Our adventure on Rapa Nui, the original name for Easter Island, continues. Mornings on Rapa Nui have started with a pattern for us these last days. After short rain showers, the thick humidity always settles in and, slowly, the tropical heat inevitably rises. On day 7, we mostly laid back at our accommodation and let the slow island pace take over. The humid heat wrapped around us like a towel. Our two fans were the only small saviors, tirelessly blowing our hair. Only in the later afternoon, we got a little dressed up again. We ended day 7 with a walk to the coast and a self-guided sunset at Ahu Tahai.
I had read about Ahu Tahai for sunset before our arrival on Rapa Nui. It’s one of the few sites where you don’t need the Rapa Nui National Park ticket. The tickets are available for 10 days only and so wouldn’t cover our entire trip. That’s why we didn’t buy ours right away.
This sunset was a little disturbed by a drone’s bumming and a military ship’s silhouette at the horizon. Two Rapa Nui guards constantly blew their whistles to deter tourists from taking the wrong steps on historic rocks. These endeavors seemed so unnatural. This feeling intensifies when considering that only about 10 percent of the islanders speak their original language. English and Spanish have taken over the last century. Today, the Rapa Nui language is even considered endangered. I’m wondering how much tradition and history will remain after another century.
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