As we were getting closer to Easter island we saw rainbows outside the windows. It was 5 hours of flying over water and we only saw one tiny island during that entire time. That is how remote this Island is. The runway is 3.5 km long which is gigantic! It was lengthened and improved by NASA in cast the shuttle ever needed to land here. However there is not enough travel here to justify a large terminal with a jetway. So we had to plug everything down stairs from the plane. We disembarked our guide Patricia met us with a smile and leis. The national park closes at 5PM so we wasted no time and drove immediately to the Rano Kao crater. It acts as a giant rainwater catch basin. It is a microclimate that has freshwater reeds growing in it. A type of microorganism was cultured from the leaves of a ferns growing in the crater and a new antibiotic called Rapamycin was developed from it. The water then filters down through the porous volcanic rock to the aquifer. This side of the island is where the birdman competition took place, but more on that later.
So far out there
Rainbows
An auspicious start
There it is!
Stairs
Thar she blows
The Rano Kao crater
So happy to be here
From the other side of the crater
Our tour guides van
