When I told people I was going to Easter Island, the top three responses were:

1. Cool! I don’t know anyone that has been to Easter Island.
2. Easter Island… Is that where the big heads are?
3. (Blank face)… What is Easter Island?

Having seen Easter Island featured in many travel websites/magazines, I had always been intrigued by the place; however, its remote location made it difficult to visit over a week-long vacation. So, it was a perfect destination for my 2019 South America travel plans once I was unbridled from the day-to-day obligations of a full-time job.

Upon researching all of the options for accommodations, it became clear that the best choice on the island was Explora Rapa Nui. While I had opted for Explora’s competitor, Tierra, in Patagonia, the Explora property on Easter Island was the clear winner in terms of offerings and hospitality. After experiencing Tierra Patagonia, I had high expectations for Explora since the program was supposed to be pretty similar: high-end, all inclusive resort, luxurious rooms, and custom-tailored excursions with small groups and expert guides.

Were my dangerously high expectations met? Keep reading…

Day One: Almost Didn’t Make it to Easter Island

There are only a couple daily flights offered to Easter Island, typically from Santiago. LATAM also offers a weekly flight to/from Fiji and Easter Island, which I would have loved to have taken advantage of if I didn’t NEED to be in Japan for cherry blossom season.

I opted for the nonstop SCL>IPC LATAM flight on a 787-9 Dreamliner that departed Santiago at 9:30am. A business class ticket wasn’t that much more expensive than a coach seat and the aircraft was a Dreamliner, so it was an easy decision to book business. I was expecting an easy domestic check-in/security experience, but I still arrived just over two hours early to be safe. I had checked in online, had a mobile boarding pass and wasn’t checking a bag, so getting to the gate was a breeze.

During my hour-plus wait at the gate, I read and tried to ignore the woman from South Carolina sitting behind me and droning on and on about her love for cruises (she was flying to Easter Island to begin a cruise). I probably should have just gone to the lounge, but oh well. They finally started boarding and I got in my place in the priority line. As I neared the front of the line, I realized that everyone had immigration papers that they were handing to the gate agent. What??? Where did those come from?

Well, I had somehow missed a crucial step in the process for boarding a flight to Easter Island. The gate agent told me to stand to the side, and then another woman turned up with a similar problem (although she actually had a completed form, but hadn’t received the official immigration paper). Another agent explained everything in Spanish (I caught about one out of every three words) and then started walking us away from the gate. She gave us some more instructions, then pointed to have me follow the other woman. Okay…

We walked even farther away from the gate, me following slightly behind and wishing that my fellow rule-breaker had a more highly elevated sense of urgency (she was seriously dragging her feet). We eventually arrived at an immigration area and started talking to the officers about our issue. They then instructed me to go all the way back to the check-in desks to get an Easter Island immigration form. “But my flight is leaving in 30 minutes!” I protested. They didn’t care.

I had no choice. I headed back to the LATAM check-in area, where an agent immediately sensed my distress and offered to help. I tried to explain my situation to him and he attempted to check me in again. “No, no, no, that’s not the problem.” Finally, he understood and went to get me the necessary immigration form. “Your flight is now, no?” He asked me, his eyes wide with concern. “Yes!” I affirmed. He then escorted me to the international immigration area, where a long queue was formed. “Gracias!” I told him, although he kept standing beside me. “I work for tips… my salary… I work for tips,” he explained to me in broken English. Wait, seriously? Whatever, I was desperate. I prayed to the travel gods for good karma and handed him 10,000 pesos (about $15). 

Over the next stressful ten minutes, I contemplated if I should be the rude American asking to skip the line, but decided against it. In theory, I should still have ten minutes to get back to the gate before they closed the door. And they knew I was coming back, right? Maybe they’d hold the plane for me?

Finally, my turn with an immigration officer. And… denied. “You need to go to the domestic immigration area,” she told me. I didn’t bother explaining to her that it was counterintuitive to have a domestic immigration area and turned around. Time to start running.

