From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

A week without news... it's because we were enjoying ourselves on Easter Island. Enjoying what exactly? The white sand beaches? No, there's only one beach. The warm sub-equatorial sun perhaps? Not so much, since out of the 7 days we were on the island, we only had sun for 2 of them. But that didn't stop us from exploring the whole island and from going on some super hikes – 25 km one day! But none of our clothes properly dried out the whole time we were there, and Heather managed to get quite a sunburn – from all the rain, naturally.

Seriously though, the Moai – the stone statues the island is famous for – really were both mysterious and impressive, and we don't regret a moment having gone. We spent the week making the most of the island and the islander life. Easter Island depends on tourism, but we found that the locals were not always very welcoming (not exactly surprising considering their little island is overrun with more than 300 tourists a day) and that the prices were a least 3 times as high as on the continent. Sara found that the Polynesian culture of the island was similar to that of the Maoris of New Zealand.

At our hotel we met Dave, an American who was teaching English in Santiago. We talked a lot with him and ended up splitting the cost of the rental car for our last day on the island. There was much laughter and general merriment.

The island is relatively small and almost everything is accessible on foot. We saw the quarry where the maoi hats were hewn out of red stone, and the bigger quarry where the statues themselves were carved before being carted (either upright or laying down, depending on the theory) to their platforms. We also visited some of the caves where the original inhabitants of the island had been living in when the first Europeans arrived, and some of the craters where they grew food, sheltered from the incessant winds.

Most of the statues are in pieces, having been knocked down several centuries ago, and they are eroding, slowly disappearing into the earth. Those that have been restored seem better able to withstand the weather. The inhabitants of the island are also losing their culture, not due to erosion, but to the constant influx of tourists, the newest conquistadors to arrive on the island. There are quite a number of Europeans, particularly French, who have come to run tourism businesses on the island.

Our final impressions of Easter Island? If you are in Chile, don't hesitate to go. It's another world out there in the middle of the Pacific and the culture is really interesting. Don't forget that everything there is negotiable – souvenirs, lodgings, and especially access to a kitchen, which considerably lowers the price of the visit. But if you're in France, or Canada, we don't necessarily recommend making a special trip. [Trans. note: from what Sara and Sébastien have told me – and you can check out the pictures for yourselves – the Galapagos Islands were much more spectacular and well worth a special trip].

Sara & Sébastien

This trip is outside the scope of the Association Planète Durable et Solidaire. But we will use the site to keep you updated on all our news and adventures.