Well, will we or won't we? That was yesterday's biggest question of the day, and the final answer was…..we did. We made it to Easter Island, and we were able to tender ashore, much to the delight of everyone. But it wasn't quite that easy, as we will explain a bit later.
Easter Island is part of Chile, although it is separated from the country by many miles. It's about as remote as it gets. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the main attraction to this small island is the imposing stone statues called "moai". The big question is who were the people that carved, moved, and erected these eerie stone statues? What do they mean, and where have these people gone? Anthropologists and travelers like us are still trying to find the answers. And that is primarily what folks come here for….the mystery of it all.
There are about 900 statues that were created by the Rapa Nui natives that lived here since 300 AD. When a Dutch ship arrived in 1772, they gave it the appropriate name of Easter Island. There was an estimated 2000 people on the island, but their resources had been depleted. By the 1900's, only 111 of them survived.
Hanga Roa is the main town complete with a fishing harbor, restaurants, and craft markets. It is walkable, but many of the passengers book tours, especially if this was going to be their first visit. The ship's tours included drives to see the moais that are located around the island. One excursion included a trip to see the quarry, where it is believed all of the carvings took place. Another pricey tour had a lunch where the food was cooked in the ground at Anekena Beach. Several years ago, we did a similar tour with a buffet BBQ lunch, but it sure did not set us back $470 each. Of course, it did not cost us $80 to enter the national park either.
Now this is where things get complicated, in our opinion. Because the chances of getting over to the island are a toss-up due to the changing swells, many passengers feel forced to buy a tour in order to have the best chance of making it to the island. If nothing else, the tour groups will make it over there. In the past, those who have the highest priority tendering privileges have been mixed in with these tour groups. These days those folks are the President's Club members, as well as deck seven passengers. This group does not have to get tender tickets, as we simply line up at the door down to deck A. Not too many of us were there waiting in the hallway at 8am, but we were left waiting there for over an hour. Turns out, the tour groups were being taken down the inside stairs to the tender boats, without filtering in our group. Many of us did send messages down to the platform via the "nice guards" at the door. Eventually, they began taking us down to join the tenders. Although we did not hear the words said, we are sure someone will say, "There are too many of you now". We think it is bad enough that the 4 and 5 star Mariners have no chance at priority tendering as they do on other ships in the fleet. But now, this is beginning to include every Mariner, regardless of their status. And with shore excursions that were costing from $250 to $470 per person, you can see where we are going with this. Money rules…….
We have been so lucky to have made it to Easter Island several times over the years. We have visited every site there, and have experienced some wild adventures tendering to the alternate landing place at Anakena Beach. With some damage to the tender boats and pontoons, we have had to crawl over the front of the tender boat to enter through the front window. Oh those were the days. So we do not take tours here anymore. Just go off on our own, and walk for miles.
The When & Where advertised a scenic narration at 7am for the arrival to Easter Island. But someone should have told the narrator that it was dark that early, as the sun did not rise until much later. We know, because one of us had risen around 5am, a common habit these days, to see if there was an internet connection. It was working for a short time, but looking outside our window, all that we could see were the lights on the island. And passing rain showers. In addition, a line had already formed sometime after 4am on deck five for the folks to get tender tickets. The time tickets would be handed out was 8:30am.
Getting into the tender boat this morning was slow-going. The swells were making the transfer very dangerous. Seems that they doubled up on the expert crew members that assist every passenger. It took up to 40 minutes to load one boat, and only about 10 minutes to bring us into the small harbor at Hanga Piko. By now, the time was 9:45am, which turned out to be just right for us. The area was crammed with vans and private cars and trucks to take the folks on tours. The souvenir tables were already crowded with customers, as the early birds might get the worms, figuratively-speaking of course. Wiggling through the confusion, we followed the very muddy road to the main street. By the way, it had rained heavily on the island before the sun came up at around 6:30am. It was slippery in parts with some deep potholes along the way. Most all of the guests had joined the ship's or private tours, so we were among the first ones to head towards town. So nice to be free of that mess, we encountered a few island dogs, one of which insisted on following us. Good thing they were friendly.
Today was Sunday, so the locals and vacationing people were not out and about yet. This rural road was dotted with cafes, restaurants, and hotel facilities all the way from the harbor to the next town of Hanga Roa. One nice thing was that there was little traffic, with some older kids riding horses. Many horses reside on this island, often seen grazing in fields tied to a rock. Several of the ship's recommended restaurants were in this area, but were far from being opened. We intended to come back to this area on our way back, when they should all be opened for business. And it was here that we were joined by one local dog, who insisted on taking a walk with us. Figuring he was territorial, this first dog bailed at the next set of bungalows, where he obviously lived.
The surfers were out in full force in this area of the island. Fun to watch, they were experts at staying away from the dangerous volcanic rocks that filled the shores. The waves were pretty impressive today, but that water sure looked cold. In this same area was the street full of tented handicraft vendors. About one dozen tents had many tables of treasures from t-shirts, hand-made jewelry, island clothing, hats, honey, body oils, and the biggest array of Easter Island trinkets you could ever want. Small to large moais were available as a reminder of the visit here. Naturally, we already have one at home.
Continuing up the road, we walked past the crossroads where a small boat marina held many colorful wooden fishing boats, and a street lined with cafes and bars, most of which were not opened. Close to this area is a stage-setting for outdoor concerts and other entertainment. This area has built up over the recent years, and now it looks like a real attraction for the visitors that vacation on this remote island. Another friendly dog escorted us through town, but stopped at the edges.
