Feb 16th, 2020 Day 44 of 128

We not only made it safely to Easter Island, we safely made it ON to Easter Island. We were told that there was about a 50/50 chance that it would happen and we consider ourselves lucky that we did. The weather was beautiful. There was a 70% chance of rain in yesterdays forecast for today; this morning it was 4% and the skies stayed clear all day. It was warm, and clear and bright. We were quite overwhelmed with the size and grandeur of the Moai Statues we saw today. There are 5 main viewing spots on the Island and we got to visit four of the five. Including the quarry they believe most of the statues were actually constructed. In the picture below you can see two statues mid carving. No one really knows how the statues were transported around the island. Some have actually been knocked over throughout the years due to hurricanes. Archeologist from China came over and actually brought a crane to restore the statues to their original place and to build a base to minimize the chance of them falling over again. Some of the “hats” were damaged beyond repair so that is why there are many statues without them. I have so much more to learn about the origin of these statues. But suffice it to say that there is definitely a feeling of spirituality when you are at these sites. The rest of the island gave us such a peaceful feeling of familiarity to our beloved Hawaii. They share so many cultural traditions, music and love of the land. Since this is an island of Chile, everyone speaks Spanish, but there is also a part of the island that keeps the Hawaiian language alive. It is somewhere I would visit again, if I could get here. There is one flight that arrives here daily from Santiago, Chile and once a week a flight arrives from Tahiti. They average the arrival of about 12 ships per year. Take into consideration the 50/50 rule, that’s not a lot of tourist that visit here. I feel blessed beyond measure to have been granted this opportunity to have been to this beautiful island. We are off to sea now for a couple of days before we arrive at Pitcarin Island. We will not be getting off the ship there, but the ship will be bringing ambassadors onboard who bring arts and crafts to sell and share their culture with us for the day. We also give back another hour tonight. Putting us now just two hours ahead of CA time zone…we’ll be back to Pacific Time zone soon. Hugs and Love to you all. Enjoy the great pictures. Debra