I passed the LATAM check-in area once again, cursing the agent that had the guts to ask me for a tip after bringing me to the WRONG place. Since when do airline employees expect tips, and on top of that, I’m tipping for incompetence and inconvenience? Ridiculous, but I had no time to be bitter. If I missed this flight, it would mean at least another night in Santiago and a forfeiture of a night at the Explora Rapa Nui (not to mention one less day in Easter Island).

I found my way to the domestic immigration area, which thankfully had no line. I approached the same officer I had initially spoken with about not having my completed Easter Island form. This time, I had the form, I just hadn’t been able to complete it since I had been running from queue to queue. No problem, he said, indicating that I just needed to sign the form and answer a few basic questions about where I was staying and the length of my stay on Easter Island. Then he printed out my official paper and sent me on my way to go through a very efficient security process (again). Thank the heavens, I was finally catching a break.

I motored my way back to gate 20B, where nobody was remaining in the seating area and “LAST CALL” was flashing on the monitors. It was 9:20 and the flight was scheduled to depart at 9:30. I pleadingly looked at the gate agents while shoving my immigration paper in their faces. And… I was safe! I settled into seat 2C, sweaty and red-faced, but so relieved to have avoided a travel snafu. 

The flight itself was decent, but let’s get to the main event already.

I was one of the first people out of the airport since I hadn’t checked a bag. I surveyed the crowd of greeters holding signs and armfuls of tropical leis. The weather was sunny, warm, and humid, and I had flashbacks of arriving in Hawaii. However, I didn’t see any Explora signs in the sea of people. At this point, I had very little panic left in me, so I hung back and waited, figuring I was early and someone would show up soon. It was a bit annoying given that Explora is the top-of-the-line option in Easter Island and seemingly every other property was already there, but I was ready to roll with the punches.

After a few minutes, I spotted a couple people with Explora signs and headed over. One of the drivers took my bag, draped a lei over my head and escorted me to the van, where I waited for three couples to join me.

It was approximately a fifteen minute drive to the property, and we had a guide explaining the setup to us. We’d arrive, they’d provide a tour of the resort, we’d have some time for lunch, we’d settle into our rooms and we’d get to do our first short excursion (Explora calls them “explorations”) at 3:30pm. Sounded great to me.

The property itself reminded me a lot of Tierra Patagonia; a long, single-story, undulating building perched atop a small hill with a view of the Pacific Ocean. There was an “Exploration” area to the right of Reception, then a lounge, the bar, and two areas for dining: one more relaxed (fluffy white sofas and no air conditioning) and one more formal (standard dining room tables and chairs). Every single room faced the ocean, although the view obviously was not as impressive or dramatic as Torres del Paine. 

After a light lunch of gazpacho and salad during which the server asked me multiple times if I was sure I didn’t want wine (for once, I did not), I headed to my room. All wood and stone with tall ceilings, the design felt modern, yet natural. The space was adorned with fluffy white pillows and a few pleasant pops of color. Spotting the outdoor pool downhill from my room, I rushed to unpack and headed down to lounge in the pleasant weather for the short time remaining before my first exploration.

At 3:28, I headed to the Exploration area, where I found a small cluster of confusion (I quickly learned that this was par for the course) as guests milled about and the guides attempted to find their designated groups. I was in a group with two of the couples that had arrived on the same flight: Jane and Bruce, who split their time between Florida and Michigan, and Cathy and Glenn, who were from Chicago. Our guide was Nico, a fit Chilean with a terrific smile.

Our first exploration would be a leisurely walk to the ocean, where we would get our first dose of Rapa Nui history and lore. Easter Island is most famous for its moai, statues that were built out of volcanic rock by Polynesian people that arrived on the island by boat. These statues represented their ancestors and it is understood that they were built to protect and look over the people that still lived. However, hundreds of years ago, all of the moai toppled over. It is unknown exactly how or why the moai fell, but theories are that some were the result of natural causes (earthquakes, tsunamis, entropy), but many were the result of warfare and unrest after Europeans first arrived on the island, killing a number of the Rapa Nui people and bringing smallpox and other pests. 

A number of the moai have since been restored, but many still remain in situ (or fallen over). On this first exploration, we were introduced to some of the un-restored moai. 

