First encounters on Rapa Nui

Well, I know I haven't quite finished blogging about my summer adventures yet. Well, I actually I have a lot left to blog about for my summer adventures seeing as it was three months worth of wonderful visits and trips. But, I want to share with everyone "real time" about Easter Island. So I'm jumping ahead to now...my big trip to Rapa Nui/Easter Island.

On Thursday morning at 5:45 in the morning the alarm went off to wake up in time to catch the metro and then the airport bus out to the airport. Ivan and I got up (luckily everything had been prepared the night before) grabbed our stuff, made sure everything was closed up, and headed for the metro. The walk from the apartment to the metro station seemed to take FOREVER, probably because I was carrying about 20 pounds of food and one of the tuna cans kept digging into my leg.

Oh yeah, we had three suitcases-one with clothes, and two with food. Everyone tells you to bring as much food as you come when coming to the island because it's really expensive here...and it's true, everything costs about double. Anyways, we made our way to the metro, then to the airport bus and finally to the airport. Our check in was a little weird, because even though it is technically a national flight, we checked in at Lan's international counter because there are some people who leave Chile on the flight, with only a short layover on Rapa Nui, and there is no customs counter on the island.

After check in, we proceeded to security. I walked Ivan through everything (it was his first time flying!), which was a little weird because I'm so used to everyone automatically knowing what to do. He set of the metal detector because he was wearing his boots that would make through just about anything, so he had to be wanded. But, after that, we made it through and I taught him how to find your gate on the TV monitor and then find your gate following the signs. We found our friend Pauline sleeping in the seats outside our gate. We dropped off some of our carry-on's with Pauline and then headed over to Starbucks and Cinnabun (I don't normally allow myself to spend money on Starbucks coffee because it is pretty expensive, but I'm on vacation...why not spring for a good coffee ;) ) We watched airplanes take off and land from the window and walked around the terminal (which is not very big) so Ivan could get to know it. Then, it was time to board so we headed back to the gate to get our seats.

It was a big plane 2-3-2, and we got our own seatback TVs. We also got a hot breakfast...I think Ivan was pretty spoiled on his first flight and now he's going to be disillusioned as to how nice flying is ;) (Although I have to say, flying in South America is defintiely nicer than flying in the states).

When we were arriving to the island, the pilot did a nice swing around the whole thing so that we could fully appreciate the aereal view. The airport is tiny. There is only space for one plane and there are no gates...they just put the stairs up to the plane and you walk down them and across the tarmac to the "airport" aka the one room where all the hotels are waiting to pick you up and the baggage is dropped. When we got off the plane, we were greeted by Rapa Nui traditional dancers with live music. It was pretty cool. Our hostel greeted us with fresh flower leis; after everyone was ready, we all loaded up for the 5 minute drive back to the hostel. Anyways, I don't have pictures of our stay, but here are some I found on the internet of things we've done thus far.

Here's where we are, that tiny little white dot. The most remote inhabited island in the world. We are 2,180 miles from the coast of Chile, 1,289 miles from the next closest island that is inhabited (which, according to wikipedia has all of 100 or so people living on it), and 2,630 miles from Tahiti, the next major civilization to the west. 

Here's Rapa Nui. It's triangular shaped (as evidenced by the picture) and only 15.3 miles by 7.6 miles--basically you can walk the whole island. That, and there are only two roads out of town. Hanga Roa is the only town on the island and about 5,100 people live here. The best thing: wherever you go, there are moai :)

This is one of the moai of Ahu Tahai, which is right outside of town. It's the only moai that still has eyes (apparently more of them used to have eyes). 

This was the first moai we saw. It's right by a little beach in town. Like I said, there are moai everywhere. But each one is unique and different.

A sea turtle like the ones I saw! The water is crystal clear around the island, so we could easily see the three sea turtles that were swimming in the bay. There were two "normal" size giant sea turtles and one that was huge! I had never seen a turtle so big in my life.

I also saw two unpuffed puffer fish...I don't think I've ever seen them before either. I wanted to reach out and touch it to make it puff up, but thought that might be a little mean.

