Day 1:  We arrived at San Francisco International Airport at about 8:45 a.m. For the most part, check in was a breeze. The only exception was a young French couple that had most their earthly belongings stuffed into one oversized suitcase. I to believe that, with a little effort, Shaquille O'Neal would have fit into this bag. Needless, to say, it was severely overweight. The entire line was held up while they purchases and overpriced duffel bag (from the airline, of course) and repacked their luggage. We finally reached our ticket agent and were checked all the way through to Easter Island.

We were directed to a special baggage screen area (international destination from domestic origin, I guess). Upon arrival to the area, one of the “World Class SFO Employees” redirected us to another area so he could check in 10 bags ahead of us. We directed some not so polite words toward him and waited in line. The last we saw of him was as he was exiting the doors with our luggage on a dolly. Hope we get to Easter Island with our luggage intact.

Of course, security screening would not be routine if Shashi made it through without a little wand action. We were not disappointed. The TSA guy opted to not let her remove her tons of glass bangles and called for female assistance to search my little terrorist. The actual gender of the “female” assistance was open for debate. She spent a little too much time on that “screening”.

Our flight was due to depart at 10:45, but due to air traffic, we departed ten minutes late. They figured it was cheaper to keep us on the ground than flying around L.A. waiting to land.

We managed to land at LAX on time. We figured we would have to go through screening again since Tom Bradley Int’l was in a different terminal but we were not prepared for the cluster f**k that awaited us. It first started out as we tried to leave the terminal. For some reason, the TSA does not have enough people employed so, as a result, the initial screening (ID and boarding pass checks) is done by the same pre-September 11 private security companies. Well, the boob that checked ours as were trying to leave the terminal to go to the international terminal, sent us back the way we came. She tried to have us reenter the metal detectors and baggage screening for the domestic flights. We managed to find someone with some intelligence that directed us to the right location.

Tom Bradley was terrible. Felt like cattle heading for the slaughter. The rented screeners did not check any of our identification. He just tried to keep people in line. After what seemed like forever, we made it to the metal detectors where Shashi remained true to form and made it beep. After we retrieved or carry on luggage, we found a café where we treated ourselves to hot dogs and beer. Our plane was not due to depart for about two and a half hours.

We departed on our Lan Chile flight on time (2:10 p.m.) and landed in Lima at about 10:00 p.m. We spent an hour on the ground. They would have let us off the plane to tour the terminal but we declined. There was just enough time to refuel the plane, let off disembarking passengers and take on new ones. We finally departed en route to Santiago.

Day 2:  We arrived in Santiago on time (about 6:00 a.m.). We were able to nap a bit on the plane. Now we had to tackle immigrations, customs and get our bags checked through to Easter Island. Prior to clearing immigrations, we had to pay a “Reciprocity Tariff” of $100.00 each. Several others failed to do so and waited in the immigration line for nothing. They were rerouted to the money booth. If Shashi would have waited on becoming a U.S. Citizen, we could have saved about $300.00 (about $200.00 to have her passport expedited and $100.00 for the tariff. British citizens do not have to pay to enter the country.). The lines going through immigrations were long and slow (at least ours was. Isn’t that always the case?).

We picked up our luggage and breezed through customs. We had to check our baggage at the domestic terminal. We were assured they would reach Easter Island even though all the check-in counters were for the Havana flight. Now we had to find the shuttle that would take us to our hotel.

At most third world airports, one is besieged by hawkers trying to arrange for transportation or to grab your bags in hopes of getting tips. Santiago is an exception. They do have them but they are polite and do not insist when told no. They even will direct you to the proper place if one is lost or confused and expect nothing in return. When were asked by one fellow if we needed transportation, we explained we had a shuttle arranged. After 10 minutes of wandering around, he asked us what hotel and marched us to the proper desk for our vouchers.

We got on the shuttle for the Diego de Almagro hotel, checked in and showered and napped for about three hours. The sleep was not as deep as we would have liked since we did not want to oversleep and miss our plane. We departed the hotel at noon and proceeded to the airport. We already had our boarding passes so we found a phone, called Cameron to let him know we were in Santiago about to depart for Easter Island. Afterwards, we found a bar where we had a couple of beers and a sandwich. We then proceeded through security, found our gate and waited for the flight to Easter Island.

