Post #107369 by tikibars on Mon, Aug 9, 2004 10:35 PM

On 2004-08-09 10:03, christiki295 wrote:
PS - how is staying in the residentials?

We stayed at El Tauke. There was a nice old woman named Victoria running the place, but my Spanish stinks and my Rapanui is prety slim too, so I didn't chat with her much. Her 30-ish son and his wife and adorable little daughter were hanging around a bit too.

The place was L-shaped, with their residence forming one half of the L and four geust rooms in a row with private entrances (like a motel) forming the other half of the L.

The room was about 8 feet square with a tiny bathroom. The room was clean, but there was pretty much no space in there for anything but the bed!

We only had lukewarm water for an hour in the morning, but were told so in advance.

Coffee and fruit were served in the morning in the part of the bulding that was Victoria's home. We didn't indulge, becasue we felt funny at the idea of sittng with her in her home and not really being able to talk to her.

Overall, it was just fine!

I think going to Rapa Nui and staying in a hotel instead of with a local family is a missed opportunity, even if you don't choose to (or can't) get to know the family much.

If you want luxury, you can stay on the LanChile flight and visit Brando's estate in Tahiti... Rapa Nui is an adventure, and roughing it a little, and living among the people, is part of it.

Nothing like "full immersion".