FUN:travel – Easter Island, Chile – Day 3
March 4, 2013 by Susan Clarke
The ABC’s of Chile
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Rano Raraku
Day 28 – Tuesday, February 26 – Easter Island, Chile – thick clouds east, blue skies & sun west, breezy – 80’s
- B – wake up 5:30 & try to go back to sleep
- 7:45 – coffee
- B – 9:00 – go for fruit & sandwich & they stopped breakfast – supposed to be from 8 to 10
- B – 9:45 – hurry up & wait
- A – 10:05 – full day tour w/Kia-Koe
- 1st stop – 10:45 – Rano Raraku Volcano – 300 statues scattered on steep cliffs – 100 inside volcano – good walk around the quarry & up to volcano – this was spectacular and the granddaddy of all the sites!
- 2nd stop – 12:15 – Ahu Tongariki – 15 statues restored on coast
- 3rd stop – One Makihi – crematorium
- 1:30 – picnic lunch @ Rano Raraku
- B – chicken, rice, mixed vegetables & drink costs $25 – overpriced (would have made a sandwich instead)
- 4th stop – Te Pito Kura – more statues unrestored
- 5th stop – 3:00 – Anakena con Ahu Nau Nau – one of 2 sandy beaches on island w/restored statues
Ahu Tongariki
- 4:45 – get dropped in town to walk to Ahu Tehai
- 6:15 – happy hour cerveza @ Te Moana
- 7:15 – dinner on way back to hotel – Kotara again – Japanese curry prawns & red snapper w/stir fry vegetables & rice (same appetizer of raw
fish salad, cucumber, carrot, sweet vinegar dressing – miso soup) – $46
Lesson Learned – Kia-Koe tour cost $135 pp which includes your airport transportation, 2 half day & 1 full day tours with lunch. The Puku Vai Hotel does not mark up the price which some other hotels do. You can ala carte the trip but I recommend you do all three to see the key spots.
FF – (FUN-fact) – There are 887 “moai” stone statues with the biggest at 32 ft high and weighing 82 tons. They were carved with stone chisels between 1100 & 1680 AD and took a team of 5 to 6 men one year to finish. Over half of all the statues are located around the quarry at Rano Raraku.
Not so FF – They charge $1 to use the bathroom at the parks even after you’ve paid $50. I have no intention of paying, walk in and walk out w/out being questioned.
Ahu Nau Nau