On our first two days (Thursday, the day we arrived in the afternoon, and Friday) we wandered around town and the surrounding area. We got to see the sun set behind the moai at Ahu Tahai (there is one Ahu with 5 moai together, plus 2 free standing ones) which was a pretty spectacular sight. We took a little dip in the water (a bit chilly, but since it's pretty warm out, it feels nice), ate some delicious ice cream, and visited the town's museum to get a better idea of the history of the island. However, since the town is fairly small, and once you've been to the museum, beach, main street, and moai close by, it's time to head out, so that's what we did!

The coming together of two hemispheres

Sorry about the lack of blog posting about the end of my trip. This annoying thing called school (along with all it's joyous components such as mountains of reading, essays and tests) got in the way. On a happier note, I'm doing really well :) Santiago totally feels like home now (but not too much like home, don't worry Mom). It's kind of funny to see all the new exchange students figuring everything out and remembering that was me just a few short months ago. For the most part, classes are going pretty well, I'm all moved into my new apartment and I'm playing a lot of soccer with the school team which is fun.

One of my favorite things we did in Ecuador (well, really, I loved everything we did in Ecuador) was going to the equator. I just think it's such a cool thing...the middle of the world. (Although I determined that the real middle of the world aka where the equator and prime meridian come together is somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Africa).

The whole thing is set up for tourists, but who cares...I got to straddle the two hemispheres! The main thing to do is straddle the big yellow painted line on the ground and walk around the big monument that is in the middle of the park. There are also a lot of shops and couple of really random not-so-great museum. Maya and I enjoyed walking around taking are touristy pictures.

We, of course, took public transportation there because it is the most inexpensive method of transport. Even the buses that go say they are headed for the "middle of the world."

Walking up the monument!!

Latitude: 0. The sign appropriately placed in the two hemispheres :)

Maya and I straddling the line. Half of us in the northern hemisphere and half in the southern. Now here is the question...is winter or summer during this time of the year on the equator? I tried to get an answer but nobody really seemed to know. From what I deduced, they have "summer" vacation the same time as the northern hemisphere (aka June, July, August).

Southern hemisphere on my right, northern hemisphere on my left :) (I'm the tiny little speck straddling the line)

After going to "la Mitad del Mundo" we decided to go see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!! I was pretty excited, I had been waiting for the movie to come out for a while. It had come out in Chile right after I had left, but for some reason we couldn't find it playing anywhere in Peru. So, when we were in Quito and it was in the theatre, I told Maya we had to go. And, it was totally worth it. I thought they good a really job. (Of course, it's not as good as the books, but it is still a REALLY good movie). The place where the movie theatre is in Quito is basically a food patio (like 10 restaurants), a book shop, and apple store, and the theatre. The real mall is down the street a few blocks. One of the shops near the theatre, however, had these delicious chocolate dipped strawberries.

A beautiful giant mask. We got to the theatre about 4 hours before the movie, because we were coming back from Mitad del Mundo and didn't want to go back to the hostel and then go the theatre since the place where the bus dropped us off was pretty close to the theatre anyways. So, we went exploring. There was a park nearby that had a bunch of giant, beautifully painted masks on display, I think in honor of Carnaval.

Toys-R-Us spanish style! It's really kind of sad how United States chains are dominating the world. Damn capitalism. It was quite obvious that this mall was for the upper-class citizens of Quito. All of the shops were either from the United States are Europe. And they were all really expensive.

Quito and La Mitad del Mundo were our last stops in Ecuador before heading out for the last leg of our trip: Colombia and the Caribbean. Our transport from Quito, Ecuador to Cartagena, Colombia was on a plane, a change of pace from what we had been doing since Lima (aka, all buses and colectivos). However, our parents were wary of us busing because of the still semi-unstable status of of some parts of Colombia. And, after talking with some other friends and doing our own research, we decided it was worth the splurge to fly. Although we would have most likely been just fine busing (we met a lot of people who did) we wanted to make sure we were safe and were going to make it back to Chile in one piece.