Nico also told us a bit more about the island. We learned that there are something like 800 caves (don’t quote me on that) all around the island, and we had the chance to chill (literally – it provided natural air conditioning) in one of them.

Rather than walking back to Explora, our driver Esteban was waiting for us with a van and a table set up with sparkling wine, beers, sodas and snacks. 

We returned back to Explora around 6pm to chat with Nico about the options for explorations the following day. Unlike Tierra Patagonia, all excursions were typically booked the day prior (at Tierra, I planned my entire itinerary on my first day). At first I was a little disappointed because not all excursions were offered every day. However, I learned that Explora had five “essential” excursions and they helped to guide you to ensure that you were able to hit all five during your stay. Another difference was that all of the explorations were half day adventures. A typical day would start with breakfast followed by an excursion around 9am, a return to the hotel for lunch at 1pm, a departure for the second excursion around 3pm, then back to Explora to plan the next day at 6pm, wrapped up with dinner and drinks. It wasn’t a bad setup.

After freshening up from our walk, I headed to the bar, where the 7:30pm show of local dancing was under way. I sat next to Glenn, who was sipping a martini while Cathy was showering. I laughed watching an outrageous blonde woman dancing along in her seat while her husband jokingly rolled his eyes.

Once the show was complete, Cathy and Glenn were nice enough to invite me to eat dinner with them. They were in the middle of a month-long Chile trip and assured me that it would be a welcome change to sit with someone that hadn’t been doing the exact same thing that they had done together for the past two weeks. They had also stayed at Tierra Patagonia, and we realized that our stays had probably overlapped even though we hadn’t met.

Glenn was actually the “Chatty Cathy” of the duo, while Cathy was more reserved, but very warm and intelligent. We talked a lot about travel, careers (Glenn was retired; Cathy was still working, but had her own consulting business and some flexibility) and family. The crux of their entire trip was actually going to happen the next day, which was Cathy’s 70th birthday. They planned to watch the sun rise over Tongariki, the platform with fifteen moai (the largest restored platform and probably the most iconic view on the island). 

After dessert, Cathy and Glenn returned to their room, while I stayed in the lounge to take advantage of the wifi. Another difference between Explora and Tierra was that Explora did not offer wifi in the rooms. I understood the intent to encourage people to disconnect and fully embrace the experience, but there were times that I did find it annoying that I couldn’t respond to emails or work on my blog without hanging out in a common area. Oh well, time for bed.

Day Two: Birdman and Tongariki

I woke up early on my first full day (Easter Island is two hours behind Santiago), when the sky was just starting to brighten. The sun didn’t actually rise until after 8am, which I had grown accustomed to throughout my South America travels.

I had opted for the Birdman hike for my morning excursion. After Patagonia, I was eager to experience some more trekking and Birdman was one of the five essential experiences recommended by Explora. Once again, my guide was Nico, and today I would be accompanied by a Brazilian couple and an Asian couple living in Canada.

The hike itself was a great mix of physical activity, a variety of breathtaking views and fascinating history.

I was at the front of the pack with Nico, so I mostly chatted with him. He was a bit more serious than some of the guides that I had loved in Patagonia, but he was still very sweet and fun to talk with. I learned that he planned to stay on Easter Island for two more years (he had already been there for two years), and then wanted to move to Queenstown, New Zealand to become a skydiving instructor. He had only been to Queenstown once and he had only been skydiving one time, but I had to appreciate that he had a dream.

We compared notes on our daily lives (well, my daily life before quitting my job). In his free time on the island, he liked to swim and free dive to depths over 30 feet. He admitted that he liked beer, but there weren’t really bars on the island. Instead, he and his friends would meet for casual house parties, where they would barbecue fish over natural stone grills. I introduced Nico to the concept of brunch (he was not familiar with the term), complete with bottomless mimosas. His mind was blown.

Once we had circled the entire crater, it was time for a history lesson. Nico told us about the Birdman competition that the Rapa Nui people had created to restore order after the Europeans arrived and chaos ensued. Every year in September, about 12-15 men would participate in this weeks-long competition to win the prize of becoming the chief for the next year.

The competition would begin with a run down the steep crater, followed by a dangerous climb down jagged rocks (some men would fall to their deaths) and a swim through shark-infested waters to one of the small islands off the coast. Then, they would wait for the manu tara birds to begin laying eggs. The first man to capture an egg would tie it to his forehead, swim back to the main island, climb up the dangerous rocks again and trek up to the top of the crater, where his patron would be named the winner/new chief for a year, when the entire process would begin again. Apparently, Kevin Costner made a film about the competition back in the 90s, and I definitely should have watched it before arriving on the island.

We returned to Explora in time for a quick lunch and then I was off on my next exploration to see the famed 15 moai at the Tongariki site. My guide for this excursion would be Dale, a gregarious American from Chicago with a PhD in archaeology. He had spent most of the last seventeen years on Easter Island and was dating a local Rapa Nui woman, so he had definitely earned some credibility. He initially struck me as a little annoying, but he quickly grew on me. He was knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter, and even though he talked A LOT, he sprinkled in plenty of jokes and anecdotes that kept things light and fun.

Joining me were the Brazilians from the morning and Kathy (I actually don’t know if she spells her name with a “K” but I’m going to go with it to differentiate from the other Cathy) and Mike from Mountain View, California. Kathy was the blonde woman that I had been laughing at over the dancing show the previous night, and she let it slip that she had enjoyed multiple margaritas over lunch. Oh boy, I thought. However, she quickly grew on me as well. She admitted that she had no filter and would apologize after saying something potentially offensive, but she clearly didn’t mean any harm and just wanted to have a good time. We were on vacation after all. She also was very curious and fascinated with the Rapa Nui history and culture, so I couldn’t find fault with that. Mike was her sly and sarcastic sidekick, finding any opportunity to tease someone (always with good intentions).

Once at the site, Dale provided a thorough explanation of every single archaeological piece. In addition to the 15 restored moai, Tongariki also features a number of toppled moai strewn around the land, the ruins of some ancient houses and some petroglyphs. It is known that this area did suffer damage from a tsunami, which explains why the moai were found randomly scattered far away from their platform, or “ahu”. Dale also pointed out the red top-knot (or “pukao”) that one of the moai was wearing. There are a number of theories about what the top-knot represents, both literal and figurative. But I’m not writing an anthropology blog, so I’ll leave it at that.

Dale handed out beers at the end of the excursion, which we were able to drink in the van back to Explora. He provided a recap of our afternoon, calling out the key takeaways. It was a little bit like being in a class, but I appreciated the effort. As we pulled in to the bumpy, un-paved road to the hotel, he asked us to each choose a word that encompassed everything that we had learned during the excursion. I selected “progress,” for better or worse.

We were encouraged to order cocktails before sitting down to plan our activities for the next day. Kathy headed to the bar to order two margaritas and a piña colada (for her and Mike). I asked Mike about the margaritas; he said they preferred basic lime margaritas on the rocks that weren’t sweet and that Explora’s margaritas were to their liking. “Perfect,” I said, getting up to order one for myself. “Stay here. You can have one of ours,” he told me. “We don’t need three drinks for the two of us.” Since all drinks were included with our nightly rate, I wasn’t going to protest. 

Kathy returned to find the camera she thought she had lost sitting on her chair (in fact, it had been in her backpack all along, but Mike and I conspired to play a joke on her). We all had a good laugh and our first round of drinks quickly turned into two. As we neared the starting time for the history lecture that evening, I headed back to my room to shower. If I stayed for the lecture, I wouldn’t be getting to dinner until almost 9:30pm (which was very late for this place).

When I eventually made it to dinner, I found Cathy and Glenn finishing their entrees at a table by the window. I chose the table next to them and we ended up chatting through my entire meal. It was Cathy’s birthday and she said the sunrise had been spectacular (yay!) She was then surprised with a traditional birthday crown and cake. They ordered more wine while I finished my meal (complete with birthday cake!) and we ended up retiring to the lounge for more wine before calling it a night.

