Easter Island- last morning

The animal kingdom here isn't cooperating at all with my sleep. The night before last I woke to barking dogs for quite some time, and last night it happened again. Only it sounded like a large pack that ran very close to the house. They started with barking but then started howling like a wolf pack hunting.. It was really unnerving The dogs woke the @#$% roosters who started right around 3:30 and even got the sheep to rally. [sigh]

The airline strike with LAN starts tomorrow so I'm glad our planned date was to leave today. It has been amazing here overall. I'm thrilled with the place we stayed (except for the night life!) I think three days would have been enough but it was nice to relax for a day. Enjoying a lazy morning of packing and getting ready.

Was debating going to the post office to have my passport stamped but decided not to-- no one will see it anyways. Chris and Stacey got one, and they show three of the Moai heads. They are on our flight returning to the mainland, then tomorrow head to Mendoza, Argentina for more wine and malbec. Yum. The young two from our day tour (from Germany and Switzerland) were scheduled to fly out tomorrow. I wonder if we'll see them or if they are taking their chances and are staying longer. They don't have a time constraint as they both have months left on their trip so they may stay.

We fly back this afternoon to Santiago and arrive at 9 pm. Get a car to one night for an apartment with the last owner (hopefully this one is better, and he said he upgraded us to a 2 bedroom as we requested a one.) Then the bus to Valparaiso, which I'm excited to see. Our guide in Santiago said it's his favorite city, and knocking off another Unesco World Heritage Site. I'm excited to see it! We'll get our workouts in as it's a very hilly city.. it has three funiculars, so you know there's some height!

We just learned the strike isn't LAN but the air traffic controllers in Chile. So all airports are impacted. Apparently they are fighting for retirement benefits (ability to retire by a certain age for the work they do.) We are scheduled to leave on the 18th so hopefully we won't be impacted-- but if we are, better to be on the mainland where we may have more options to return home when the strike lets up.

Camilla stopped by with our boarding passes. She is so sweet. She loves living here but does miss shopping. She came here on holiday just over a year ago and met a guy she liked. Nothing happened, and she went home but they kept in touch. In December she came back here for a few weeks, then went back to Santiago, quit her job, packed up her life and moved here with her boyfriend. Her mother is really unhappy about it. They are flying back for a few days in October for her to see her Grandmother and for her family to meet him. It's so nice to talk with her to understand how living here is.

Easter Island Day 4

We expected it to rain all day but it didn't. It was overcast this morning and the rain held out until we were walking home.

We were both feeling sluggish and tired from being on the go for the last 8 days or so with little rest. And I was woken to the sound of a large group of dogs barking around 3 then the roosters kicked in, and they woke Kim too. So we took most of a day of rest, reading, trying to upload pictures (with some slight success.) It was cool and nice out so we sat on our porch a while.

A large family came at around 2, dropped off by a shuttle. There are no open places here (only three cabins in total anyways). Staff is here until 1-2 and then they leave, so we saw them calling. Apparently Marae has two locations, and the other is a building by the beach. The driver took them to the wrong one as Vero said she was waiting for them there when we saw her this evening. The group all started laughing, so apparently they realized the error that they were dropped at the wrong place. The bus came back shortly after, so I'm sure Vero called.

I'm not sure if she manages or owns the place. She's as nice as Camilla and the service here has been so wonderful. She drives an FJ Cruiser so clearly is doing well for herself.

We decided to go to Ahu Tahai, a ceremonial complex right near the town. On the way we stopped in a shop to buy some statues but her credit card machine wasn't charged and she asked us to come back.

We then went to Ahu Tahai and it was really beautiful. First there were a bunch of large stones with petroglyphs carved on them. It's interesting to see them as I have seen a lot of petroglyphs in Utah and these are three dimentional and not just etchings. A lot of faces and shapes that were beautiful, all overlooking lava rock cliffs. We then got to the complex which had an ahu of 7-8 statues, and then a single one with the eyes in it. That's the first one we have seen with eyes and it's kind of creepy, honestly! There was a lot to see in this area. At this time it got sunny and was quite humid so we took our time exploring. We saw several 'chicken houses' there as well and what looked like a very old boat ramp between the two areas of moai.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahu_Tahai

We decided to go to dinner on this side of town, at a place Camilla suggested called La Kalenta. We tried to go for lunch there with Stacey and Chris and it was closed, so we tried again and were successful. Apparenly they serve drinks until 6 pm at which point they serve dinner too, so we enjoyed watching the waves crash up on the lava rocks and the mini beach of sand, and watched several surfers dancing on the waves. The cargo ship is still docked there.