Cartagena and Playa Blanca

Our first stop in Colombia was Cartagena. Everyone who we had talked to had raved about the city...the mix of the beautiful architecture and stunning setting. And it did not disappoint. We got in late and night and spent about 2 hours walking around trying to find a hostel. Since it was the end of Carnaval festivities all of the hostel in the old-walled city (aka nice part) of town were full. So, we ended up having to take a cab (because it's too sketchy to venture outside the walls at night) outside of the walls to find someplace for that night. However, we made a reservation for the following night at one of the hostels to make sure we would have a place to stay inside the walls the following place.

Our first day in Cartagena we just wandered around the city and admired the architecture and vibe of the city. It happened to be Ash Wednesday so all of the churches were in full swing with mass and ashes. We also wandered out to the old fort that protected Cartagena back in the day (we had met some Argentian architecture students on the plane over from Medallin, and they were the ones who had the idea to go to the fort). It was actually pretty cool because you see over the whole city as well as out to the Caribbean. And, it had cool underground passageways that you could wander through. We also booked a boat to go to las Islas Rosarias--some coral islands off the coast--and Playa Blanca (white beach)--supposidly one of the nicest in Colombia--for the following day.

The next day, we woke up really early in order to catch the boat out to las Islas and the Playa. It was definititely worth getting up early--it was some of the most beautiful scenary I saw during the whole trip. As we got closer to islands I just couldn't believe my eyes--it looks like the unreal pictures you see of Colombia (or any island in the Caribbean)--perfect turquoise water and islands covered in tropical plants. There was the option of going to an aquariam on one of the islands but we decided to pass (partly because we're cheap, partly because we had read that they didn't treat the animals very well, and partly because we wanted to take advantage of the amazing water) so instead we got about an hour to go swimming in the water. It was amazing. It was super salty, making back floats really easy. We could also see all kinds of cool brightly colored fish through the water without any snorkel equipment. After about an hour, we had to board the boat again to head to Playa Blanca. When we first got there we had lunch and then got to enjoy the beach for a while. It was PERFECT. White sand, crystal blue water, palm trees... I did not want to leave when it was time to board the boat again. However, we were on a tight time schedule and had to head to our next destination in the morning so we couldn't spend the night. If I go back to Colombia I will definitely go to Playa Blanca and spend a few nights there.

A cool door-knocker in Cartagena. There were all different kinds of animals and shapes throughout the city.

Some colonial architecture. I loved how brightly colored all the buildings were. And that they all had cute little balconies.

Maya and I one of the streets inside the walls. Oh yeah, it was really hot and humid as well. We were dying the whole day walking around.

In front of the clock tower. One of the main entrances into the old walled city.

A row of colorful colonial buildings.

The fort from outside.

Sitting on one of the archways in the fort.

Inside one of the super secret underground tunnels.

Looking out over Cartagena and the Caribbean from the fort. And a giant Colombia flag flying above us.

One of the fruit ladies. I, unfortunately, never got the chance to buy fruit from them and hence never actually got a picture with fruit on the head. But these women who walk around with huge baskets of fruit on their head's are one of the icons of Colombia's Caribbean coast.

In front of Gabriel García Marquez's house in Cartagena. He is one of the most famous Latin American authors of all time. He wrote Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitud), one of the most famous Latin American novels.

Perched on the old wall of Cartagena overlooking the Caribbean. It still confuses me when the sun doesn't set over the water.

Looking through one of the "windows" of the wall of the city towards the Caribbean.

Drinking fresh coconut water straight from a coconut! (I'd like to imagine straight from one of the palm trees along the coast.)

Pulling up the Islas Rosarias. So beautiful. Of course, the camera does not do it enough justice.

Swimming in the amazing water. You can kind of see how clear and blue the water is.

The beautiful white sand and Playa Blanca.

Right before we had to get back on the boat and go back to Cartagena. The boat ride home was definitley not as enjoyable as the boat ride there. The water was super choppy (I had no idea the Caribbean got so choppy) and there were a few times that I thought the boat was going to flip (and it was a big boat...two stories!) And, practically everyone was puking, it was pretty gross. Not Maya or me, thankfully, though.

Cartagena (at least inside the walls) and that slice of the Caribbean were absolutely amazing and beautiful. I was sad to be leaving, but very excited for the next party of journey (the part of Colombia I was most looking forward to): Parque Nacional Tyrona.