Horses Everywhere; Ireland in the Pacific

 I rented a bike as my primary means of transportation in Rapa Nui.  My Cabanas is about 1.3 miles from town which should not be much on a bicycletta (bike for those not fluent in Castilian Espanol).  But I didn’t reckon on the hills. It is all downhill to town which would be fine if I had a one way ticket. Tough after dinner and some wine going back  

I cycled around much of the island the other day including a long cycle along the coastal road to a pretty beach with some well preserved Maoi (appropriately facing away from the sea).  It was a great ride

Horses appear everywhere on the road   My guide told me, in between explaining the nuances of Rapa Nui politics, that horses are popular with the younger “cowboy” crowd. And it was easy to a get them cheap but, for those thinking of buying a few, watch out for the shipping

The whole place tended to remind me of a Pacific version of Ireland with all the green grass and coastal cliffs .  But Ireland never got into the Heads or Moais as we in Rapa Nui say. 

I also did a snorkel tour off shore. They say you can see 50+ meters in the water and I will say I have never seen such deep blue water (cobalt) and you could certainly see for many feet. I couldn’t believe the guide dove so deep, at least 80’or so.  I followed him and dove at least a meter, possibly 3.1.  Some pretty blue fish (maybe taking on the color of the water as camouflage) but not a lot of marine !life as I had read.  Maybe just too ‘far out there’ for the fish etc to get to Rap a Nui. A shame no cameras as the view to the island from the boat with all the sheer  cliffs was quite stunning and I couldn’t capture the beautiful color of the ocean.  The landward view reminded  me of the Irish Cliffs of Moher with the 600+’ foot sheer drops  

My bike and hike  to the highest point on the island - another extinct volcano (Maunga Teravaka) that sadly had been downgraded due to recent inactivity yielded some great views of much of the Island tho the cloudy conditions didn’t allow for the best pictures .  It was like hiking through an endless pasture with of course the ubiquitous horses along the way. About 1200’ and 5.5 miles and panoramas of the endless Pacific

 guide said that the pineapple grown on the island was the best in the world and I thought it quite good, though he also said he believed that all world religions originated in Rapa Nui and the Incas learned their skill with stone work from here.  No word on whether the idea for the iPhone originated in Rapa  Nui.