Unfortunately the waves moved back in so we were unable to view the sunset from here. This restaurant is next door to the place we went last night, so the views would have been wonderful. Guess it wasn't meant to be. And given that an airline strike is starting on the 15th, I don't want to even say that I wish we could have seen the sunset from this area as we'll get stuck! 3-4 days is enough. I suppose we could have rented a car and done some exploring or the other small beach, but we're a bit moai'd out.

Dinner was wonderful. Kim got crab tortelini in fresh-made black pasta with a cream sauce. I got tuna over sweet potatoes, which were purple. I got a pisco sour which was interestingly made of lime (instead of lemon) and had a sugar rim.

We went back to the shop to get our statues, and walked to a small ice cream shop that Stacey told us about and got small cones. Kim wanted to get some soda, at which time the floodgates opened. Thankfully I grabbed her umbrella and she had a water resistant coat with a hood. So much for not packing wet clothes in our suitcases! We took advantage of the lovely drying rack provided and hopefully with some breeze in the little room outside (it has wood slats and open areas for the breeze to come through) our clothes may be dry.

We will get picked up tomorrow at 12:30. The airport is literally a five minute walk so thankfully there's only one flight in and out a day!

This island is definitely worth seeing and taking a tour to see the moai is the way to go to get the history. Apparently there have been some new finds including a kneeling moai, but it's not on this tour. And I had been told that some have been found with the bodies under the ground but it sounds from our guide yesterday that that's because of the elements washing sand up around the statue and not that they were buried. All were on platforms with the entire moai exposed.. those partly underground we saw at the quarry mostly and that was from the elements.

Good night!!
s

Easter Island Day 3

We had a kitty visitor last night at our place. I know, I know, but he was super cute and friendly. A medium-haired black cat and he was very playful and affectionate and wore a little red collar with a bell. We first saw him chasing bugs, then when he saw us he ran over to do figure 8's around our legs. I sat down and he jumped right up on my lap. Oh I know, but he was cute! I gave him some of my leftover wahu and he was quite happy.

After waiting for 40 minutes, we gave up on the shuttle picking us up to take us to the dance show, Te Ra'ai. Ten minutes later, it arrived on 'island time' apparently, similar to Hawaii. It was a five minute ride to the place we were going to. We were ushered into a large room where maybe 30 other people were finishing their dinner. We had been told that we wouldn't be back in time for the dinner, but apparently that wasn't the case. All good as we got great pisco sours and dinner last night.

They served a drink of papaya juice and some liquor that wasn't very good and we paid for the show. One of the dancers came around to paint our faces with a light tan-colored paint, then we were ushered into the 'theater.' It seated maybe 50 and we were now around 40, so the room was mostly filled. There was a band at the back of the stage of 6 and the main presenter who introduced the dance as a one-hour telling of the history of the island. Of course, one hour isn't a lot of time, but they would describe through words, song and dance the highlights. 

The women all wore bikinis essentially, of shells and feathers and the men were similarly attired. Kim pointed out that the 'master of ceremony' apparently had a slight wardrobe malfunction. Ahem. 

It was beautifully done. the Master spoke in Spanish and English. The dancing was stunning.. some chanting and war dancing, beautifully choreographed and executed mostly, except the one guy who kept goofing up and they would all look at him and giggle. It just added to the show. The women did a lot of belly dancing and one really was quite amazing. They all also had the paint on their faces and bodies. The shuttle took us back and we were glad to have taken in as it was very dark with no lights on the road and we were quite tired from the day. It was around 11 pm or so.

Hello sheep. Hello roosters!

They woke up a touch earlier than I would have liked, but again, didn't bother me too much. And I still giggle over the sheep sounding like a cranky old man. I made a cup of tea and enjoyed the quiet. Well, quiet with sheep and roosters.

We got picked up promptly at 9:30, though we weren’t ready as we were told yesterday to expect to be picked up at ten. Whoops. Rosita was our guide.

