Published in South American Explorer magazine July 2009
Anne Supsic discovers that sometimes when you travel it's the people, not the place that you remember afterwards.
Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) is one of the most isolated places on earth, and lies about midway between Chile and Tahiti -- 4023 km west of Santiago. Formed by three volcanoes, Easter Island is a tiny triangle of land only 24 km long and 12 km wide. My husband and I get our first glimpse of the island when our plane does a flyby before turning to land. From the air, it looks totally uinhabited with bleak landscapes more like Mars than a tropical island.
After spending some relaxing days admiring stone statues, we were doing some last minute souvenir shopping on the main drag in Hanga Roa -- Easter Island’s only town -- when a tall, English-speaking islander with a friendly (if somewhat toothless) smile approached us. He asked the usual questions, where we were from and how we liked the island. Eventually, he introduced himself as 'Jorge' and then asked if he could give us US$60 to buy him a pair of his favorite shoes from Payless Shoe Stores in the US!
Jorge explained that while Payless would charge a fortune to ship the shoes to him, we could mail them for much less. We were a bit flabbergasted and suspicious of his request. After all, who would trust two total strangers enough to give them US$60 based on nothing more than a chance meeting on the street? I felt uneasy, but my husband figured if Jorge was willing to trust us with his US$60, why not help the guy out?
Jorge led us to an outdoor café table where he happily gave us his address (which consisted of little more than his name and 'Easter Island, Chile') plus all the specifics on his shoe size (11 wide), and his preferred shoe style (Hunter Bay). He was actually wearing a pair of his special Payless shoes looking due for replacement, so my detail-oriented, engineer husband whipped out his camera for some picture-taking. He even asked Jorge to remove one of his shoes for a better shot. Jorge hesitated for a moment saying, “It may not smell very good.” But eventually he gave in to my husband’s enthusiastic request.
Jorge described Easter as “his island.” Later we learned that he was a well-known character on the island and was even running for mayor of Hanga Roa. He gave enough money to cover both the cost of the shoes (US$39.99 as advertised on the Internet) and the shipping. In exchange, we gave him our email address and told him we would be in touch when we got back home. We shook hands, and Jorge told us he would come to the airport to see us off the next day. He sure was excited about getting another pair of those shoes.
The following morning at the airport, we wondered whether Jorge would show up as he had promised. It was a miserable rainy day, and I had my doubts. After we passed through Security, I said, “Well, Jorge can’t reach us now.” Just then, I sensed a large presence in a yellow slicker looming over us – it was Jorge! He thanked us again for helping him out and wished us well on our journey. Then we watched in amazement as Jorge nonchalantly walked out of our secured area, setting off the metal detector as he passed through. We expected to see drawn weapons and Jorge spread-eagled on the ground, but no one did a thing. I guess this really is his island!
When we returned home, we found Jorge's favorite shoes, exactly as he had described, at a nearby Payless Shoe Store. We packaged them up and sent them off to Easter Island. A few weeks later, a very happy Jorge sent us an email telling us how thrilled he was with his new Payless shoes.
Sometimes when you travel, a chance encounter can turn out to be one of the highlights of your trip.
Further Information:
For general information about Easter Island, see the travel guide "Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island." Other good web sources include http://Frommers.com, the comprehensive visitor guide available at http://islandheritage.org, and the one page summary at http://easterislandpage.com/.
Places to Stay: Contact the highly rated T’eora via their website at http://easterislandteora.bizland.com. Another recommended lodging is Residencial Tadeo y Lili (http://tadeolili.bizland.com/).
Places to Eat: Try the popular Te Moana restaurant for dinner and Tia Berta’s for a terrific tuna and cheese empanada. Also, don’t miss the delicious homemade ice cream at the small café down by the harbor.
How to Get There: LAN is the only airline servicing Easter Island with flights from Santiago, Chile or Papeete, Tahiti.
Anne Supsic is a travel writer who has previously been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Frommer's 'The Smart Traveler's passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers', and several other regional publications. All photographs by Frank Supsic.
Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) is one of the most isolated places on earth, and lies about midway between Chile and Tahiti -- 4023 km west of Santiago. Formed by three volcanoes, Easter Island is a tiny triangle of land only 24 km long and 12 km wide. My husband and I get our first glimpse of the island when our plane does a flyby before turning to land. From the air, it looks totally uinhabited with bleak landscapes more like Mars than a tropical island.
After spending some relaxing days admiring stone statues, we were doing some last minute souvenir shopping on the main drag in Hanga Roa -- Easter Island’s only town -- when a tall, English-speaking islander with a friendly (if somewhat toothless) smile approached us. He asked the usual questions, where we were from and how we liked the island. Eventually, he introduced himself as 'Jorge' and then asked if he could give us US$60 to buy him a pair of his favorite shoes from Payless Shoe Stores in the US!
Jorge explained that while Payless would charge a fortune to ship the shoes to him, we could mail them for much less. We were a bit flabbergasted and suspicious of his request. After all, who would trust two total strangers enough to give them US$60 based on nothing more than a chance meeting on the street? I felt uneasy, but my husband figured if Jorge was willing to trust us with his US$60, why not help the guy out?
Jorge led us to an outdoor café table where he happily gave us his address (which consisted of little more than his name and 'Easter Island, Chile') plus all the specifics on his shoe size (11 wide), and his preferred shoe style (Hunter Bay). He was actually wearing a pair of his special Payless shoes looking due for replacement, so my detail-oriented, engineer husband whipped out his camera for some picture-taking. He even asked Jorge to remove one of his shoes for a better shot. Jorge hesitated for a moment saying, “It may not smell very good.” But eventually he gave in to my husband’s enthusiastic request.
Jorge described Easter as “his island.” Later we learned that he was a well-known character on the island and was even running for mayor of Hanga Roa. He gave enough money to cover both the cost of the shoes (US$39.99 as advertised on the Internet) and the shipping. In exchange, we gave him our email address and told him we would be in touch when we got back home. We shook hands, and Jorge told us he would come to the airport to see us off the next day. He sure was excited about getting another pair of those shoes.
The following morning at the airport, we wondered whether Jorge would show up as he had promised. It was a miserable rainy day, and I had my doubts. After we passed through Security, I said, “Well, Jorge can’t reach us now.” Just then, I sensed a large presence in a yellow slicker looming over us – it was Jorge! He thanked us again for helping him out and wished us well on our journey. Then we watched in amazement as Jorge nonchalantly walked out of our secured area, setting off the metal detector as he passed through. We expected to see drawn weapons and Jorge spread-eagled on the ground, but no one did a thing. I guess this really is his island!
When we returned home, we found Jorge's favorite shoes, exactly as he had described, at a nearby Payless Shoe Store. We packaged them up and sent them off to Easter Island. A few weeks later, a very happy Jorge sent us an email telling us how thrilled he was with his new Payless shoes.
Sometimes when you travel, a chance encounter can turn out to be one of the highlights of your trip.
Further Information:
For general information about Easter Island, see the travel guide "Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island." Other good web sources include http://Frommers.com, the comprehensive visitor guide available at http://islandheritage.org, and the one page summary at http://easterislandpage.com/.
Places to Stay: Contact the highly rated T’eora via their website at http://easterislandteora.bizland.com. Another recommended lodging is Residencial Tadeo y Lili (http://tadeolili.bizland.com/).
Places to Eat: Try the popular Te Moana restaurant for dinner and Tia Berta’s for a terrific tuna and cheese empanada. Also, don’t miss the delicious homemade ice cream at the small café down by the harbor.
How to Get There: LAN is the only airline servicing Easter Island with flights from Santiago, Chile or Papeete, Tahiti.
Anne Supsic is a travel writer who has previously been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Frommer's 'The Smart Traveler's passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers', and several other regional publications. All photographs by Frank Supsic.
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