Quick facts: Polynesian culture that built stone monoliths called Moai; GPS: -27.148291, -109.430584; GMT-6; Altitude: 32′
This morning I had a chance to sleep in a little with nothing pressing so took advantage of it. When I got up and got ready I had intended to go to a nearby cafe for breakfast but when I got there it wasn’t open. So I walked down Tu’u Koihu Road for a change and went to a place the lady that runs the hotel recommended, Moiko Ra’a.
The setting of this place was nice and they had seating out front near a bunch of plants and flowers. Whenever I start my day coffee is usually the first thing I really want to get and everything else is a nicety. For some reason there are a lot of places that don’t understand when I order coffee, I want it like in the next couple minutes. Not when the food comes or when you get around to it because you have nothing better to do. So it irritates me when I have to ask for coffee more than once. I feel like an ass when I make a point to tell someone to bring it right away but I’m not always confident the waiter gets that it’s important to me. I’ll get off my soapbox, but the service here was not great. The food was ok, but nothing special.
When I finished breakfast I walked around some more looking for that shirt but couldn’t find one. I also intended to find somewhere that could take me snorkeling. While I initially considered going diving I decided not to when I was looking into it because the only thing of interest was the underwater moai that I found out was put there in the 90’s. It felt like a tourist trap and I didn’t want any part of it. There were mixed reviews about several companies but I couldn’t find anything better so I scheduled a tour for tomorrow with Mike Rapa Dive Center.
One thing they did provide me with today was a bike that I rented for 24 hours. This gave me a way to see more of the island quicker than walking. I rode from the harbor in Hanga Roa around the coast and past the airport to my destination of Ahu Vinapu. It took a little over an hour to ride out there but was a nice scenic ride. I made a few stops along the way for water and photos. The only thing that really interested me was looking at the wall of stones shaped and assembled exactly like the ones I saw in Machu Picchu. There is a theory that because of the similarity the Rapa Nui people actually came from South America and more specifically are of Incan descent. Personally I don’t buy this for a second based on every other piece of evidence showing Polynesian origin. But it is interesting and yet another example of something that happens quite frequently called multiple discovery. With not much else to see here I rode back into town.
On the way back I stopped in some stores that I didn’t have a chance to get to since they were a little farther away on foot. These stores closer to the airport were more touristy in my opinion but that turned out to be a good thing because I found one that was close enough.
With my shirt needs met, I made my way back to the harbor and scoped out the little swimming hole to take a dip and cool off from the days activities. I spent about 20 minutes swimming around and playing with the underwater case that I got for my phone in preparation for tomorrow. It was nice but not much to see so I got out and dried off at the nearby restaurant, Pea Restobar, with a michelada.
By the time I was done with my drink I was dry enough to head back to the hotel. I had to get ready for the Te Ra’ai traditional show and dinner I got a ticket to. This place isn’t too far from the hotel, so after getting ready it took about 15 minutes to walk there. I was told to be there at 20:00 and while I got there a little early most people didn’t show up by the shuttle until almost 20:30. On the way in they were painting faces which I would assume is traditional so I went along with it. After a complimentary drink and ceviche spoon they led us into the theater and the show began.
The show was pretty cool to see. I am no expert in Polynesian culture but this show has a lot in common with the one I saw over 20 years ago in Hawaii and therefore not exactly unique. Not to diminish the show by any means, I did enjoy watching it! Afterwards those of us that had the dinner package stayed to eat and the rest left. They brought us out to the back where the pig and other food that was cooking in the ground. All of the ceremony, food, and tradition was given a brief explanation and we were even led in a short dance lesson. I had hoped that dinner would have been served during the show but this was not the case. Dinner was more of a buffet and everything was really good. But then again I would have a hard time turning down ground roasted pig!
By the time dinner was over and they were grouping people to take back to their hotels it had started to rain. Luckily they included transports with dinner and while I didn’t take advantage of it on the way in I really had no desire to get soaked walking back so I was grateful for the lift. A few minutes later I was back at the hotel and getting ready for bed.