First we went to the Rano Kau volcano, the largest on the island. The crater is 1.5 km in diameter. This volcano was the second to erupt on the island, around 2.5 million years ago. The last eruption was around 180k years ago. It’s 300 meters above sea level and the lake in the caldera is around 200m down. It’s made of fresh water from rain and has a lot of growing reeds.

https://www.google.cl/search?q=orongo&es_sm=119&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CDYQsARqFQoTCIS-muTP8scCFcyRkAodraMETg&biw=1132&bih=599

Avocado, figs, grapes were all introduced and grow in the caldera as there is a microclimate with the right temperature and humidity. There is a beautiful view of Hanga Roa, the town.

We could also see the airport. LAN is the only airline to fly to the island and it was created as an emergency plan for the space shuttle.

The island is very small, and 24 km x 16 km.

We can see a cargo ship in the harbor from Valparaiso. It takes 8-10 days to get here, and cruse ships from Valpo take around 6 days. We see a new hospital on the island as well. There is only general medicine provided.

The ground is glittering with obsidian, shiny black think volcanic glass. It was often used to make the moai pupils and arrowheads.

Orongo is a ceremonial village near the top of the volcano and was used only for ceremony, not for living in. It was built in around the 15^th and 16^th century. Rano Kau is considered sacred. We went through a very modern ranger’s station over a trail to see three small islands by the side of the volcano. Moto Nui is the big island, Moto Hi the small, and Moto Kau kau the tall and pointy one.

Orono was built as a center for religious and political ceremony. This was where the Birdman settlement was and chiefs, priests and warriors, the ‘important people’ comed to live for a few weeks every September. Their small homes were reconstructed at the top, with a small low entry door on one side. The houses were reconstructed by an American archaeologist William Malloy between 1974 and 1976. Half of one was left open so people can view the construction.

There are a lot of clouds coming in and the wind picked up making it very cold at this high place. The top of the hill is all very bright green, and there are stones littering the area of the homes that were once there and weren’t reconstructed.

The Birdman clan arrived in September from the villages throughout the island. The chiefs chose their best warriors for the competition. They climbed down the Kari Kari depression into Ranu Kau, cut some of the reeds, constructed a float and swam to the big island (Moto Nui) to await the migratory birds, the sooty tern. The first to find an egg called to the Chief. Orongo, means to hear. The chief heard the call letting him know his warrior found an egg. The chief then prepared for the ceremony by shaving his head for purity.

The warrier put the egg in a basket tied on his head to swim back. He climbed the cliffs to return to the tip. Petroglyphs are here telling the story. The warrior then presents the egg to the priest, and the priest presents it to the Chief at sunset. The winning chief became the birdman.

After the ceremony, the Birdman was taken in a caravan with singing and dancing back to their holy place. If the tribe was on the east of the island, they stayed nearby. And if the tribe was on the west of the island, they went to Anakena Beach. The priest and chief were in seclusion for one year and the priest cared for the Birdman, who was considered a sacred person.

This religious ceremony was in honor of Maki, the most important God. It was political as well as the winning tribe controlled the island for one year.

The Birdman tribes rules from the end of the Moai period around the 17^th century to 1864 when the French Catholic missionary arrived and converted the island to Christianity.

1 Moai was found in one of the houses buried halfway. It had petroglyphs on the back and stands 2 meters high. There was a platform/Ahu where it used to sit before it was moved inside, likely due to the wars. It was given by the island chiefs as a gift to an English expedition and was taken to be housed in a museum in England.

There is a path down the side of the caldera that is a source of water for the village. There is only enough water in the village for drinking and bathing, so women used to ride horses to the caldera to do their wash. Rosita said her mother did it when she was young, so it was as recent as 50 years. Young men stull go down to get fern roots that grow there, and take it to the ladies who make meds of it. The roots are said to treat cancer and diabetes (Matua pua.) Maybe that’s why they only have general medicine here..

The houses were made of thin strips of stone laid over each other. The rocks were cut in slab by a hard basalt stone.

We next went to the Vinapu area with two sites, both in ruins. Each site had a village nearby and foundations of ancient ruined houses and cooking pits. The moai represented chiefs as people worshipped the ancestors.

The second ahu had a wall towards the water at the back of the ahu, built similarly to the Inca style where large rocks were carefully fitted together without mortar. An anthropologist used this to support his belief that the people on the island came from South America. He tried to support his theory building a boat of a wood platform with reeds and rope. It took him 101 days to arrive on some islands, but he couldn’t get to Easter Island due to the currents. The boat was mostly destroyed except for the wood platform (contiki boat). Most likely the two waves of migration to the island were Polynesian. They used the stars, currents, migratory birds, fish, and even the color of clouds to navigate. They went against the wind so they could go back with the wind if they ran into trouble. It’s now believed that they may have made it to Peru and came back and built the wall. The walls are similar to those in Peru though much more symmetrical and not as thick.