After about 32 hours of traveling, airports and catnaps in between, we arrived at Easter Island. The airport definitely had the third world island charm: Very small and crowded. This was definitely a “No Plane on Sunday” kind of place: Two flights per week: One coming in from Santiago en route to Tahiti and one coming in from Tahiti en route to Santiago.  All of the luggage carts were rusted and hard to operate. Feeling the humidity in the air, one immediately knew why. We secured our luggage (first off the plane) and made our way to the exit. We were greeted by the sign waiving Terange who advised us he was to be our guide for the next three days. He grabbed our bags, threw them in the back of his van and delivered us to the Hotel Hanga Roa (named after the only town on the island).

We had a choice of several hotels but we found that the Hotel Hanga Roa and Hotel Iorana were the two best. We opted for the Hanga Roa due to its walking distance to town (15-20 minutes). We opted for the superior room and I guess, for an underdeveloped place, it was superior. As long as we had clean sheets and towels, hot running water, a western style toilet we would be ok. After checking in and asking that housekeeping clean up the thousands of dead ants congregating by the patio door, we headed to the restaurant where we dined on fresh tuna fritters and beef on a stick. We retired at about 10:00 p.m. for a good nights sleep. The bed was comfortable and the ceiling fan generated enough of a breeze to stifle some of the humidity. We opted to not sleep with the patio door open since there was no screen and did not know what the insect life was like here.

Day 3:  Wake-up came early. Terange had informed us that the morning would be ours to explore the island and he would pick us up around three for our afternoon tour. As we prepared ourselves for the day, we discovered we had no hot water. Our showers were quick and we informed the front desk on our way to breakfast. Since it is a small remote island, liquid propane is used everywhere. Our tank for the water heater happened to be empty. They assured us they would replace it. We had a light breakfast at the hotel and packed up the camera gear and headed for town.

We found the main road (Avenida Atamu Tekena) to town. Along the way we scoped out several establishments we might want to visit on the way back to the hotel. These were stores for souvenirs, supermarkets for water, Internet café to send messages home, etc.

To us, this little town is fantastic: So simple and almost unspoiled by the rest of the world. Sure, the have modern conveniences, but the lifestyle is so laid back. Everyone seems to get along even though there is a mixture of cultures. The original islanders are called Rapa Nui. The island is part of Chile. All of the law enforcement and military are Chilean. They are rotated in and out every six months. A lot of the merchants are also Chilean or from other countries. But they all seem to get along. Tourists are treated very well. At no time, did we feel threatened or worried about becoming victims of any crime.

Anyway, back to the morning: We wound our way through the streets of Hanga Roa and found a coastal road the led us to several statues (Moai). Along the way, we managed to pick up a stray dog that seemed to guide us to the paths going to the Moai. The first statues we came across were ones that we made by local artists. They have an annual competition and the winner’s statues are displayed around the west coast of the island. That is where the town is. We wandered up the coast and found the following platforms: Tahai, Ahu Vai Uri, Aku Ko Te Riku, and Ahu Te Ihu.

After strolling for a few miles, we headed back to town and found the Internet café. We sent a short email to our loved ones and wandered next door to a small restaurant called Ariki Ote Pana (Queen of the Empanada). The empanadas were big and tasty. We washed them down with some cold Escudo Cerveza. Dogs seem to have the run of the place. While dining in this fine establishment, two dogs wandered in, plopped down on the floor for their naps and the employees did nothing to remove them. My kind of place: where everyone is welcome.

We met Terange at the hotel and our afternoon tour began. We stayed on the west coast of the island and went to the volcanic crater Rano Kau. Since there are not rivers or lakes on the small island, their water source is the rainwater contained in volcanic craters. This crater is also the backdrop for Orongo. Orongo is the site where the annual “Birdman” competition was held. The winner of this competition would be the leader of the six clans that once occupied the island. The key features here are the three small island (the focus of the competition): Motu Nui, Iti, & Kau Kau, the houses occupied during the competition, and the petroglyphs. From there, we went to some caves on the coast. This is where the families would hide during the civil wars that ravaged the island. Terange next took us to the platforms that we had visited during the morning. We informed him that we had already experienced this and he took us to the Catholic Church to conclude our day. The influence of the local culture in the church is amazing. One of the main symbols of the culture is the bird. This is present on all religious statues in the church. Even Jesus has one on his head while on the crucifix.

After we left the church, we were dropped off at the hotel where we opted to stay in for the evening. We had a few drinks in the lounge and dined in the hotel dining room. Afterwards, we retired to our rooms where we discovered that we indeed had hot water. We enjoyed a good nights sleep.

Day 4:  We awoke to an extremely cloudy sky. The wind was blowing pretty hard and we hoped that the rain would hold. On the average, Easter Island gets 160 days of rain a year. That is a lot of rain. We made our way to the dining room and had a light breakfast. Afterward, we met Terange in the reception area and started our full day’s tour.