One of the reasons I had chosen both Tierra Patagonia and Explora Easter Island was the forced social interaction, and as a solo traveler, I was so happy with my choice. Participating in small group activities bonds everyone together, and the fact that all meals and drinks were included made it really easy to invite people to eat as a group since you didn’t have to worry about any awkward arguments about who is going to foot the bill. I found that I met even more people at Explora for one main reason: the explorations were all half day events, meaning there were more excursions and more opportunities to meet people. However, I wouldn’t have changed anything about my experience at Tierra Patagonia.

Day Three: Beach and the Quarry

On my second full day, I planned to knock off two more of the essential excursions on the list. Once again, I began at 9am for a 7 km hike along the water on the north side of the island, finished off with some time at Anakena Beach. My guide for today would be Ata (I may be spelling that incorrectly, but that’s what the label on his radio stated). Ata was a tall, soft-spoken Rapa Nui, born and raised on the island. He was nice enough, but I found him to be the least enthusiastic of all the guides. He seemed to only be doing the bare minimum in terms of explaining things to us. Oh well, I was happy to enjoy a beautiful walk.

My excursion companions were Jane and Bruce (from my very first day) and a new couple, Robin and Charles from Florida. I chatted with Jane the most; she and Bruce reminded me of my first serious boyfriend’s parents, whom I adored. They were athletic, social, well-traveled, and active in their yacht club. Although retired, Bruce was the chairman of the board for the US Olympic Sailing Team (a volunteer position) and they planned to bring their kids to Tokyo for the Games the following year. At one point, Jane mentioned that I was probably around the same age as her daughter. “I have a feeling that I’m probably older than you think I am,” I said to her. “She’s 27,” Jane told me. Oh, what a compliment. “Yeah… I’m actually 37,” I informed her. This had been happening a lot. Perhaps people in their 60s have a hard time differentiating between people in their 20s and 30s, but I didn’t mind at all.

We finally made it to our destination: Anakena Beach. I actually had low expectations for the beach since most of the island was covered in rocks and there were also very few trees (more on this later). I was also worried that the water was going to be cold. However, we were in for a pleasant surprise. We arrived at a palm tree-filled beach with soft sand, clear blue water and a set of restored moai. 

I quickly changed into my swimsuit and giddily ran into the waves to cool off in the 75 degree water. Honestly, I could’ve stayed at the beach all afternoon. It was so pleasant and beautiful, and we all joked that we felt extra safe with the moai as our lifeguards. 

However, Explora had an agenda for us and we had to get back to the resort to have lunch and prepare for our afternoon excursions. I will say that by the end of the trip, I was a little burnt out on the intense scheduling. I did enjoy all of the explorations and I wanted to experience as much as I could while I was on the island, but I was ready for some more spontaneity after going, going, going for so long (and I sensed that from other guests as well; a number of people opted to take a morning or afternoon off at some point during their stay).

That afternoon I was scheduled to visit the quarry, which was the location where the Rapa Nui sourced all of the basalt for the moai and did most of the carving. I had heard it was a highlight, and I will say it helped to provide the full picture of how these people actually created these impressive statues with minimal tools at their disposal. I had a new guide, Ricky, who was from the mainland and had met his Rapa Nui girlfriend while guiding in the Atacama Desert (she was visiting as a tourist). Fast forward three years and they had a two year old daughter together.

My group consisted of Kathy and Mike, who had enjoyed several margaritas at lunch again (no judgment!) and a new group of five that had just arrived the previous day. They were an eclectic mix: two lesbians (Sally and Deanna) and their friends Bari, Carrey and Mailin (I am guessing that I am butchering at least three out of five of those names). All from the States, most of them appeared to be in their 60s (safe bet given the rest of the crowd), except for Mailin, who was much closer to my age. Kathy and Mike were on their last full day and had already visited the quarry, but liked it so much they were returning for round two.

Ricky was on the serious side, but very talkative and knowledgeable. We walked up and down and around the quarry and saw over a hundred moai still at least partly underground and in various stages of completion. I found it interesting that the more I learned, the more questions I had that nobody could answer. There is so much mystery surrounding the moai and the Rapa Nui people; I can understand why an archaeologist like Dale would be drawn to the place. So many basic questions are still unknown; for example: How long did it take to make a moai statue? (Estimates are 3-6 months). How were these statues moved? (The Rapa Nui say it was “manna,” basically magic power, but there are several other scientific hypotheses). Why exactly were all of the moai eventually toppled? (I covered the theories on this question above, so it’s your fault if you haven’t been paying attention). There are no definitive answers, which was somewhat frustrating, but also fascinating.

Back at the van, Kathy, Mike and I grabbed some roadie beers and we all headed out on a final stroll past some more moai in situ, then drove back to Explora. I had told Ricky that I quit my job and would be looking for new opportunities in 2020. As we walked into the lodge together, he mentioned that the owner of Explora was planning to expand into other regions around the world (they currently only have properties in South America). “Oh! That would be great! I’d love to be able to have this kind of travel experience in other parts of the world,” I said to Ricky. “Well, maybe you could get a job with Explora in the States,” he said. OMG – maybe I could! The wheels in my brain started turning and I added Explora brand ambassador/head of operations to my list of career options for 2020 (after Patagonia hiking guide, haha). I may not have any experience working in the travel industry, but I have a decent amount of experience growing companies and I am amassing plenty of experience traveling, so maybe Ricky was onto something there. But I had plenty of time to figure that out.

I was now on the margarita train with Kathy and Mike, so I ordered one with them and then sat with Ricky to plan my itinerary for my final full day. I was excited to see snorkeling listed as an option for the afternoon since the conditions had been deemed unsafe the previous days. I wanted to do a hike in the morning, but there were really only bike rides being offered as active explorations, and I still hadn’t completed the fifth suggested excursion: the cave tour. Fine, I’d check out the caves. Explora hadn’t steered me wrong yet.

Because we arrived back so late from the quarry, I grabbed a quick and unventful bite alone in the dining room. I was going to order a nightcap Manhattan and check email in the lounge, but then saw Kathy and Mike and started chatting with them. They invited me to join them and one nightcap eventually turned into two. We of course talked about travel (they were fascinated by my itinerary and delighted in hearing me list destination after destination). They had a son who was also taking time off to travel, although under somewhat different circumstances. We talked about family and bonded over the unfortunate fact that we both have immediate family members afflicted by chronic conditions that prevent them from living “normal” lives. I loved asking all of these couples that had been together for 30+ years how they had met. While I am, um, seasoned enough to know that no relationship or marriage is perfect, I was impressed that everyone had managed to stay together for so long and were able to go on these long, demanding trips without killing each other. I was still very happy to be traveling by myself, however!

Day Three: Caves and Snorkeling Hiking

On my last full day, I awoke to an overcast sky with periodic bursts of sun. Like Patagonia, the weather on Easter Island is temperamental, and like other subtropical climates, rain will come and go, very heavy at times. I had been lucky to not experience any rain yet, but it seemed that my luck may have run out. Oh well, I had my rain jacket and a brief shower was always a nice way to cool off in warm, humid climates.

My guide was Dale once again, which I was pleased with. Otherwise, I had all new people in my group: a couple from Germany and a family of three from Chicago (mom, dad, tween daughter). “Spring break?” I asked Karen, the mom. “Next week… we’re cheating and took her out of school a week early.” “Ohh, lucky you,” I said to Jenny, the daughter. She just sighed. Ah… I guess I wouldn’t have considered myself lucky to be taken away from my friends for a week to go on a trip that was basically a big history/archaeology lesson with a bunch of adults when I was in sixth grade. I’m sure she will look back later in life and be amazed that she had the chance to go to a place like Easter Island when she was only 13 years old.

Well, we got rained on during the cave tour, but Dale did a good job of controlling the Rapa Nui rain gods to find us shelter during the worst parts of the periodic downpours. Highlights of the day included:

I also talked with Dale about the deforestation of the island, since I had heard a few differing accounts at this point and wanted the perspective from the guy with a PhD. Once again, there are no definitive answers here, but my understanding of what is known is this: the island once had approximately 20 million palm trees. The Rapa Nui began to cut and burn the trees to make space for agricultural land. Sheep and rats were introduced to the island, which impacted regrowth (for example, the rats would eat the the seeds of the trees). There was also a period of climate change that affected regrowth. Some trees have been re-planted in recent years (for example, eucalyptus was introduced to provide shade for sheep), but the island remains mostly very bare and exposed.

