Rapa Nui - Easter Island - Isla de Pascua pt 1 an introduction to the island

 I've always been intrigued by the mysteries of Rapa Nui or Easter Island as most people know it - how did they carve and move those huge statues and what happened to the people of the island? And probably questions I didn't know that I had. Rapa Nui is so far away I didn't think I would ever get there. Well never say never. After a couple of days in Santiago and a roughly five hour flight, I landed on Rapa Nui to be greeted by the tour operator and was whisked away to Takarua Lodge; okay, maybe not whisked but transported over some bumpy roads and given a little rout of the island as we dropped other visitors off at their lodgings. The lodge had a view of the ocean and several Moai in a configuration known as Tahai, which I could walk along any time I wanted, or just sit on my little patio and stare dreamily, or listen to the flock of chickens, or is it a gaggle, clucking and crowing, 

breakfast delivered every morning

The lodge is a twenty minute walk or so from town, and I walked in along the path by the Tahai, just blown away by my proximity to the Moai and other stone carvings. The walk was a little rocky and in my advanced years I get super paranoid about twisting an ankle, but now I had to also worry about stepping or falling in horse pucky. I found a little place to eat and had some noodles and chicken and the best lemonade and just hung out. Some people do speak English, a lot do not, but that really didn't get in the way of eating or enjoying Hanga Roa, the town; sign language, smiling, pointing to things, my horrible self taught Spanish and some very kind residents willing to try their English helped a lot. It always interests me when non native English speakers get embarrassed about their pronunciation or vocabulary, and their Engish is WAY better than my Spanish. It's actually led to some pretty fun exchanges as we try to communicate. It is one of the things I love about traveling. 

When you look at the carvings on the Moai and the monuments, hopefully you can see the details, like on the Moai some have ears, hands, 'tattoos'. 

 

The Tahai, and the lodge, face west, so if the clouds cooperate, you can get an amazing sunset, and everyone comes out to watch, even the horses and dogs. My first day was wonderful and restful and I was excited for what the next few days would bring.