As I told you back when I started my account of our vacation with its ending, my plan was to bounce around in time and share completely out of order. So now, even though I already posted about Ranu Raraku, Orongo and other amazing sights (and sites) on Easter Island, it’s time to go back to our first night there.

We landed early Sunday afternoon at Mataveri International Airport, where we bought our five-day ticket to Rapa Nui National Park, gathered our luggage, and were met by a shuttle which took us to Chez Maria Goretti, our home away from home for the next five nights. We were too excited to take any time to settle in, and so quickly slathered ourselves with sunscreen and headed out in search of the Museo Antropológico P. Sebastián Englert, which is recommended as a way to begin one’s visit.

We (of course) headed the wrong way from our hotel, and wandered the streets of Hanga Roa, the island’s main town, from which we spotted our first moai off in the distance. We bumped into a young American named Laura, involved in a company (or perhaps a foundation) which hoped to promote local tea made out of nasturtiums, and she led us to the main street and gave us tips on shops and restaurants.

Irene and I had no plans for a sit-down meal that night, but figured we’d instead grab food from the vendors at that night’s Tapati festival … which we sadly never found.

Strangely, the schedule which had been handed out at the Santiago airport was out of date, and Sunday’s event (we’d learn the following day) was taking place at Hanga Piko rather than Hanga Vare-Vare, so we wouldn’t get out first taste of Tapati until Monday. But we did get to experience our first Easter Island sunset.

We continued to wander the shoreline until we realized that we’d never find that night’s competition and needed to have a real dinner. We eventually ended up at La Kaleta and sat out on the deck, which would have been an amazing spot from which to watch the sunset, had we arrived a half an hour earlier. The restaurant was about three-quarters full, and had a relaxing margaritaville ambiance.

I ordered the carpaccio pulpo (a first for me), never one to pass up an opportunity for octopus …

… while Irene went with the grilled tuna with mashed sweet potato. She was stunned by the amount of tuna she’d been served, especially at such a reasonable price.

For dessert, we shared the chef’s reinvention of tres leeches cake, which was served up as a kind of parfait.

After our very satisfying first meal on Easter Island, we continued to walk along the coastline, pausing now and then to stare off and contemplate the thousands of miles between where we stood and the nearest other land mass. Overhead, the moon hovered above a moai …

When the yawns began, we headed back to our hotel, since we’d have to get up early to meet our guide for the first day of touring, which I’ve already told you about.