Day 14: Easter Island

Day 14:  - Easter Island

Quote of the day: We’re working our way backwards? Damn, it’s good!

Weather:    Ideal, low 70s, mild humidity, soft breezes, intermittent clouds. That’s called “winter” here

Pics:     Too many to enumerate, THB will post the majority separately

Breakfast buffet with real bread (Chile is clearly way ahead of the rest of S. America in this category), mini-cheese scones, and small pancakes layered with strawberries, berry fruit juice.

We start off with the Takahashi’s, though they are opting out of the hiking today. First, more heads on their sides (can THB already be blasé about huge, dramatically carved statues lying around on a very picturesque island?), and then we start a long hike up to the quarry. Basically, we are traveling backwards, from yesterday’s heads on platforms, to ones laying near platforms,  to those that were in transit to platforms, to those near the quarry, to those carved in the quarry and placed upright awaiting either finishing touches or transport,  to finally those carved and still attached to the rock base in the quarry.

Unbelievable! Not the “feeling,” this is just plain unbelievable. How did an island with a maximum of 20k people (and little vegetation or food other than fish and sweet potatoes) carve these immense figures (some 30+ feet tall) out of rock mountains (albeit soft-ish rock) with minimal tools (no jackhammers), move them off the mountain into “holes” (with no cranes) to do the finishing (with no electric grinders), then lift them out of the holes (no cranes) to slide them 3-4 miles (no trailerbed trucks) over rocky ground (no roads) full of volcanic stones (no giant steamrollers) up onto platforms (no cranes, no backhoes, no bad steel bolts), and with life spans that probably averaged around 15 working years (for the men, the women were busy watching the kids and managing the in close food sources). No es posible….

A short walk from the quarry to visit the mini-crater and then back to rush through lunch: ceviche, carpaccio with beets, wagyu beef on lentils (more pot roast than tenderloin), fish, and no time for dessert.

First post-lunch stop: the group of 15, a site restored by the Japanese in the late 1900s (you remember those, right, the Clinton years) after all were toppled (again) after a tsunami hit the island. Afterwards, we split up for the afternoon: A & THB go for a hike with the intern guide and the other four plus the Takahashi’s visit various other spots, all to meet up for a swim on a second-rate Hawaiian beach (complete with palm trees imported from Tahiti). At one point, our guide is talking with the primary guide over the walky-talky (we can see the van about 300 yards away): do A &THB want to take the van to the beach instead of continuing the (pretty dull) hike. In discussing the options with us, we realize our intern is only missing two things: knowing how much longer the hike takes in time and distance and, even if he did know, how to tell us in either Spanish or English.  Other than that, he’s right on top of it…meaning, he knows where the path is, after that he’s lost. Good news: it’s a very small island AND he has a walky-talky.

We hike on, and the van driver meets us partway to cut down the time it takes to get us to the beach. The water is warm, clear and refreshing.

Back to the Explora to freshen up and get that pre-dinner Pisco Sour and duck appetizer.

Now for a little bit of gossip: While enjoying our pre-game snacks, we are near a group of Russians: four men playing a card game that involves a number of toasts (glasses clinking all around) and numerous re-orders of rums and appetizers (the cokes don’t seem to be drunk, they are just for show). At some point, two women show up and are greeted by two of the men. The women do not appear to be drinking. We finish our drinks and head in to dinner. There is a single woman at a table set for 8 (we saw her alone at breakfast his morning at the same table). She has two drinks in front of her, along with dinner. A little while later, a third drink appears. Then the four men join her, along with three women. The single woman gets up shortly and leaves. Now there are seven at the table. Que paso? It turns out that today’s flight back to Santiago was cancelled; the Russians (who we really hadn’t noticed until this afternoon) are having to spend an extra night! They are going to enjoy themselves (and drain the Explora of rum and maybe later vodka). At least one of the guys orders an extra meal. Maybe food will be gone too? The next morning, the Russians are gone: LAN has flown in a plane specifically to rescue those marooned from yesterday. They left early, and their bag pull woke up S&A and M&P at 6am (we’re at the far end of the resort because we wanted a king bed and this was where we were transferred to). We learn from the front desk that the Russians were a) upset they lost their business class seats on the rescheduled flight (the replacement plane must have been a different style), b) they had paid for three nights and were originally scheduled to stay only two, so the third night was already covered and c) they were three couples, one extra guy, and the woman drinking alone was their interpreter (she never smiled…tough job!).

Dinner of onion soup, ceviche on top of a sweet potato, duck leg on sweet corn mash, fish, salads, molten chocolate cake and crème brulee done Catalan style and another late harvest sauvignon blanc. Other than the desserts, this seems like the least successful meal so far at Explora.