Lorana! (Rapa Nui for hello). This is a little late due to problems with my internet...but nevertheless I just went on my third and final Rotary trip to Easter Island! Also known as Rapa Nui (the native word) and Isla de Pascua (Spanish). 5 days on a tropical island filled with so much magic and mystery with 50 exchange students from all around the world. Needless to say it was absolutely incredible. We toured the entire island, saw almost all of the Moai's, went to beautiful beaches, ate some of the best fruit in the world, rode horses to the highest point of the island, went to a Rapa Nui night club, took millions of pictures, and went to a native dance show. This trip definitely holds some of my best memories from this year.
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| arriving at the airport on Rapa Nui & being greeted with fresh flowers |
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| jumping in front of the only moai with the completed eyes |
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| with Macie at a volcanic crater |
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| Posing with the girls in front of the only moai's facing the ocean (The rest face towards the island to offer protection. They do not know why these face the ocean but they assume they face where the original inhabitants came from: Poleynesia |
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| At the Moai Factory- the volcano where all of the carved Moai's came from. The ones scattered around the Moai were never transported to their final locations. |
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| kissing a Moai <3 |
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| Ahu Tongariki: the famous 15 Moai by the ocean |
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| Rapa Nui man who scaled a coconut tree to fetch fresh coconuts to sell |
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| Drinking fresh coconut juice fetched from the man in the above picture at a beach. |
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| We met the first lady of Chile! |
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| All of the girls with our awesome bus driver/tour guide Jimmy |
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| our two tour buses that took us all around the island for the week |
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| We went horseback riding to the highest point of the island where you can see all 360º of the surrounding ocean. |
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| Hanging out at the top of the island |
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| Getting our faces painted at a dance show |
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| Two of the dancers |
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| Posing with one of the dancers |
Easter Island had such a simple beauty. The lush rolling hills, the beautiful beaches filled with palm trees, the clean humid air, the gorgeous tropical flowers, the delicious fruit that grows everwhere, the crystal clear Pacific waters, and of course the mystical Moai. I completely fell in love with everything.
Out of my three Rotary trips (Patagonia, the North, and Easter Island), I honestly can't choose which one was the best. They are all so different that it is impossible to compare them. Special thanks to my lovely parents for letting me go on all 3 trips- I'm so lucky to only be 18 and have already traveled to such exotic places. I love my life here <3
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