Easter Island last night and last morning
here is an entry I wrote somewhere else and just copy it over as yesterday I was not able to log into the blog to do any entries… đ
After the entry yesterday I took some nice pics with the sunset and the moais. On the way back to town I met Hugh with another english guy and together with a guy from Tasmania we had dinner. After dinner Hugh and I played around with our cameras at an illuminated moai. I had some problems as the moai was always overexposed but Hugh told me which settings to use and I have a great pic now with the moon which came out for about 20 seconds (wanted to post that one as well – hopefully tomorrow in French Polynesia).
Woke up last night because it was raining very hard. This morning I didn’t hurry so I heard too late that the holy mass started at 9 so I was 20 minutes late. Still saw most of it and I have to agree to what my swiss colleague said who told me I absolutely had to go there: it is an absolute amazing experience. They sing in Rapa Nui language. Before the holy communion the priest gets a flower bead and in between people shake hands for peace and for one song the took each others hands and so, standing in rows with the linked hands high in the air they sang another Rapa Nui-song. It was one of those goosebump experiences…. absolutely amazing. Then I got my dive stuff and now I am here. Plans for today are going to explore some caves with Patricia (maybe Hugh and Ethan will join us) and then tonight I fly to Tahiti.
But let me tell you a little bit more about the life on Easter Island: Hanga Roa, the only village has 2,000 inhabitants. If someone walks he doesn’t walk for a long as the next car will stop and give them a lift. It is absolutely normal to see riders on the two main streets in town. Usually the stray dogs are chasing them (not sure the dogs like horses… đ ). There are a lot of dogs running around. They are mostly harmless but they can be a nuisance. Yesterday when I went over to watch the sunset there was an american couple who brought a bottle of wine and some food… when the dogs found out they came running and even tried to get the food out of their bag. Not really funny I guess….
What I noticed it that you see Rapa Nui symbols everwhere (like Moais and Birdman) even the church is decorated with them. This shows me that the people here know about their heritage and are proud of it (they can and should be). The people are very friendly BUT it’s not all gold that shines…. life here seems peaceful without any criminality but Patricia told me the other day that they have idiots and the island as well (not her words but mine). When we were at the place having the only Moais facing the sea she showed me a path which was closed with wood. And then she told me that this was the path to her lawn. But as this idiot has closed the path she (as well as other persons owning property over there) is not able to get to her property any more….
All in all life is very laid back and people seem to live their heritage. This island does have a unique and amazing history so it is a good thing they do it. đ And I noticed as well that there are a lot of children playing on the streets or in the front yards. The town does spread out as every house does have some property with a tropical garden.