We overslept this morning and quickly got dressed for breakfast. Bicki, the owner of the inn, has breakfast ready every morning promptly at 8:30. While we were eating fresh pineapple and an omelet, a tour van drove up. I figured the van must be for the French couple that was staying here also. I told Matt that our tour was not until Friday. His response was, “This is Friday.” We had 5 minutes to grab our belongings from the bungalow and then loaded into the van. We both grabbed our rain gear since the clouds were looking ominous. Our guide’s name was Sabrina. She is cousins with Bicki and her Uncle is Piti with whom we went horseback riding with yesterday. The van driver was Juan. He and Sabrina were also cousins and Bicki is Juan’s aunt. After this quick family tree, I asked if everyone on the island was related. Sabrina said that all 2000 Rapa Nui inhabitants are descendants from the 111 Rapa Nui who survived the Small Pox plague in 1862. She said it was nearly impossible for her to find a boyfriend since everyone is related, so she went and found a boyfriend from Chile who is a journalist and now lives here on the island with her.
As we drove along the coast, the waves were enormous. Sabrina said they were abnormally large, possibly due to the earthquake in China. Our first stop was at a site in which the Maoi were toppled from their Ahu (the ceremonial platform). Around the site were the stone outlines of homes from the first inhabitants. The wind was starting to pick up, so we went into a cave and Sabrina told us the stories of the first and second migrations to the island. This history was all passed down through oral tradition. The stories were really beautiful. Sabrina was truly our “Professora de Rapa Nui historia.”
Upon leaving the cave, it started to rain, but nothing too heavy. I had on my full rain gear, which at the time seemed a bit overkill. We continued on to more sites, including the most famous one which is the platform with 15 Moai restored to their positions. The restoration was a joint effort between Japan, Chile, Australia and the US which occurred in 1994. Behind the 15 Moai was the crashing surf. They really looked like they were protecting the island people.
Next stop was the quarry / volcano where the Moai were carved from. We walked up the sides of the quarry learning more about carving techniques and the meaning of the Moai. The rain was steadily increasing and then quite suddenly a wave of heavy rain came which only got worse as it combined with the strong winds. As we continued our tour, we would get to a site, jump out, run over, learn something, and then run back to the van due to the high wind and heavy rain. The final stop was at Anakena Beach. It is famous for its white sand and beautiful bay with palm trees which were a gift from Tahiti. However, today the rain was coming in sideways, the palm trees were bending in the strong winds and the surf was pounding. We ran across the beach, looked at the Moai and all quickly ran back to the van, while dodging random chickens that were also trying to find some shelter. Everyone was completely soaked. I may have looked like an ad for REI, but I was dry underneath the rain gear.
Back at the bungalow, we turned our bed to face the big bay window and watched the storm increase in strength. I’m not sure if it actually qualified as a monsoon, but it sure felt like it. At sunset, there was a brief break in the storm and the clouds became pink, but that was really brief and then the high winds brought back the torrential rain. The power went out once. Bicki just brought us a flash light in case it goes out again. Dinner tonight will be Cliff Bars, cookies and Coke Zero. No one is going anywhere in this storm.
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