My Vacation From Vacation

Hello, friends! Greetings from Paradise!

My plane touched down on Easter Island (aka Rapa Nui) a little after 11 AM local time (which I believe is two hours AHEAD of NYC) on Sunday morning. The flight was incredible. I don´t understand why Chile has such nice airlines, but I fear I might immigrate here for it. Each seat had its own TV screen, hooked up to an amazing entertainment system. Their selection of movies was unbelievably good for an airlines - I watched "Atonement"! That was JUST on in the States when I left! The food was also terrific - again, two meals in a 4.5 hour flight! Spoiling. I´m looking forward to going back just for the flight.

I bumped into my new travel buddies Liam and Mikes while boarding the plane. As a refresher, I met these two English chaps at the hostel in Puerto Natales, and we had a long conversation about how much we all wanted to go to Easter Island. So, when I got an email from them a few days later that they had indeed booked a flight, I followed suit.

A few minutes before the plane landed, I could see nothing but water out the window. Slowly, a piece of land came into the picture, and shortly thereafter we were down, looking out at rugged, green mountains, palm trees, and blue ocean.

We came down off the plane on one of those little staircases - right down to the runway - and as I stepped down, I heard cheers, screaming erupt from the fence bordering the runway. For me? No, you shouldn´t have! There was a huge line of locals along the fence, dotted with several folks in traditional dress (I have photos), beating drums, singing songs, cheering. A huge roar erupted suddenly, and I looked back to line of people behind me, trying to figure out who was getting off the plane. Were we on with someone famous?

A couple was dragged into the welcoming line, covered with leis of tropical flowers, and generally celebrated by everyone there.

After questioning several people, we finally figured out that it was a reality show winner and his wife. Apparently, this guy had gone off to Chile to compete in a Chilean military reality show, and he won. And now, he´s a local hero for putting Easter Island on the map.

As we waited for our bags to come around, an intimidating man came up with his dog. His uniform said something like "Inspection Team," and he looked like he just wanted nothing more than to really bust someone that day. "He´s not had a bust for weeks," Mikes said. The real inspector, though - the dog - was a friendly looking yellow lab, who was allowed to walk on the baggage claim merry-go-round, happily panting and sniffing as he trompled all over everyone´s luggage. It was really funny.

We hadn´t made a hostel reservation yet, but I think they count on that in places like this. There was a row of hostel representatives with signs, trying to flag down folks like us, who look like they have no place to go. We were taken in by a nice woman from Residencial Miru, a small house on the main drag of town, that sleeps about 10 people, from what I can see. The house is concrete and painted bright orange and is shaped like an L with a big open area in the middle. Periwinkle, red, peach, and yellow flowers line the patio area, and an assortment of roosters, chickens, cats, and kittens, roam about freely.

We were showed into a small room with three twin beds lined up across it. This should be interesting, I thought. Sharing a room with these two Brits I barely know. These two are nuts. In a good way. In a British way. They have the silliest sense of humor - I just find myself laughing whenever anything comes out of their mouths.

By the end of the first day, the room STANK. "It smells like boys in here," I told them. Ugh. But I am being good humored about it all, and of course, we're really spending any time in the room except to sleep.

We took a long walk around the island that first day. There's a small town along one coast, but otherwise, this place is extremely deserted. I don't know why, but I was expecting a bit more "stuff" here. It is just as well, of course. The fewer people, the better.

We set out to scope out some of the good surfing locations because Liam is really interested in doing a bit of body boarding and wanted to see how the surf was. As we walked along the road, horses passed, mopeds, cars. This place is a true blend of modern and old. Cars share the road with horses, and there are loads of horse poop along the sidewalks. Watch your step.

Sorry to hold you in suspense, but I have to get off the computer now. Am supposed to meet the boys in a minute to head to the beach for the day. To be continued...xoxo