This ahu was one of the last built on the island. It was one of the largest built but in ruins now. The first we saw was built around 1280.

On the south side of the island viewable from these ahu, we could see red cliffs and the stone made to use the ‘top knot’ hair for the Moai. It’s raining there and a light mist moved in.

We saw a statue entirely of red of a woman at the front of the second ahu. You could see a faint outline of eyes. When the eyes were done, the spirit of the ancestors inhabit the moai and they have mama, or spirit.

We were dropped off in town and had lunch at Kuki Varui with the couple from Arizona. I got kana kana, a local white fish, also similar to swordfish and a mango sour, which wasn’t very good. The lunch was great though, and we all enjoyed it.

We walked up the street to see the church then walked back down the main road. A poor female dog was surrounded by males, and as we got closer, we saw the poor thing was stuck to one. Hopefully she can extract herself.

We walked back past the ice cream place the Arizonans raved about and it was closed. So we decided to stop at the market, also closed. It doesn’t bode well for tomorrow, Sunday. On the way we saw a cute puppy sitting in a doorway. She followed us for a while and we thought she would leave, but she came all the way home. I gave her my leftovers from the first meal here and Kim’s too and she scarfed it. She’s really skinny.

After seeing the poor female dog in the town, kim walked her back to her house. She had to fight off several dogs bothering her and she was very happy to run into the restaurant doorway where we saw her. After seeing the poor female dog today Kim didn’t want to leave her to walk back herself and it sounds like it was a good thing she didn’t.

I had told Camilla that it’s Kim’s birthday today and asked her to call the restaurant we’re going to tonight to see if they will do a cake. She left a note in the place that they don’t but they will sing happy birthday and we can bring a cake. She left two beautiful flowers on the table and a small package with three beautiful cards of moai and horses for Kim, which was so thoughtful.

This restaurant has beautiful sunsets, but with it drizzling and overcast, I don’t think we will be lucky. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so unfortunately, tonight is our best chance. The LAN office closed mid-day today so we couldn’t get there in time. Camilla said she called and thinks we are ok to leave on the 14^th. Thankfully!

I took a short nap now that our farm friends are quieter. I didn't sleep really as I am so cold, and decided to give in and have one of the nescafe's that was here. I think the coffee maker is for show as I didn't see one thing of regular coffee or filters. 

We walked back to the center of town past the church to get to our restaurant for tonight. It is one Camilla recommended with the best sunset view. Unfortunately the  weather isn’t cooperating but I thought that would be nice for Kim’s birthday dinner. The place was wonderful! We started off with some great drinks and ordered the fish of the day (which was a choice of two.) One is a whole fish—I don’t do whole fish as they stare back at me accusingly and it skeeves me out. So I got the other one, which again was kind of like swordfish though a little flakier.

Both dishes were amazing. Mine was with a mustard sauce and on a pile of stir-fried veggies and I was in heaven. I eat a lot of veggies at home and haven’t been able to get much here. Kim’s was in a coconut milk sauce and on top of ‘mashed potatoes’ which were crunchy fried cakes. I got a drink of the day which was blue and fun, and we got dessert of caramel crepes (which was more like caramel pudding and not as good as Sur Patagonica) and a cake with meringue frosting. The cake was the better of the two though we thought it would be like tres leches cake and was a bit different. Yum. Very good meal and felt like a better value than the last place we went to, which was a bit pricy.

We walked back to help walk off some of our dinner, fat and happy, and went to bed.

I had a night like Kim did last night.. woken at 3 by a bunch of dogs barking, then the roosters schemed to keep me awake and I never got back to sleep. Last night Kim was kept up by the guys working at the house behind us, who stopped at 9 but then apparently partied until 2. Oh well!

Today will be a mellow day. It was supposed to rain most of the day so we figured we may hunker in a bit and venture out at drier times. It looks like blue skies so we’ll see. We’re both really tired from the last few days with little break. Apparently we walked around 8 miles the day of the full-day tour so we are definitely getting our exercise in.

Good morning sheep. I won’t greet the roosters as I am annoyed with them at the moment, especially not having coffee.

Easter Island Day 2

I woke at 730 and it was pitch black out. Interestingly the sun started coming up around 8 and seemed to finish its ascent in 15 minutes. I woke to the roosters calling, and heard them for hours but they seemed to integrate in my dreams as they didn’t bother me. A group chills right under my window.

