Arriving on Easter Island can be a shock to the senses. The warm tropical breeze hits you as you get off the plane and walk to the terminal. The sweet scent of the island helps to make you aware that you are no longer in Santiago.
Rapa-Nui is part of Chile, islanders speak Spanish and their local language. Everyone is very friendly and helpful which is great for the English speaking traveler. As with an trip things can happen. Before arriving on the island make sure that you know the name of the local travel company if you have booked transfers or tours. If they don't show up at the airport someone else will help you contact them. Taxis are a common form of transportation and numerous, but don't expect them to speak English. Take your hotel name with you and find out what the trip should cost from someone else so there is no confusion. The taxi´s do not have meters. If you are in town just look for a vehicle with orange symbols or footprints running down the side of the vehicle as they are taxi cabs.
When booking a hotel try to figure out where it is located. Most people on the island live in the town which is spread out. You can find hostel to five star spa hotels. We choose a small Polynesian Hotel out of town. The room was very basic but had a small kitchen so we could cook. The shower was hot and the linens were changed daily. Breakfast was a basket delivered to your room each morning which reminded me of the Cook Islands. Only difference we did not get fresh coconut or papaya. Coconut is not common on the island but the pineapple was fabulous.
If you walk to town from the hotel it takes about 45 minutes but a taxi only cost $3000 pesco´s. The advantage of being out of town was that it was quiet any time of the day. In the evening the breeze would cool down the room and we were able to leave our windows open. Accommodation is expensive on the island especially during festival. One girl told us that she had just found a bed in a dorm room that accommodates 4 people for $60 US per night. The girl at front desk of our hotel was exceptional. She spoke very good English and made excellent suggestions she even helped us solve our travel issues.
Shopping for food can be interesting on the island. There are a lot of small stores along the main Street. We would start in the largest store but would find depending on the day and time there would be very little available. We would see what they had and then make a decision on what would work. Most of the time fresh produce consisted on onions, lemons and tomatoes. A better choice is to go to the street market in the morning as you can get just about anything. For a better variety stop at the gas station store. In this store there is more variety but the cost is slightly higher. If one store does not have bread go to the next store as they will probably have a supply. Bread is fresh daily and is a round bun. Buying food is a great way to understand how the people live on the island.
If you go to Easter Island the first fifteen day of February expect the island to be very busy. This is there busiest time because it is Tapati Festival. The Tapati Festival is a competition between two groups of people each group supports the nomination of one queen. There are competitions for the selection of the Queen and points are warded at each competition. The competitions feature Rapa-Nui cultural traditions. During our stay we saw body painting/tattoo, wood carving, tapa cloth making, traditional dress being modeled, singing contests and Tango Rapa-Nui style. The Triathlon was very interesting this involved canoeing across the lake in a reed boat, then carrying two bunches of bananas around a crater, running half way around the crater on a higher elevation and last using only your hands across the lake on the reed boat.
Running the crater with two bunches of Bananas.
Paddling across the lake in the quarry crater on reed canoes part of the triathlon.
Good by to Rapi-Nui with found memories.
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