#isladepascua

On our last day, we continued the trend of waking up quite late and got our rest. We had planned to drive to Anakena, the only real sand beach on the island, to read our books and hang out, but it was pouring with rain. We weren’t sure if we should even leave at all, as we knew we would get ridiculously wet. However, after a minute we decided we had to go. We knew we’d regret it if we didn’t make it to Anakena.

We put on our rain jackets, only packed the bare minimum, and hopped on the ATV to go out in the rain. It became less torrential as we got further out toward the coast, and we loved the way that the warm winds felt as we flew back along the island. I unfortunately didn’t bring my camera this day, as I didn’t want it to be destroyed by the rain, but the iphone photos below will do.

Our first stop was Puna Pau, the quarry where the red “hats” that many of the moai had were carved.

Next was Ahu Akivi, another ceremonial platform meant to represent the young explorers sent to find Rapa Nui before it was officially colonized by the Polynesian people.

(rainy phone = photos like this)

Last was Anakena, a beautiful white sand beach and ceremonial platform where we spent some time watching the waves. It was so warm there despite the moisture in the air, and it was an absolute dream of a place.

We then took off to return home, stopping to offroad a bit and get quite muddy before dropping the ATV back at the rental place. That thing was so worth it for the 24 hours we had it.

We then called Urpi and asked if we could come buy dreamcatchers, and she instantly said yes and invited us to her home. She greeted us with the typical hug and kiss despite our muddy state, and she then told us to pick out which maracuya root we wanted to frame our dreamcatcher and the colors and stones we wanted in its interior. This was so special! She told us she would send them over to our house later in the day.

When we returned to the house, we had once (tea and bread and avocado) with Zalo, Priscilla, and Kapua. We had a few final conversations and said a smiling goodnight, dreamcatchers in hand.

The next morning, we got big hugs from both of them before we left and found a note that Kapua left with drawings for us. We were truly sad to leave, which wasn’t something we had felt on any other trip. Rapa Nui made my heart feel full, and I must come back one day.

Kapua left us a note: