing site. Karen and Hazel appeared, and obviously, as the two top famous ladies onboard, they did not need tickets either. So the four of us became the first guests to go ashore this morning.
This is when the SCARY aspect took place. The swells were more than unpredictable entering the tender boat. One of us made it aboard easily, but when the other attempted the jump, the boat dipped 3 feet up, then 3 feet down, eventually breaking 3 feet away from the platform. Two crew guys waited with outreached arms, but said either no or yes before jumping. Really expecting to give up and go back onboard, the boat hovered for 2 seconds, enough time to make it inside. Later in the day, we did hear of a few accidents during this process. So glad it was not one of us. And it least we made it over. Not everyone did.
The best part of being first was that we had every site we visited mostly to ourselves for the day. Having done all of the tours at one time or another, we enjoyed our very long hike today. We found the shore excursions were much more costly than 20 years ago, but then, we do not believe the price to gain entrance to the Rapa Nui National Park was $80 USD. So that added to the total price of the tours which began at $250 to $350 for 3 to 4 hours. It is more understandable, since the guides (mostly college students) fly here for the day from Chile when a cruise ship is in port. So their costs have to be passed on to the participants. However, if you have never been here, we still recommend a tour. One that includes a visit to the quarry really tells the story of the moais existence. Their method of transporting them down the slopes to the shore’s edge is still controversial. Moving them on logs makes the most sense.
There are many areas where several statues are placed in a row, facing inland, as if to protect the residents from harm. We figured that volcanoes created this island, the Rapa Nui may have been fearful of devastation from eruptions. Just thinking out loud. It really creates an eerie site, especially if you picture that all of the statues had white obsidian stones for eyes. All but one have no eyes these days. You still have the feeling you are being watched. Now if only they could talk and tell the real story. But then, the mystery that surrounds this island would be gone forever.
We could also call this island one for the dogs. No matter where we roamed today, we had a big dog accompany us. They all seem to know their boundaries, and will not cross into another’s territory. And they’re friendly, only because the locals must feed them. In the heart of Hanga Roa, their one small town, groups of dogs roamed the streets and waterfront restaurants. Speaking of restaurants, there seemed to be many more than we remembered. However, today being Sunday, it appeared some of them were closed until dinnertime. Signs showed happy hour two for one sales, but after 7pm. Looks like this is a major pastime for the vacationers that stay here.
There were a few places with souvenir tents, but the locals were slow in setting up their wares. We would check this out on the way back.
Continuing on, we made our way to Tahai, the ceremonial site with several moai statues standing at attention, including the one with the eyes intact. It is a spacious area, and we did have it to ourselves until a few small buses of tourists arrived. Talking to Ginger and Bill on tour, we found out that the tendering process had slowed to a crawl around 10am, due to the swells. In fact we noticed that no tender boats went ashore for 45 minutes. There was a brief moment we all thought there was a possibility we would not make it back to the ship. Highly unlikely, we do know this has happened in the past. One good reason to carry a credit card with you just in case.
Remembering that a small park was further up the coastline, we found our way there, and rested for a bit on a nice bench. A shrine was placed on a cliff here and was dedicated to a priest that must have lived here years ago. We assume a nearby museum with artifacts from the island’s history may have been dedicated to this priest. It was so nice and peaceful sitting here, that one of us stayed behind, while the other continued exploring more moais and the coastline. Sure was wonderful enjoying the peace and quiet as well as the pounding surf on the rugged cliffs below this area.
It was getting close to lunch, and our water bottles were running low. Time to move on. Back in town, we picked the nicest restaurant built right on the water called Restaurant Pea.. It was advertising upscale Latin-influenced seafood with spectacular bay views. It was all of that, but not as expensive as we originally thought. We ordered Heineken beers, one cheeseburger with fries, and ended the meal with a shared slice of strawberry cheesecake. The burger was giant, and also delicious, more so because we had skipped breakfast. More room for a little dessert right? We probably spent near two hours here, mostly because the waiter did not rush us. Sitting at a table on the railing of the outside patio, we spotted something moving in the surf below. Couldn’t be a seal or an otter….they don’t live here. Turned out to be sea turtles, probably green ones, and all different sizes. They would surface briefly, then dive under the waves, making photos quite difficult. Locals were actually snorkeling here, and also surfing. Part of our fun while in these ports is people watching, and interacting with them too. Even one nice fellow offered us a ride to the little beach here, and gave us the thumbs up when we thanked him, but declined. That’s the kind of place Easter Island can be…..friendly.
It had begun to drizzle with some massive black clouds drifting over the island. Really felt good, but we stayed longer under cover of the patio before heading back to the tender area. We still had a long walk to get there, but we needed to check out the souvenir tents on the way back. Not needing another statue or t-shirt, we were able to pass by without buying anything today. Items of possible interest were wood-carved oars and turtle platters. Knowing there is no wood here, all of these items are probably imported. And besides, we have no more wall space at home.
Reaching the little boat harbor, we found a large group of passengers seated under a tent with tender tickets in hand. Everyone, regardless of being on tours or independent had to take a tender ticket to keep the order. Great idea, as there are always a few that rush the boats, whether they are first in line or not. The wait was brief for us, giving us a chance to re-hydrate with iced cold lemonade from the ship. Only about 40 of us got on the boat for the 15 minute transfer back home. This was perfect, since usually there are many more guest on these boats. Well, yes, we got back to the tender landing, but there was already another tender there with the slowest unloading of people we have seen for quite some time. We all bobbed up and down for over ½ hour, many dealing with impending seasickness. Sure would have been better to be held on land for a while, then brought over when the gangway was almost clear. But what do we know? Only one elderly man lost his cool, right before it was his turn to be helped off. What’s the point in complaining when the crew was doing their utmost best to get us off safely?
As we went through the xray checkpoint, a line of about 30 “sticky” people, or those who were going on an HAL tour, we lined up to go ashore. Since this was not a tour time that was in the brochure, we figured they added this later one a few days ago, because every spot had been sold out. They would be the last group allowed to go, and the line of waiting guests waiting on deck one were out of luck. Right before 4pm, Captain Mercer wisely cut off the rest of the transfers due to such unsafe swells. Apologizing profusely, he stated that in order to get the remaining guests back to the ship, he had no choice with this decision. We did hear of one lady that fell head first into the tender, leaving her legs dangling over the entrance. More than one of our friends said if the boat had drifted back suddenly against the platform, she might have lost her legs. One of the quick-thinking sailors had rolled her over, and tossed her legs into the tender. Yikes. What a memory of a visit to Easter Island……
Around 6pm, we went to deck 9 to take some panoramic shots of the coastline. Most of the dark clouds that produced passing showers were gone, and the color was just right. With three of the ship’s new tender boats still in the water, we knew that the Captain was correct about the final loading of passengers, which would have to happen before sunset at 9:05pm. We are still curious about the strange time zone here.
The time of departure had already been extended an extra hour, from 5:30 to 6:30pm. With the late tour, we knew we would not be departing until much later. At our late seating dinner time, the setting sun made us all blind, shining like a laser beam. Barb always sits in a chair facing the aft of the dining room, so our waiters did drop several of the new curtains. Still not good enough, Barbie put her napkin over her head, and slipped low in her chair. Her friends at home will appreciate her humor. It did get the waiters to move faster with lowering the shades. It helped a bit, but when the Captain finally turned the ship to leave at 8:30pm, we headed west while the sun went down. And we had notes on the table saying due to this cancelled transfer, we were treated to a glass of “almost” champagne called sparkling wine or a soft drink. The three of us opted for a can of Coke Zero, with Barb donating hers to us. She is sweet that way. Like her reason for not attempting to go on land today. Knowing that there were many guests that have never been here before, she gladly gave up her spot for one of those guests to have the chance to make it over today. As for us, we knew this could happen, and we went early in the day.
The best thing to happen tonight was setting the clocks back an hour. It had been a marathon day for most everyone, including the staff.
Bill & Mary Ann
