Sunset on Rapa Nui

It took a bit of air travel to get here, but since this paradise is the most isolated inhabited piece of land on Earth, I'm mollified. Easter Island, although a province of Chile, is on the eastern edge of Polynesia. The flight today was 5 hours due west of Santiago.

As expected, just about everything and everyone are laid back, vibrantly colorful, delightfully cheerful and moving at a fraction of what I take as conventional pace. Bright flowers proliferate, including around my neck in the form of a lei. With brisk end-of-summer trade winds and the lack of any major industry, air and water pollution are not known here. The Pacific is the bluest of azure, with surfer kids mastering monster waves, which convert to shooting columns of white foam as they crash against rocky volcanic shore inlets (the waves, not the kids). Fluffy clouds glide across an unencumbered horizon, whose shades of blue rival the ocean. Yeah, one can get accustomed.

After spending a couple of hours roaming around the hills on this side of the island, I'm on a patio at my hotel, papaya drink in hand. Cool breezes complement the lower 80's late afternoon temperature, and I can review the past couple of whirlwind days. It's been a lot of travel and a lot of LAN Chile Airlines. First stop was a flight from SFO to Lima. Nine hours and several on-board movies later, I was on my next flight, four hours to Santiago. Altogether not unpleasant, but with a morning arrival in Chile, the trick was to avoid sleeping the day away. At my downtown hotel, I met our tour guide for this adventure and another couple on this trip. The four of us explored an hour's worth of Santiago around the hotel, then were joined by the other six members of our tour. We'll be together for this Easter Island excursion for another four days, then join the remaining members of the tour in Buenos Aires, when our number will grow to 24.

Once everyone got an hour's rest, we took an extensive tour of Santiago, first via its new subway system, then on foot. This city is very much like a Mediterranean metropolis, with a strong Spanish influence in style and architecture. The day had been a long one for us all, so we enjoyed an early dinner at a revolving seafood restaurant above the city. The ten of us seem to get along famously; I'm hopeful the full assembly will have as much get up and go.

So this morning we got up and went back to the airport for the "domestic" flight to the island. We'll be at this hotel on Rapa Nui for the duration, with heavy duty archaeologic explorations beginning tomorrow. This accommodation reminds me of the complex in Tanzania: sprawling areas through flowered paths to private bungalows. Only in Tanzania you needed an armed ranger to walk around the hotel after dark, due to the myriad sets of predator eyes glowing back at you in the darkness. No such challenge here; the biggest threat may be the sudden appearance of an attack chicken.

Speaking of which, no complaints about the cuisine so far. Chilean sea bass last night, about as fresh as you could make it. For lunch today we had empanadas, a rich pastry stuffed with fresh tuna in a succulent sauce; dinner a breaded chicken concoction with spaghetti under Chilean piquant garnish. I suspect most of Chile will be fresh seafood; Argentina will be beef. This is a good program.

Next: the Moai statues of a vanished civilization.

Location:Easter Island, 2,200 miles west of Chile