Haere Va’e

When we were on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), we were of course barefoot.

But what about the inhabitants of the island? They have a long history of going barefoot. What did they do?

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You Know Where This Is Headed

A couple of days ago that haven of misinformed fluff, The Huffington Post, came up with another of their hard-hitting exposés. This time they tell you 11 Mistakes You’re Making In The Bathroom (And How To Fix Them).

Take a guess. Take a wild guess. What do you think one of the 11 mistakes involves?

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Quarry Quarry

The quarry that the moai were “mined” from was at the volcano Rano Raraku, over on the east side of the island.

We visited it now a week ago (but I’m still catching up wih the blog entries).

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On a Wing and a Prayer

There are of course plenty of tourists on Easter Island. Most arrive via the LAN daily flight.

But that’s not the only way to and from the Island.

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I’m On Top of the World

On Tuesday we headed up to the highest point on Rapa Nui—Easter Island. It was maybe a 4 mile hike up the side of an old volcano.

I figure I was the highest person with his feet on the ground in 2,200 miles.

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Saturday Comic

This weekend’s comic comes to us courtesy of Zero, noted “philosopher” of the Beetle Bailey comic strip.

This one appeared on April 4, 1963.

Beetle Bailey, April 3, 1963

 

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Just Like Living In Paradise

On Monday I’ll resume descriptions of the hikes and explorations of Easter Island.

Right now, though, I’ll show you a bunch of pictures that don’t go with any particular theme, except that they are all, in my opinion, spectacular.

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Among the Moai

On Monday we rented a car and started a tour of the island.

There are moai everywhere.

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Orongated

It was time to start exploring Easter Island. We started on the southern point, at the ruins of Orongo. Most folks think of Easter Island in terms of the stone heads, the moai, but before discovery, that was supplanted by a different religion/culture.

The culture of the Birdman was centered at the southern volcano, Rano Kau.

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Whatta Rapa Nui

I ended the last blog entry by saying that we (Machi, Alan, and I) were both leaving Chile and staying in Chile. Well, we left Chile by leaving Santiago and headed approximately 2300 miles across empty ocean to land on Easter Island, or to give it its native name, Rapa Nui.

But we stayed in Chile since Rapa Nui is part of Chile.

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Worry-Free Restauranting

When you’re a barefooter in the U.S. you end up creating all sorts of strategies to be able to eat in restaurants. Most times it is not a problem, but with a restaurant you’re much more likely to have something go wrong.

But there are places . . .

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Saturday Comic

Let’s try this one out.

Moai

 

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Up, Up, and Away

I’m heading off again on another of my “wild” adventures, and I don’t know just how reliable my internet connections will be. So, if you don’t see anything here, that’s the reason.

On the other hand, with any luck I’ll be able to document my peregrinations. So do check in.

I have pre-loaded some Saturday Comics, so there will be at least those.

Oh, and see if you can guess where I’m going, and what I’ll be doing. I’ve left a few hints in my postings over the last few months.

Meanwhile, feel free to use this posting as an Open Thread, and talk amongst yourselves.

 

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Colorful Characters — Machi

Our most colorful character for today is Renato Alvarado Renato, also known as “Machi”, and by “colorful” I mean “interesting” and “impressive”.

Where do I even begin?

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Why Not Risk Being Caught Barefooted?

That’s the title of a very interesting essay that appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette in September of 1951. It was the subject of a regular column called My America by a man named Harry Boyd.

I think it did a pretty good job of hitting the high points.

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