We are back in Santiago, where the internet flows freely and there is an English-speaking church full of welcoming people. We are having a rest day, and will be on the bus tomorrow to go to Mendoza in Argentina. The great thing about having working internet is we can upload some photos, links below.
The flight out of Easter Island was somewhat amusing. We hauled down the tent, then hauled our stuff to the airport (which looked like airports the world over, with the exception of a pile of island-este artwork). When we checked in - a process of signing many many releases for our baggage, they explained the flight was delayed for four hours. This explanation was communicated by giving us a pile of lunch vouchers. It turns out that the rules of the air (namely, feed people when delayed) apply even if one is on a small volocano in the south pacific. Other rules that seem to apply include drinking all water before getting on plane. Rules that get ignored include removing all metal from pockets before going though the detector.
Since the airport is a runway and a large shed, we were whisked off to a place in town for lunch at the expense of LAN. Said place had not had their delivery of food for the day. The sole thing they offered was garlic prawns. Pause. We could not imagine why they were on the menu to begin with. We clearly saw why they were the only things that the diners last night had not eaten. We worried about being on a plane for many hours with large numbers of people who had all eaten garlic prawns. We did not worry about vampires. We did worry about food poisoning. The waitress saw our faces and said they also had some smoked salmon. Saved!
The last couple days on the island were fun. We took a boat out around the sea stack Motu Kau Kau and another two islands. We saw Masked Boobys and Great Frigatebirds. It was wonderful but many other species of seabirds once nested on the islands so it was also a reminder of the consequences of unsustainable exploitation and overgrazing among other ecological issues.
We tromped up Rano Kau, an old volcano with the ceremonial village Orongo on the top. The view into the crater is like looking at another landscape altogether. The village consists of many restored stone buildings, which reminded me of Skara Brae.
On the last night we found ourselves in a small restaurant which a couple at the campsite suggested. Turns out this place had a giant barbeque. We found ourselves stuffed with only a few bites... on average we're eating about two meals a day, partly due to the heat, partly due to lack of need for more. The way we wash our clothes has also changed:
