Malibu Sunsets on Easter Island
All I ever heard about before coming to Easter Island were the Moai statues. There are several theories of why they were built, but no one knows for sure. The mystery surrounding them just adds to the allure. But once we actually got to the island, we had to figure out how to get to them without a tour. It’s not a big island, but it’s not really practical to walk from one end to the other, nor is there any public transportation. We didn’t like the tour option because we wanted to have more freedom and flexibility than tours allow.
When it rains, pull out the rum!
We got as far as tentatively agreeing to go in on a rental car with the couple staying in the room next to ours, Tamir and Susanne from Switzerland. Then Amanda and I decided it was just going to be a lazy day, which turned out to be a good choice because a little while later, it started pouring. With no other plans for the afternoon and rain coming down in buckets, we made guacamole (ingredients from the vegetable lady who let us pay the next day) and broke out the bottle of Malibu we purchased in the Tahiti Airport’s duty free shop.
The one glass Amanda was able to dig up was shaped like a tea cup but only slightly larger than a shot glass. So we were basically drinking shots of Malibu and fruit juice in our room, door open so we could talk and joke around with Tamir and Susanne who were sitting at the table in the backyard.
Eventually we ran out of fruit juice and had to run to the store when the rain let up a little. The juice I grabbed from the shelf was chosen not for its peach flavor, but for the picture of Barbie on it. Apparently Barbie is peach juice marketing genius. I’m kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re drinking Malibu and fruit juice at 4:00 in the afternoon.
Random encounters
Later that evening, we met up with Jenny, another blogger who randomly saw me tweet a few days earlier that I would be in Easter Island. I traveled to a lot of places where I expected to run into other bloggers, but only managed to meet up with one in Siem Reap, so to meet someone in one of the most remote places in the world was pretty crazy. Crazier still, she lives in Atlanta but we never ran across each other while I was living there.
Moai sunsets
Our night ended with one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen. I’m such a sunset fanatic, and a sunset with Moai statues is right up there with a Santorini sunset. Easter Island was impressing me left and right.
July 26, 2012 @ 10:43 AM
Easter Island statues and awesome sunset all in one photo? Can’t go wrong with that!
July 26, 2012 @ 3:14 PM
My thoughts exactly! Thanks!
July 26, 2012 @ 10:54 AM
Wow! Really beautiful sunsets… You are lucky to have been to such a remote and special location as Easter Island!! Would love to get there one day.
July 26, 2012 @ 3:15 PM
Thanks! It really was such an amazing place, I hope you get there one of these days!
July 26, 2012 @ 3:39 PM
Loooooooove these shots, just amazing! I miss Easter Island terribly and hope to return with my hubby one day.
July 26, 2012 @ 4:51 PM
Thanks Andi! It really was such a great place, and I’d love to go back someday with Andy, but who knows!
July 26, 2012 @ 10:51 PM
Shame you didn’t get a picture of the Barbie juice, but I am happy just knowing that product exists somewhere in the world.
And when you have been traveling for a long time, sometimes it is good to just have days where you drink rum at 4 in the afternoon and give yourself a day off. Honestly, the more I think about it, the less I think you need to be traveling to enjoy that! 😉
July 26, 2012 @ 11:19 PM
That Barbie juice carton is probably my biggest regret from Easter Island! And yes, I agree, having a day here and there to just relax, have a few drinks, and NOT go sightseeing is totally necessary when you’re traveling long term. Sometimes even when you’re just on a 2 week trip.
July 27, 2012 @ 12:34 AM
Ahhh visiting Easter Island is a dream of mine and something I won’t be skipping when I finally make it to S.America. Love the photos they are amazing & how random to bump into another travel blogger there. Oh & you know I love me some rainy drinking days so cheers to that.
July 27, 2012 @ 2:29 PM
Thanks Jaime! Save up some money for this one, the flight is a bit pricey and so is even the cheapest lodging. But it’s so worth it! It’s such an amazing place, you will love it! We were there for 6 days, and that seemed perfect, could’ve been ok with a couple more days even.
July 27, 2012 @ 4:28 AM
Amazing sunset pictures with the statues! And funny you say that the statue with eyes is creepy. I just saw that one on a special on the history channel and said the exact same thing.
July 27, 2012 @ 2:31 PM
Thanks Jennifer! That is funny! It was weird, the statues were so cool, even that one, but those eyes for some reason just weirded us out.
July 27, 2012 @ 11:10 AM
Gorgeous sunset shots, but my favorite is the guy with the grass skirt, running.
July 27, 2012 @ 2:37 PM
Thanks Laurel! I really like that one too. I had about 2 seconds to take the picture, so I was really happy it turned out so well.
July 27, 2012 @ 4:00 PM
Awesome pictures, especially the sunsets, I’ve always wanted to go to Easter Island.
July 27, 2012 @ 6:36 PM
Thanks Liz!
July 27, 2012 @ 8:15 PM
I didn’t know you went to Easter Island. It sounds like a fun trip. I love your sunset photos!
July 28, 2012 @ 9:23 AM
Thanks Christy! Easter Island was almost the last on my RTW. It was a really great place, so amazing!
July 27, 2012 @ 8:53 PM
Those sunsets are AMAZING!! So peaceful and beautiful – I loved the sunsets we saw when we were on the beach in Chile but these are even more magical with the figures on the horizon.
July 28, 2012 @ 9:24 AM
Thanks Andrea! It was definitely one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.
July 30, 2012 @ 6:58 PM
Wow, those sunset pictures are amazing! And that’s really funny they sell juice with a photo of Barbie on it. 🙂
July 30, 2012 @ 9:28 PM
Thanks Gina! I know, hilarious!
September 6, 2012 @ 4:57 PM
Oh, you can’t imagine how much I want to get there!! Beautiful sunset pictures!
September 6, 2012 @ 11:59 PM
Thanks Irina! Easter Island was *amazing* and if you ever have the chance, GO! The flight is expensive but it’s so worth the trip. Give yourself a week there to explore.
September 22, 2012 @ 7:58 PM
Great shot of the guy running!
September 22, 2012 @ 11:03 PM
Thanks Mary!