We passed by the somber cemetery, where many of the relatives of the oldest residents now have a commanding view of the Pacific Ocean. Since today was a Sunday, there were several family members among the grave markers. Beyond here, we lost the paved sidewalks, and had to hoof it on the graveled muddy road.
Along the way, we came across the Tahai complex, where many restored moai were perched, facing inland, staring without the obsidian eyes that had been inserted into the faces. Only one was complete with the eyes and headdress, which may be a hat or their hair. Most of the tour vans were stopping here, and one group of them were already piling out to get their photos. Lucky for us, we got the snapshots well before the ceremonial grounds were invaded. With the sun at our backs, the lighting was excellent for photographing.
Pastures had been roped off for the horses, that seem to roam these slopes, but also cut off access to some of the sights. We did find an opening, where a playground was built complete with wooden benches. There is a small shrine which faces the ocean here, but the info is written in Spanish. Nearby, there is an Anthropological Museum Artifacts, Sebastian Englert, dedicated to a German priest who lived here. Most certainly, this shrine is tied to him. And this is a spot where one of us takes a break, relaxing on one of those benches. Perfect spot to contemplate the mysterious history of this island. The final conclusion is that without the remains of the moai, there would not be much to draw travelers here, other than its remoteness and fresh clean air. Keeping the mystery alive is the magical secret to their success in the travel industry.
After exploring the furthest moias and mixing with a herd of horses at Hanga Kioe, we re-united and make our way back towards Hanga Roa, passing through the now-crowded Tahai area. The few vendors there were doing a brisk business, although their prices were a tad higher than at the harbor.
Now we had time to check out the treasures of the vendor tents, spotting some unique beaded jewelry that had possibilities. Trying not to be impulsive, one of us thought about the selections, and did go back after lunch. By the way, lunch was at the same restaurant we went to last year called Pea. It was noted for upscale Latin-influenced seafood, empanadas, and salads. But they did have more selections. Now the good thing was that it was on HAL's port guide, but was mismarked as to the location. Better, because it would not be overflowing with guests. We were able to choose our table by the railing, where we could watch the green turtles of all sizes rolling up in the strong surf. Difficult to film, we counted five at a time, trying to eat algae near the volcanic rocks. Kids were entering the water here with surfboards and boogie boards, but the turtles seemed indifferent to this.
Anyway, we ordered ice cold Heineken beers in bottles, and added a large BBQ bacon cheeseburger to share. It did come with some deep fried potato slices , so we asked for an order of French fries too. Perfect and tasty. Later, we split a slice of Torta Pea, cake topped with meringue. Also decadent. The sun had come out, but the breeze was most enjoyable while we sat under the roof-covered deck that expanded over the water. It did not come cheap, but then, we rationalized that we did not spend $940 for a tour with a lunch, so we got by good.
We were back at the pier by 4pm with the help of a few more dogs, including one cute puppy. Some folks were just making their way towards town after being dropped off of a tour. They would have a short time to get deeper into the island. At the pier, we all had to get a tender ticket to board a boat back to the ship. Tents had been erected so the waiting passengers were out of the sun and sitting in chairs. That gave us some time to peruse the treasures since we had #14 and they were boarding #10 through #12. It was moving rather quickly at this end, because the tender boat was protected from those impressive waves.
Back at the ship's tender platform, it was a different story. The wait was long as the previous boat had problems off-loading their guests. It had to be done very carefully so the folks would not get hurt. Later on, we did hear of some accidents that cause some people to get injured, but we are not certain where it happened. Once again, the crew were wonderful at assisting every one of us. We bet that all involved with the operations today were going to be glad when this day was over from the sailors to the officers and especially Captain Mercer.
The internet was still not working when we got back to the room. Not a surprise, but perhaps they took this opportunity when most folks were off of the ship to try to fix it. It did come back later in the day, at least for a while.
The sail away was held in the Crow's Nest instead of the aft deck. Most times when we leave a port during the dinner time, there is no organized sail away outside. We went to deck nine and watched while the rest of the late tour folks got back to the ship, and stayed while the tenders were loaded back into their slots. That is quite an operation watching the sailors attempt to hook the boat up to the cables. Dangerous is an understatement here. The ship left shortly after the Captain gave a late talk. We could hear the relief in his voice that we made it to this part of the world, then he gave the predictions for tomorrow's sailing. We could expect much of the same with some occasional showers. Fine with us.
Dinnertime was fun as we all shared stories of the day. Greg and Heo were table-hopping, making our group of five easier to serve. Dinner was a Rapa Nui theme (meaning Easter Island), but the biggest part of that had to be the decorations of a plastic moai with a turquoise light on it as a centerpiece. The chairs had been draped with silver and turquoise covers, making the dining room special. Our waiters were dressed in the tweed vests and top hats, resembling the moai hatted heads we guess.
Entertainment was different tonight with a circus-acrobatic duo, Yuri and Nato, performing in the Mainstage. Most all of us were totally beat, so we did not attend.
A couple more sea days, and we will be making a brief scenic stop at Pitcairn Island, another remote place in the world.
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, February 17, 2020
Report # 102 Easter Island, Chile February 16, 2020 Sunday Chance of thunderstorms & 77 degrees