At around 8 the roosters woke our friendly neighbor sheep, and they started bleating, sounding like old man saying, ‘ehhhhh…’ I giggle every time, though suspect that may get old. We can see now why the tour starts at 9:30 as it’s so dark until then! The horses near us apparently just woke up too and now the three groups are all singing in tandem. Thankfully it still makes me giggle.

It’s so nice to be in a real shower that isn’t scary like the place in Santiago. Hot water, good water pressure. This place is well maintained with wood on the ceilings and some walls, some stucco and some tile. The bathrooms look fairly reacently done in a nice tile. It’s lovely after the last place and refreshing to take a shower and feel cleaner upon leaving!!

Had some leftover wahu for breakfast (it’s not very fishy and actually has a consistency of chicken, kind of.) We’ll be gone all day and I’ll need the protein. We purchased a lunch so curious what they will bring, and made some hard boiled eggs last night. Given that I need to limit my wheat, I suspect lunch will be a sandwich, and at $25 USD each, better be a very good one.

They wanted us to pay in USD so that drains the money we have. Hoping we can do the half tour another day and pay in Chilean pesos. There is a tour to the extinct volcano and cave with lots of petroglyphs that I want to see. Another half day tour goes to a few more of the Moai sites. I had thought the full-day was the same as the two half days, but guess not. Anyways, excited to hike around the moai today and I am so ready to see them! So is the sheep, apparently!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moai

I forgot to mention our funny airport security experience yesterday. They checked our passport when we checked in but didn’t check it when we went through security, only looked at our boarding pass. Then when we got to the gate, they checked it twice. So anyone can walk in through security, but only the correct people can get onto the plane. Interesting!

We went outside our place at 9:30 when we were supposed to be picked up and saw Camilla. She is so sweet and gave us each a hug and kiss and greeted us warmly. She offered to arrange the show with pickup/dropoff tonight for us. The bus was supposed to get us at 9:30 but picked us up at 10—island time I guess.

Our driver was Christian and his English was very good. He’s a native Rapa Nui. The day was simply amazing! And the Arizona couple we saw at the airport wearing ASU attire was on the tour.

We drove on the coastal road and saw what appeared to be many outlines of ruined homes. We saw a boat house, which looked like and upturned boat with the roof on (we saw the reconstructed walls.) the buildings were made of basalt, and the roof of dried grass.

Rapa Nui was populated by two waves of Polynesian immigration between 400 and 800 AD. The first wave was called the ‘long ears’ as they extended their ear lobes, and the second called ‘short ears.’ The long ears were the ruling class and the short ears the working class.

The island was covered in trees but gradually deforested. The trees were several types of palms, one of which is now extinct. They were cut down and believed to be used to transport the Moai, the large head sculptures the island is known form.

The people who came brought sugar cane, chicken, sweet potatoes (first immigration). Around 800 the Moai Cult, or Ancestors Cult, took control of the island. Between 800 and 1600 AD over 900 statues were built, 250 were on ahu (platforms). They had pucaos (sp?) representing red hair. The locals died their hair red. They were not hats as is often believed. The Ahu are often burial places so it’s forbidden to go close. The Rapa Nui believed in life after death, and the Moai represented the souls of the dead.

At the end of the 1600s there were 20k people on the island, but it quickly decreased due to shrinking resources and starvation. This is when the Moai cult ended and war began. People toppled the statues, who were placed facing in to the families they were to protect. Now any moai standing were resurrected, as all were toppled.

Currently over 7k live here on the island. 4k are ‘native’ Rapa Nui and the rest are mostly from Santiago, though some are ‘foreigners’. Most of the people on the island are related, so people do go to the mainland to find someone to marry. They also go to university there as none are on the island. Most go 2-3 times a year for supplies as well. Chile does help with scholarships.

The eyes are the most important part of the statues and are carved when the statues are upright, so if there are no eyes, the statue was never upright.

There are over 4000 caves. We got to see one that was man-made, though most are natural and created by volcanic activity. These were used extensively as hiding places during the war. In 1722 the Dutch were the first here. They stole a lot from the island, so when James Cook came, locals hid in the cave. Clearly used to visitors not having good intentions.

