With a 9:00am tour, we wanted to get up in plenty of time to get some coffee. Our glamping dome didn’t serve breakfast until 8:30, but was nice enough to pack us some brown bag breakfasts….which contained several rolls and muffins, an apple, several other smaller items….and a can of Marley brand matcha. As someone who doesn’t normally eat breakfast all this fuss was nice, but waaay more food than I’m used to. Another plus to the glamping place: a huge breakfast to start your day off!
While snacking on it, the offender who tried to wake us up every morning starting around 4am wandered by….
Took the shortish walk to Mahina Tours, where our group was just assembling for the day. We had an actual small bus, and there would be 20 or so of us doing the full day tour. Strange tour group, in that even by the end of the day nobody was the least bit chatty, and meeting other people was quite difficult.
First stop of the day was way off to the other side of the island on the east, Rano Raraku, where the vast majority of moai were carved out of the volcano before being transported to other parts of the island. This has been determined by scientists based on their mineral composition being the same as the rock on the volcano, but nobody has any idea how these many ton statues were transported. Personally, I’m buying into the aliens theory.
When we got to Rano Raraku, it was off on a guided hike of the moai that were still hanging around the site. We hiked for about an hour, and our guide for the day gave a really complete explanation in spanish, followed by about 75% of the same information in Spanish. You definitely got a little more out of it if you understood Spanish, but the English part of the tour was great as well.
Right, with no further ado, moai #1 of the hike:
Bunch of moai, you know, just hanging around. Note all the lichen on many of them:
The side of the volcano was literally covered with them…most looking out towards the ocean:
Perfect lighting:
After the hike and more moai than I could count, we had about 30 minutes of free time, and we used it to climb up the side of the volcano so we could see the crater lake. This volcano wasn’t nearly as high as the previous one, and we were rewarded with a nice view nonetheless:
After that it was back in the bus for the short 10 minute ride to the coast, and one of the most impressive lineups of moai on Easter Island: Ahu Tongariki.
I really wanted to get a picture with all of them, but despite being there nearly 45 minutes people would go and stand in front for like 10 minutes…and hold long conversations, despite multiple people asking them to move. Every country visited, and I’m still amazed just how many people are so inconsiderate of others.
Right, that said, I took my pic in a minute and got out of the way:
Well-worth waiting 45 minutes to get this shot:
After Ahu Tongariki it was approaching 1pm, so we were back in the bus for the ride back to town and Mahina Tour’s headquarters where lunch was served. It was nothing fancy (juice, grilled chicken leg, rice, cabbage, etc) but was definitely better than expected, and more than enough to get us through the tour. Getting artsy with some flowers out in front of their building while waiting for everyone to get back on the bus:
Final stops of the day were on the north part of the island, with amazing views to the ocean:
A magnetic rock…don’t ask me…but for some reason they felt it really important to show us. A bit of a let-down after all the moai!
Our final stop was Anakena, a beach on the north part of the island. It might have been fun to go for a swim (although the water would have been freezing cold) but we opted just to walk around and enjoy. We’d considered the hike/walk from Anakena back to town on our last day, but it would be around 6-8 hours, and we weren’t convinced we’d see anything that new or unusual so decided to skip it. Right, the beach:
Another moai platform at Anakena….bright sun made for not the best pic, but I do like how they were throwing shadows from the sun right behind:
Stop was a bit longer than it needed to be if you weren’t swimming, but the great tourist hoards had been planned for, and there were a couple of cafes on the beach. We decided to enjoy a beer while we waited, and quickly made some new friends:
The tour was excellent, and since we had no plans the next day we decided to book another half day tour with them the following morning. We hiked back down the beach for sunset, but unfortunately it was super clouded over, so we weren’t able to really get many good pictures.
We also hadn’t made dinner plans, so ended up at the highest rated place on TripAdvisor on our walk back: Neptune Island. First, we were a little concerned because the restaurant was empty. Empty as in we were the only people in the huge restaurant the whole two hours we were there.
But, the food definitely lived up to its billing. I went with the seafood curry as recommended on TripAdvisor, and it was absolutely amazing…as was the quinoa “risotto.” Both were unique and delicious, and I’m glad we tried it despite breaking the usual rule of don’t eat anywhere that nobody else is!
…and as the meal was ending, they came by with “traditional” headdresses and insisted that we put them on and take a pic. Despite protesting they were having none of it:
Back to the dome for an early night, and we had the pleasure of a “pet” in our bathroom…who would hang around for the next two days:
Off to bed…lots of moai and another tour for our last full day the next day!