Iorana Rapa Nui!

I am at the Santiago Chile airport waiting to board the plane for Rapa Nui! The hotel is supposed to have wifi, so hopefully I can make a post or two from there. I should be there around mid-day today.

Awesome!!

Have fun Paul, looking forward to your posts.

Wow Paul!

Please keep notes for us, man!

My plan is to follow in your footsteps next year, so any info and tips you may share is greatly welcomed.

Have a great time...

Thanks for posting. G

Very cool! You will have a great time.

Remember to get your passport stamped, check out one of the rapa nui shows downtown, have more than a few pisco sours and maybe go see a moai or two.

A couple of things to remember:

moai love to sunbathe, feel free to join them:

you should not touch the moai, but they don't mind a kiss from a pretty girl (not to worry, it's camera trickery):

...and the moai are VERY good at keeping secrets..

Enjoy!

I'm not an alcoholic, I'm an enthusiast.

[ Edited by: leisure master 2010-07-07 12:44 ]

[ Edited by: leisure master 2010-07-07 12:52 ]

I am sitting right now in the bar at the Taha Tai hotel in Hango Roa, drinking a Mahina, the local Rapa Nui beer, which is a very nice brew. It is hard for me to describe the wave of emotion I felt as I landed at Mataveri airport and stepped off the plane into a light rain. I have already seen and photographed Ahu Riata, the nearest to the hotel, and Ana Kai Tangata, the "cannibal" cave with many birdman petroglyphs. I spent time waling around Hango Roa, looking at the lokal establishments and the myriad of souveniers available. What a magical place this is! Tonight we eat at Te Moana in town and tomorrow we go to Rano Kau, Orongo, Ahu Vinapu and Ahu Akivi.The weather is not looking good for observing the southern hemisphere sky, and not prmising for the eclipse on Sunday. Send me all of your mana and wishes for clear skies on Sunday afternoon.

Have a Tiki-rrific Trip!!! I can't wait to see the pics and hear all about your adventures.

Sounds amazing! Have fun and can't wait to see some pics!

On 2010-07-07 18:08, PiPhiRho wrote:
I am sitting right now in the bar at the Taha Tai hotel in Hango Roa, drinking a Mahina, the local Rapa Nui beer, which is a very nice brew. It is hard for me to describe the wave of emotion I felt as I landed at Mataveri airport and stepped off the plane into a light rain. I have already seen and photographed Ahu Riata, the nearest to the hotel, and Ana Kai Tangata, the "cannibal" cave with many birdman petroglyphs. I spent time waling around Hango Roa, looking at the lokal establishments and the myriad of souveniers available. What a magical place this is! Tonight we eat at Te Moana in town and tomorrow we go to Rano Kau, Orongo, Ahu Vinapu and Ahu Akivi.The weather is not looking good for observing the southern hemisphere sky, and not prmising for the eclipse on Sunday. Send me all of your mana and wishes for clear skies on Sunday afternoon.

Well said - I remember those same "I am finally here" feelings.

Tons O Mana headed your way for a nice view of the eclipse - I forgot it was this week.

I was there in Feb 2009 and they were talking about it back then! Are there a ton of people visiting for the eclipse?

Here you go!

Enjoy a perfect eclipse viewing session...wish I was there to witness it too. G

The population of the island is going to more than double this week.

Last night we had a patch of clear sky and I saw the southern cross for the first time{props to Crosby Stills and Nash). Didn't last long, though, and it clouded over and started raining before we could get the telescopes set up. Dinner in town was awesome at a place called Te Moana where I had my first "tiki" style cocktail (and got a picture).

Today I was at Rano Kau, Orongo, Ahu Vinapu, Ahu Akivi, The Pukao stone quarry and a lava tube cave. Lots of pictures and video, but don't have a way to process and upload it, so that will happen after I get back. The day was clear and sunny, but it is raining right now as I am drinking a pisco sour in the lounge.

Tomorrow: Rano Raraku, Ahu Tangariki, and Anakena Beach, among other things.

This is the first total eclipse on Easter island in 1400 years. Do you think the aliens will return?

one can only hope

Amazing that you made it out there for the eclipse.

When I was there with Jen (DangerGirl) in 2004, people were already talking about the eclipse. Jen, me, a Dutch guy named Wouter, and a couple from the UK all vowed to return for the eclipse, six years later.
Alas, the plan feel apart.

Hope you're able to get an amazing view of it.... and if not you're on RAPA NUI, so your trip will not be a loss, by any stretch!