We started out at Ahu Vaihu. These statues have not been restored. It was explained to us that the Moai were destroyed during the civil wars. From there we went to Ahu Aka Hanga: A large platform with four fallen Moai. According to legend, this is the site of the tomb of the islands first king.

The next stop on our journey was the Rano Raraku. This is the crater that served as the quarry for carving the statues. The place is littered with these Moai: Some completed, ready for transportation and some still in the stages of being carved. Most are buried by earth that has eroded and slid down the side of the crater. By this time the rain had started falling and the trek up the side of the crater was slippery. I was worried about Shashi losing her footing but I was the one that fell on the way down. The inside of the crater was also littered with several Moai. This crater is also a source for water.

At the bottom of the crater was a rest area with bathrooms. I managed to get the mud off of my bare legs and we sat down and had a nice chicken lunch. After lunch, we departed to Ahu Tongariki: The largest platform on the island. There are fifteen restored Moai on this particular platform. It faces the rising sun of the summer solstice. This platform was destroyed by a large tidal wave in 1960 and restored in 1993. We then went to the navel of the world.

Our final stop for the day was Anakena Beach: The largest beach on the Island. Here is Au Nau Nau. Nice surroundings. Coconut trees have been planted and it really adds a tropical flair to the beach.

Our full day of touring was done and we were dropped of at our hotel. After several trips to the bathroom and a couple of doses of Immodium AD, we were ready to hit the town. We found a little restaurant to have a couple of drinks. I think we saw our first gay Rapa Nui. First impression was a Tiny Tim wannabe. Later he came out with dark glasses and a t-shirt wrapped around his head. A transformation from Tiny Tim to Anthony Zerbe from "The Omega Man". A little scary.

After a few beers, we staggered down the road to a restaurant recommended by Terange: Restaurant Merahi RA'A. It was excellent and much less expensive than the hotel food we had the first two nights. After a satisfying meal of chicken and fries, we paid the bill and wandered through the darkness, back to the hotel.

Day 5: Stormy looking day but the weather held. Turned out to be the warmest day on the island. We met Terange at 9:30 and headed out for a cave complex: Ana Te Pahu. The cave was a few hundred meters in length and was separated by holes in the ceiling. Here, the natives planted trees for fruit. These caves were used by the natives when hiding from pirates who regularly stumbled upon the island. They had also chiseled out the ceiling of sections to use as a cistern for collecting rain water. They could sustain themselves in these caves for quite a while.

From there, we went to the "Seven Explorers": Ahi Akivi. Believed to represent the seven initial explorers to reach Rapa Nui, these are the only Moai to face the ocean. The standard landmarks (dwellings, ceremonial circle, chicken houses, etc) are not located here. From there, we went to Puna Pau, a small volcanic crater of scopia, a red volcanic stone, used to make the topknot.

Next was Ahu Vinapu. Significant because it is the only platform inconsistent with the other platforms. It resembles the structures found in South America, specifically Machu Picchu. While on this crater, we had a nice view of Hanga Roa. Terange pointed out his home which he built on ancestral land. After we left the crater, we drove by his house. Nice place. His next addition will be a kitchen. I wonder where he cooks now?

This was our last stop with Terange. He dropped us off at the hotel and said that he or another would pick us up on the morning for our transfer to the airport. We bade farewell and tipped him for his service. I guess if we are stranded at the hotel, the tip was insufficient.

We took advantage of the remainder of the day and hit the streets of Hanga Roa. We walked, shopped, stop for a couple of drinks and were forced to leave one of the restaurants due it's closing. We wandered a bit more and found ourselves back at the Restaurant Merahi RA'A. We dined and headed back to the hotel to finalize packing for the trip back to Santiago.

Day 6:  Bags are packed and ready to go. We headed to the dining room for a light breakfast and coffee. Coffee was out of the question since the silver bullet had become unplugged and the coffee was cold. Wonder why no one complained. We finished and went to the lobby area and waited for Terange. While there, there was a guy we had seen on the island and on the plane from Santiago. Pretty much kept to him self. He always wore Aloha shirts and shorts. He stood in line, impatiently, as Shashi paid the bill. He finally disappeared and returned later with an old female hotel employee carrying his bags. The bum did not even tip the lady. I guess the louder and slower he said "Muchas Gracias" was supposed to be compensation enough.

I guess the tip was enough because Terange arrived on time and drove us to the airport. We departed with hugs and a gift from him.  The airport was swamped with only two counters open. That is all they have. Security was even worse since the X-Ray machine was inoperable. All the luggage was searched by hand which was time consuming. We boarded the plane and departed for Santiago on time.