Stage Management - Part One
Introducing a new destination to a group of visitors involves quite a bit of specialist organisation, which at times is somewhat akin to stage management. It takes skill and some careful planning to ensure everyone’s experience fulfils their expectations and that they leave with a good impression. No, the very best impression of course.
Of course, we hadn't got off to the best of starts on our first morning in Rapa Nui and our late arrival had created challenges for our hosts. But here we were and it was time for us all to put our best foot forward.
Today, that was rather literal, for our tour vehicles were at the far end of the beach, up a grassy slope and parked there amongst the trees. There was some muttering and a degree of surprise as we hadn't quite pictured Easter Island to be a beach resort!
Our guide and driver were in the vehicle, ready to go though the guide was already grumbling, on his phone and eating his lunch as we went. First impressions so far?
Perhaps the view from the window summed it up. It had all been somewhat overwhelming in a different way from the one we'd expected. Another useful skill for a tour guide? Managing expectations.
We'd spent the morning building our hopes, had overcome the stress and anxiety of getting ourselves safely onshore and the hot and sticky hike to the vehicles. As our guide focused on his lunch and a couple of phone calls, we watched a surprising series of scenes through the window. At the moment I took the photo above, I was reminded of the New Forest. Was this really Easter Island?!
Passing the airport prompted our guide (whose name badge read TeVea) to share that there were two flights a day to and from Santiago, plus occasional private jets organised by National Geographic and similar organisations. I noted the Tsunami evacuation sign there by the gate too; a reminder of one of the dangers of living in this part of the world.
As we were driving down this muddy track, there seemed to be a change of plan, for we made a u turn and headed back the way we came for a while. Again, no explanation, but no sooner had we done that than another u turn returned us to the original plan. Oh my word. What was going on? (And we still hadn't really seen a moai beyond those on the beach where we'd landed)
Our destination had been the volcanic crater, now filled with a lagoon. We got out of the minibus and walked a short way, taking photos and enjoying the fresh air for ten minutes. Thankfully, it had stopped raining too.
Next, there came an opportunity to walk to a viewpoint to see the island to which islanders would swim to collect birds’ eggs, “45 minutes” said our guide, “steep climb and steep down again or you can wait in the bus”. With no further information I decided it wasn't for me and my Hero chose to be heroic and stay back too - we each had our books with us and so enjoyed a quiet time whilst most of the others went to the viewpoint. what did we miss? I have no idea.
From the viewpoint trailhead, we drove along a fairly busy road, through a small resort area filled with tourist accommodation and restaurants. From time to time we spotted what we thought was a moai, but how could we tell if it was real or a replica? Our guide pointed out his brother's restaurant on the right.
For some reason I thought this one looked genuine, but I was still unsure.
What about this? No idea.
Fortunately, our last stop for the afternoon would offer the real thing for sure.
Five moai stood, as we'd learned from onboard lectures, facing away from the coastline. We knew they were restored because they were standing - for all moai had fallen (or been pushed) over some time in the past.
One lone moai stood to one side, fully restored with both a topknot and eyes. At this point, our guide mentioned something about the position of their arms and the shape of their stomach - both of which indicated either a male figure or a female. But sadly, by this time in the afternoon, they were in shadow and it was difficult to discern the detail. Still, we had seen what we had come to see!
With a backward glance over the site, we returned to the minibus to make the short journey back to Anakena Beach, where we hoped things were running smoothly for our return to the ship.
With patchy internet today (a sea day so everyone online and probably uploading photographs too) putting this post together has taken longer than usual. Rather than continue, making it longer and more “fragile”, I'll post this as part one and hope you'll stick with me till part two tomorrow, when things really do get better!
