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<\/a><\/p>\nUpon landing on one of the most isolated inhabited islands on earth, I was glad to meet the Easter Island Marathon race director and chief advocate Rodrigo and his wife Marcella.<\/p>\n
We waited around for another three-person group to get their luggage and bikes as they had booked directly through Rodrigo and his tour group.\u00a0 It was getting into the shuttle van that had me thinking I might as well have been Fred Flintstone having an identity crisis thanks to a bowling ball to the head.<\/p>\n Once at the hotel, we had a few snafus but nothing untoward.\u00a0 Room 46 was a single queen size bed and we had asked for two beds.\u00a0 The hotel had to give the new room a onceover but soon moved us into Room 44\u2026 a number Mom and I always associate with our Panama Canal cruise tablemates.\u00a0 For them, and in their honor, we snapped this photo, complete with baffling hotel etiquette instructions:<\/p>\n I wandered out to the local mini-mart as I was a little worried about grabbing even a short nap.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think I had a concussion from the shuttle van but I also didn\u2019t NOT think I had one.\u00a0 It just seemed prudent to keep moving a bit before committing to a bit of a snooze.\u00a0 So I went and bought two Diet Cokes (AKA Coca-Cola Lights).\u00a0 The clerk asked if I wanted \u201cpequenas\u201d or \u201cgrandes.\u201d\u00a0 If someone asks if you are a god, you say, \u201cyes!\u201d\u2026 and if someone asks if you want a grandes Coca Cola Light, you bet your sweet bippy the answer is \u201cyes!\u201d\u00a0 As an added bonus, on the walk to and fro, I was able to snap my first Moai picture:<\/p>\n Upon my return bearing 4000 Chilean peso currency Coca Cola Lights, we did have our half day tour at 3 PM.\u00a0 Our guide Christian and driver Gabriel were both delightful.\u00a0 However, we were the only people picked up at this hotel and then we went over to where Marathon Tours is based.\u00a0 The MT folks filled three and a half buses.<\/p>\n The ensuing three-hour tour took us to three separate stops around the island.\u00a0 The first was to the largest volcano and its caldera, locally known as Orongo.<\/p>\n From there, we headed over to the ocean side of the area to hear tell of the Birdman Cult and Hunger Games\/Survivor gameshow of the last 200 years of self-rule.\u00a0 This annual contest had each tribe on the island put forth their best competitor who then trained for three months before embarking on a physical and mental challenge to capture the first egg of the returning migratory bird and return it to Rapa Nui proper.\u00a0 The first champion to do so would bring his tribe\u2019s chief to the king\u2019s throne for the next year.\u00a0 Kevin Reynolds would make a not-entirely successful film about this contest, appropriately called \u201cRapa Nui.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve been meaning to show it to Mom for months and have it on a USB stick.\u00a0 Maybe we\u2019ll watch it while we\u2019re on the island.<\/p>\n As part of the training and the contest, homes were built near the cliff face starting\/finish line.\u00a0 These buildings had low entrances that required occupants to crawl into the carved out\/built up rooms.\u00a0 I told Mom given my experiences today at the airport that I\u2019d definitely conk my head getting in and out of those houses!<\/p>\n This was followed closely by a quick photo opp at Rano Kao, a view of the wetlands of fresh water inside the caldera.<\/p>\n We ended the day at Vinapu to see two ahus, the large platforms for a series of Moais.\u00a0 Here toppled Moais destroyed during the great war of tribal factions in the mid-19th<\/sup> century were strewn about the grounds, figures lying face down as insults to conquered rivals, partial heads exposed to the sun amidst the grassy fields.\u00a0 Of all the Moais on the island, apparently four are female carvings and one such one was here, albeit missing its head.\u00a0 The majority are male figures, indicative of the patriarchal society.\u00a0 Indeed, as part of the Birdman Cult contest, selected virgins from tribes were secluded inside caves to whiten their skin and make them \u201cmore pure\u201d as prizes for the contestants.\u00a0 Even in the Polynesian triangle, the abhorrent notion prevailed that the more white skinned, the more pure a person.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s me with an exposed head, an up-close and personal Moai encounter.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n