One of the common themes that I observed in both Patagonia and Easter Island was the introduction of foreign animals and plants, and the effects on the environment. Sometimes this is positive, but sometimes it is negative. I know this has been happening for centuries all over the world, but it was fascinating to be able to see the impacts firsthand in such undeveloped environments.

At the end of the morning, Dale once again asked us for our one all-encompassing word for the excursion. This wasn’t my favorite activity, but I appreciated that he made an effort to keep everyone engaged and thoughtful. I chose the word “protection,” related to both the caves and the moai, and Dale awarded me with two (worthless) points! Hey, I am unemployed and need all the positive reinforcement of my own self-worth that I can get.

Arriving back at Explora, Gary (father from the Chicago family) invited me to eat lunch with them. I happily accepted even if it meant I couldn’t check my email or respond to text messages for a while longer. I was on freaking Easter Island, I didn’t have a job and I had the opportunity to get to know some new people that were friendly enough to let me hang out with them for an hour or so. Real life could wait. 

Karen and Gary were younger than most of the people at Explora, but at least ten years my senior. I learned that they had both been married previously and had older kids from their first marriages in addition to Jenny. Karen was a healthcare attorney and Gary was a cardiologist. Gary had gone to Cal Tech for undergrad and was amazed to learn that my grandfather had also gone to school there before moving to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to work on the Manhattan Project. We all ordered wine with lunch and chatted away. At one point, Karen commented on the demographics of the guests at Explora: “It seems like a lot of people in their 60s who are recently retired and in a very active traveling and learning stage of their lives.” You hit the nail on the head, sister. We were the outliers here, although we all had at least one common bonding point: travel.

Poor Jenny was stressing out about the homework that she had to complete by Thursday. “She’s definitely our daughter,” said Karen as she was checking work email over lunch. “We didn’t think it was a big deal to take her out of sixth grade for a week (it’s only sixth grade!), but she’s so worried about falling behind.” In my opinion, Jenny was probably getting a better education spending five days on Easter Island, followed by a trip to the Atacama Desert. It wasn’t like she was just sitting on a beach! I could relate to the over-achieving Karen, Gary and Jenny, but was also very happy that I didn’t have to worry about work email for at least ten more months. I was stressing myself out enough about falling behind on my travel blog!

I waved goodbye to the friendly Midwesterners enjoying dessert and took a seat in the lounge to enjoy some wifi. Glenn was doing the same with a glass of wine. “What are you doing this afternoon?” He asked me. “Snorkeling, finally!” I said with glee. “Ooh, that was just cancelled,” he informed me. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.” Argh. I thanked him for letting me know and grabbed Diego (who runs all the explorations) to figure out alternate options. There were a couple of over-land experiences (lots of driving to points where you’d get out and listen to a guide while taking some pictures) and a hike he described as medium-high intensity. No way I wanted to sit in a van for the next couple of hours. I needed some physical activity. Hiking it was.

“Okay, the hike leaves at 2:45pm. It is now… 2:45pm,” Diego said as he checked his watch. Sure enough, the hiking crew had already left the meeting point. He grabbed his radio and raced out the door to stop the guide while I ran to my room to get my gear for the hike.

A few minutes later, I was in a van with the lesbian couple from the quarry the previous day and Sebastian, our guide. Sebastian had been born in Santiago, but grew up in Easter Island and had been a guide for about five years. We drove on an extremely bumpy road to the “trailhead.” Honestly, there wasn’t much of a trail; we hiked through weeds most of the time. I really hoped that Easter Island didn’t have ticks because getting Lyme disease was not on my list of things to do in life.

Sally and Deanna were a bit slower, but pretty good at keeping up. Sebastian was also pretty good at explaining the highlights along the trail and keeping things interesting. He explained that there were 110 dormant volcanoes on the island, and we were hiking around the three peaks that weren’t craters. 

