Monday August 12 – Easter Island

We are up at 6 am today so that we can get ready to go ashore.  The ship will anchor and then we will tender ashore.  Each tender carries 110 people and we have now got our tender numbers of 97 and 98.  We are to meet our tour operators on the Island. 

First, however, nobody can get off until a medical evacuation has taken place.  A 72 year old lady had a heart attack three nights ago but we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean too far from anywhere.  The captain anchored the ship on one side of the island but the waves were too high near the shore for the tender to get in so he took the ship to the other side of the island.  The tour buses that had been lined up waiting for us had to drive to the other side of the island, which they did.  This is a positive sign.  We watched from our balcony as the tender tried several different spots to land and eventually it was successful.  The idea is to use this as a pontoon and then the next tender will tie up beside it and people will cross the two tenders to get ashore.  The medical evacuation was completed after considerable time and the medical team had to go with her to the airport for a hand over.  A Chilean plane was waiting there to take her to Santiago, a five hour flight away.

By this time it was almost midday and the tour buses were still waiting for us.  We were still hopeful of getting ashore until the Captain told us he was aborting the landing as the passengers, crew and tenders were his priority.  He did not think he could land us safely.  This was disappointing as we were so close.  Bill felt he could swim ashore.  The beach looked idyllic and we could see a line of Moai with our binoculars.  However, without a telescopic lens on our camera, I doubt we will be able to see them in our pictures.  The Captain circumnavigated the island for us so we could see the landscape.  He did this with the starboard side to the island and as we are on the port side we went to the front of the ship to have a look.  The Captain knew something that we did not because by the time we started to round the island arctic like winds started to blow and we had to dress in our warmest coats and beenies while out on deck.

Tonight, Rebecca Lowe was our entertainer.  She sang many Broadway hits such as Don’t Cry for Me Argentina as well as songs from Funny Girl and Les Miserables.  She has a great voice.  She also sang a couple of Edith Piaff songs.  She is married to Kuba who entertained us with unusual instruments a couple of nights ago.  About half an hour before Rebecca was to go on stage tonight, the drummer in the band became sick. So Kuba stepped in and played the drums for the performance.  Her comment was that he is the talented one in the family and that she only sings.  I think they are a very talented duo.