We went to the ruins of Aka Hanga first, and it was in ruins. There were some moai by the water and an ahu in two areas. Aka Hanga is the the largest restored ahu. It’s a bit inland but you can still see the water in the background. One of the Moai has the “hair” on top of its head. The area was reconstructed by a Japanese company as the ahu was destroyed in 1960 by a tsunami that washed the stones over 200 meters inland. The Japanese co paid over $2.5 million for the restoration, and supplied the cranes for the work. 33 Statues and Ahus were found in this area. There is a terrace under the ahus for decoration, and they always have them. The water is glorious shades of teal and navy and we were there around an hour to view the area.

Next was Tonariki.

The royal family ruled until 1600 when the war started, and most were killed. The people decided to start a democracy of sorts and a competition started for people to compete for rulership. The first census was done in 1877 and there were only 111 people left. Many were removed for the slave trade (over 5k people in the mid-1800s).

Next we went to the quarry, Rano Raraku. There are 300 to 400 statues outside the crater and around 100 inside. The bodies are now buried due to the elements, however they were not originally. The Moai are actually heads and bodies, and not just the heads we know them as. This place was amazing, to see the heads in various forms all laid out and standing in different areas, scattered on the side of the volcano. We saw hare moa (?) which is a reproduction of a ‘chicken house.’ It was entirely stone with an opening  in the center, and where chickens were stored overnight. It took 1-2 years to carve each moai.

Caldera in Rano Raraku quarry

After we walked around half of the volcano, the guide said we could walk around to the quarry. It took around ten minutes and at first the earth was all a rust-brown color. At the top there was a large pond with tall grasses inside. On the side of the caldera were a bunch of carved moai in various stages of development. It was amazing. There were some trees for shade and a lovely breeze.

We walked back down and got lunch. Let’s just saw it wasn’t worth the $25 USD, except we did get to feed the skinny cats and dogs with the leftovers. The cats circled under the table and surprisingly ate the veggies, and the chicken bones were tossed to the three dogs by the staff there. One was pregnant, poor thing. Chicken bones isn’t good for them, but living here, they learn to survive.

There was a small area to buy things. 

We sat next to two young people on the van and I recognized they were speaking German. She is from Germany and in school to study medicine, and he is from Switzerland on a break. He is 28 (I would have guessed 23) and left school to work, and saved up for five years for this trip. He is doing it for a year (halfway through now) through central and south America. She is three months in, and doing south America and Asia. He said when he returns he has to finish his year in the army service, then will decide what he will do. They had just met in Santiago but seemed to really enjoy each other. They were cute. 

The couple from Arizona is fun and we talked with them a lot. They live fairly close to me. They went to Santa Cruz for wine, and are going to Mendoza, Argentina after, also for wine. They do a short stay in Santiago before returning to the US.

The next site was Te Pito Kura. It was a small site with one fallen statue, and is believed to have been the last one toppled and one of the largest. In 1786 the French disembarked here. We saw a lot of ruins of homes here.

Rapa Nui means Big World, and is believed to have been the new name as of around 1800.

Our last stop was Anakena Beach. It’s one of two sandy beaches on the island and beautiful. The contrast of the light sand, the large lava rocks sprinkling the beach and the teal and turquioise waters was stunning. There is a large hill of a bright green, and back a ways two ahus. One was very small and the other was large and recreated with 15 moai, many of which with the rock on their heads representing hair. We were here an hour and it was so beautiful to walk around. The water was quite cold so we won’t be beaching it! There were a bunch of cute little restaurant huts, and we got a drink with the AZ couple.

Christian told us that there is an airline strike starting on the 15th. We fly out on the 14th but he suggested we check with the LAN office to make sure we can leave. We will do that tomorrow.

We drove back and were dropped off in town so we could stop to get some cash, and went back to the restaurant we went to yesterday as Christian told us they have the best pisco sours. I got the ceviche which turned out to be tuna and simply amazing! Kim got breaded shrimp and liked it. We walked back to our place to write, rest and change for a show tonight. We arranged transport. Getting downtown only takes 10-15 minutes, but we are tired and unsure where we are going so it seemed a good idea.

The roosters and sheep greeted us with song. And more song. We found a papaya left on our table as a gift, which is lovely. I really do adore this place and the service provided.

We get picked up at 8:30 (ish, I think) then go to the show, so I will write about that tomorrow. We are doing a half-day tour tomorrow to Orono, the other caldera on the island and one that I read a bit about. Instead of doing the other half-day tour to see more Moai, we may tour a bit on our own. We’ll see how we feel tomorrow.

Cheers!