I chatted a bit with Sebastian as we trekked; he told me he had spent a good amount of time in Brazil because he had been dating a Brazilian girl for a while. I responded that my brother currently had a Brazilian girlfriend of his own, although they lived in China now. “Wait… your American brother is dating a Brazilian girl, but they live in China?!” He exclaimed. “Yes, and they met in Singapore,” I responded. His mind was blown.

We reached the top of the peak and took some pictures. Sally explained the term “Kodak moment” to Sebastian. It was a great view of the island and although I was bummed to be missing snorkeling, I was happy to be able to see everything from above now that I had experienced all of the main areas up close and personal. It was a perfect way to wrap up the exploratory part of the trip.

But I still had one more night, and a morning. The Rapa Nui dancers were performing once again in the evening, so I headed to the bar after a shower, where I found Glenn, Jane and Bruce (Cathy would be joining shortly) enjoying the show. Kathy and Mike had left earlier in the day, but I ordered a margarita in their honor. At this point I felt like I knew pretty much everyone staying on the property, and I saw people all around me socializing with their new friends. It made me feel a little bit like I was at an exotic retirement community of sorts, but I was liking it!

Cathy very sweetly invited me to dinner with her and Glenn for our final night on the island. It was funny; everyone kept saying, “Unless you want to be by yourself,” when they offered to include me in their table. No way I was going to turn down an invitation from some interesting and friendly people (unless they were super annoying; fortunately, nobody was). One thing that I really admired about Cathy and Glenn was that while they both had their own careers, Cathy was the breadwinner of the two. Glenn really admired it as well; he credited the fact that they maintained separate bank accounts as one of the keys to their success as a couple. Glenn had been married before and had two sons close to my age (although he probably thought I was younger), while he and Cathy did not have any kids together.

I also enjoyed a little bit of gossip about fellow travelers with Cathy and Glenn. We had all been on the same flight from Santiago and had to suffer through the aforementioned very chatty woman from South Carolina while sitting in the oddly cold waiting area at the gate. I don’t recall how the topic even came up, but we realized that we all had the same fear that she would be staying at Explora with us… and the same sense of relief when she stated to everyone within hearing distance that she would be boarding a Silversea cruise that evening (and then went on an on about her love for cruises). We had also both noticed a family of three that had arrived at Explora the previous day (same timing as the Chicago trio… spring break). I hadn’t met them, but had heard the outspoken woman complaining about this and that in the dining room and at the bar. Glenn had heard they were from New York (fabulous, way to give us a good name), and we were all curious to know more about them, but it would remain a mystery.

Talking about mysteries, I think that was one of my biggest takeaways from my trip to Easter Island. Working at startups for most of my career, I have often felt like I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not comfortable with the “fake it until you make it” attitude, but I’ve realized more and more that this is commonplace across all industries. We as humans are still figuring things out, and while we’re taught early on that things are black and white, that there are right answers and wrong answers, many times that is not actually the case. Attempting to understand the history of the Rapa Nui at times reminded me a lot of working at a startup: you needed to be comfortable with ambiguity, you needed to be okay with dramatic pivots, and you ultimately needed to find your way with the data points that you had at hand.

Sitting with Cathy and Glenn at dinner, I thought about how nice it would be to bring my dad and my stepmom to an Explora property (jury is still out on whether I could convince my brother). While my dad and Diana are amazing travelers on their own, I know they’d appreciate the experience that Explora offers and it would be a great way for us to all be able to enjoy our own activities during the day, while reconvening for meals or for certain excursions we’d all want to do together. Added to my “2020 and Beyond” travel list.

As Cathy, Glenn and I were all leaving the next day (they were on the morning flight, I was on the afternoon flight), we reminisced about our experiences. We were all in agreement that we were ready to move on. While we enjoyed our time on Easter Island and would wholeheartedly recommend the place to friends, we felt like we had seen everything that there was to see and didn’t feel a need to return.

Easter Island marked the near conclusion to the first leg of my 2019 travels. I had one more night and day in Santiago, and then it was back to New York for five nights. I was nearly crying when I left Patagonia, and Chile earned a highly esteemed place in my heart and mind, but I was ready for some time at home. I had a long list of things to do and people to see back at home, and I needed to prepare for my next destination: Japan.

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