I just saw the notice about the pending eclipse over Rapa Nui and wondered about the buzz on this. What a pleasant surprise to find that Paul will be there to experience it. What a dream come true! And that fact that you are unable to send pictures at the moment makes it even more exciting and suspenseful. You're back to the primitive and somehow it seems that's the way it should be. Looking forward to seeing them when you get back.

Have a great time!

Sending good mana your way.

What an awesome day today. Rano Raraku! The birthplace of the Moai! I touched the Navel of the World and got soaked at Anakena Beach. Unfortunately, I got soaked by rain and not by swimming at the beach. It was a strenuous day that included hauling my fat old ass up to the Rano Raraku crater. It was worth every step! There are even Moai in the crater. tomorrow we explore Hanga Roa and go to the museum here. The rest of the day is rehearsal for the ecliplse.

Last night after coming out of the restaurant it suddenly turned clear and Iwas able to observe some of the southern sky, including the Jewel Box, Eta Carina, Omega Centauri and, eventually, the small Aagellanic Cloud anf 47 Takane. This is not the best observing place for astronomy, but this place the place is lousy with astronomers right now and we even have a netional geopraphic film crew hanging with us.

I am slso on my second anejo rum, so typing is getting difficult. Here at the bar I just met poeple who know tiki central, Tiki ti and are building their own tiki bar from Oceanic Arts. Small world, and this island makes it feel even smaller. I cannot describe how wonderful this place is. Even if the eclipse is a bust, this will still be one of the best vacations of my life.

Today it has rained all day. I hope it gets it out of it's system. The storm is fairly intense right now as I sit in the hotel lobby. Last night I had the best Pina Colada of my life. There is a restaurant up the "street" (basically a dirt road) from the hotel that we decided to eat at because it was close. I saw a pina colada on the menu and asked if it was made with fresh ingredients. It is. No Coco Lopez in the drink. The cocunut cream is made fresh from coconuts grown right here on the island and juice from pineapples grown on the island. The result was an incredibly good pina colada. They don't even have mai tais on the menus here, and I probably would not touch one even if they did, but you can get a good tropical drink here. It will be sad to leave.

I believe I am entited to say this...

WOOHOO !!!

Good Mana today on Rapa Nui. The eclipse was perfect. What an incredible experience!

A celebratory pina colada at Aloha tonight. We leave at 4:30 AM. It will be sad to say goodbye to this wonderful island, a true world treasure.

Glad all worked out well for you to see the eclipse.

Also glad that someone from TC was able to be there and share the experience - thanks.

Safe travels!

Paul, that was great news! I'm so stoked to hear you got to witness the eclipse with no problem. PLEASE post pics if you have 'em.

Good mana = good time! G

Sounds like a great time! Eclipse was supposed to be visible from the Cook Islands too, but I didn't think about the timing when we booked for June. Look forward to your return and pictures.

On 2010-07-11 18:48, PiPhiRho wrote:
I believe I am entited to say this...

WOOHOO !!!

Good Mana today on Rapa Nui. The eclipse was perfect. What an incredible experience!

A celebratory pina colada at Aloha tonight. We leave at 4:30 AM. It will be sad to say goodbye to this wonderful island, a true world treasure.

WoooHooo!! Can't wait to see the pics :)

Hey Paul - Where are the pics. I'm going in January. Where can I find that pina colada?

On 2010-07-11 18:48, PiPhiRho wrote:
I believe I am entited to say this...

WOOHOO !!!

Good Mana today on Rapa Nui. The eclipse was perfect. What an incredible experience!

A celebratory pina colada at Aloha tonight. We leave at 4:30 AM. It will be sad to say goodbye to this wonderful island, a true world treasure.

Dayam! What a trip!

The pina colada can be found at the Aloha Pub in Hanga Roa. It is on the main street through town (Atamu Takena). It is right on the corner of another road, which is unpaved and may or may not have a name, but is the road that goes to the Taha Tai hotel. If I can figure out how to capture a google maps satellite page then maybe I can show you. It is pretty easy to find because at night they put a bunch of solar tiki torches right outside. They can make the drink with any kind of rum you like and keep in mind that they have rums there that you can't buy in he US that are made in certain boycotted countries (hint hint).

the food there is also very good. Try the ceviche made in the style of Tahitian Poisson Cru.

Here I am enjoying Aloha pina coladas properly.

Tropical rum drinks are available at many of the restaurants in Hanga Roa. They call rum ron there. Here is a photo of me with a ron ponch tropicale at Te Moana, another restaurant on the Atamu Takena main drag.

And no matter how much you have to drink there, don't make fun of the moai.

On 2010-11-11 00:01, PiPhiRho wrote:

What a classic shot!