Marlene and I are on our way to Easter Island. Actually the
local people call their island Rapa Nui.
We're looking forward to the adventure. Rapa Nui is part of
Chile where the predominate language is Spanish, but to complicate things,
apparently many of the island locals speak Rapa Nui.
The currency is the Chilean Peso with a conversion rate of
about 500 pesos to the dollar. So, my wallet is stocked with some large
denomination bills. It takes a 10,000 peso bill to make an equivalent North American $20.
purchase.
Rapa Nui is described as the most isolated populated place
in the world. It's located about 3500 KMs off the coast of Chile. Their
isolation is best appreciated when located on a world globe. Essentially it's a
speck of land in the middle of the south Pacific ocean and they have no
neighbours.
From our research, we learned that the island was created by
3 volcanoes about 10 KMs apart bubbling up from the sea and their lava deposits
eventually flowed together to form the island.
We've also learned the Rapanui people have a
colourful history.
When we travel, we're always looking for some mild adventure
and we think we'll find it on Rapa Nui. We'll be staying at a Bed and Breakfast
on the outskirts of the only town, Hanga Roa. We plan to hike and bike as much
of the island as possible, meet the people, and learn more about their culture
first hand. We expect the biking to be a challenge due to the volcanic mountain topography and strong prevailing winds blowing out of the east; so where we
can't bike, we'll likely hike.
We hope you feel the sense of adventure and thanks for
joining us.Click here for the next story in this series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2013/10/a-wonderful-place-to-call-home.html
