Polynesian Paradise

November 6, 2007 - Final Days…

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:08:00 +0000

Today was our final day in the islands. I am writing as we sail back to Papeete, Tahiti. Yesterday we had an entire day at sea. It was really fun. They only scheduled three lectures instead of the normal four lectures so that we could have a pool party. The weather was perfect! Alexandra showed us how to tie our sarongs (pareus) and also how to dance Polynesian style. It was really fun. We also played in the pool and drank rum punch. It felt more like vacation than work.

This morning we arrived bright and early to Fakarava Island in the Tuamotus. At 6:30 am Mike and I got into a scout zodiac to find a suitable snorkel site, while the ship continued ahead into the lagoon. Scouting is my favorite part of the job. We had a few hours to look around and find a good spot for everyone. Because of the wind direction, we opted first to go to the outside reef, which was much calmer than the inside of the lagoon. Rounding the corner, I saw two spinner dolphins jumping out of the air. By the time I got my camera, they had moved off, but it was a spectacular site. We found a great snorkel site with tons of healthy corals and lots of fish, both small and large. I also saw a gray reef shark, a 6-7 foot silvertip shark, and a few blacktip reef sharks. It was the best snorkel site in my opinion thus far and a great one to end on with the passengers.

Blacktip reef shark

Once we had secured buoys to mark our spot, we went and caught up to the ship. The wind was blowing so hard and the waves were so big that I had to stand next to Mike so I wouldn’t get too bounced around sitting on the side of the zodiac. It calmed down when we got to the sheltered side of the lagoon where the ship was anchored. Ashore, everyone was already enjoying the entertainment and yummy food display. Of course, I got there just in time to eat and shop! The plates this time around were not leaves, but oyster shells that they let us keep. Fakarava has a few pearl farms, so this was the spot to get pearls. I ended up with a pair of simple stud earrings, which I may get remade into dangly ones. I really like the color of the ones I got, although it was hard to pick because the black pearls come in so many shades of gray, green, blue, and even a maroon hue.

Black Pearls

I was back on the ship around noon after scouting, seeing the town and snorkeling with the passengers. Even though it was just lunchtime, I felt like we had been out the entire day. This afternoon is for packing, finishing up work and doing some prep for the next cruise. I am bummed that I will not be here next time because this area is so beautiful and I’d love to explore it more. I’ve been spending so much time with the penguins I almost forgot how much I love working in tropical climates and snorkeling. I have had so many rewarding experiences with passengers and snorkeling this trip; I just love teaching them how to do something new and teaching them about an ecosystem that some know little about.

Idyllic South Pacific Island

November 4, 2008 - Puka Puka, Tuamotu Islands

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:38:00 +0000

What a change of scenery today from the lush and hilly Marquesas.
Puka Puka, like the rest of the Tuamotu Islands is a coral atoll, which means that it has little elevation. The island looks like what you would picture of a tropical island in the middle of nowhere – palm trees, white sand beach and clear blue water.

Puka Puka Island

The welcoming we get at each island is spoiling me. Although each place is different, there is typically a musical greeting, often drumming. It is really great to be zooming into shore on the zodiac and hear the drumming as we approach. We also always get leis, which are also different. This time, the leis were made out of a nut wrapped in colorful fabric separated with ribbons. The little girls that were giving them out were doing a good job of matching them to people’s outfits. And there is always dancing. The style of dancing from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus is also different and I’m getting a good feel of the culture in the different groups of islands as we travel around. Today, the young girls performed and some of them were as young as four. I took some video and it was too cute.

One of the dancers

The food tasting at each location is also spoiling me. Of course there are the tropical fruits, but some islands also put out local favorites. Today, I had a huge plate of poisson cru, which is the raw fish marinated in coconut milk and lime that I like so much. Here, they had also added some shredded papaya…yum. Now I have to back up and define “plate” for you, as the plates here are very different than we have at home. On all of the islands, if you want a plate, you get a leaf. Here is a photo showing me holding two plates…one empty and one full of the yummy fish that I promptly ate after the photo was taken.

I also had a chance to wander around the island. The island is filled
with palm trees because they have a large copra export. Copra is
dried coconut meat that is then pressed into oil. This oil is used to
make cosmetics, soap, candles and even margarine. Here is a photo of
the drying coconut meat.

making copra

In the afternoon, we went snorkeling just outside the island on the
fringing reef. There were many small fish and I am getting better at
identifying them in the water. There are still so many to learn, but
I feel more confident now than at the beginning of the cruise.

Ornate Butterflyfish

After dinner, John led us in a sing-along. It was great – he played
the guitar and led us through a number of different folk songs and
sea shanties. When that was over, we had an early birthday
celebration for me, which culminated in the staff and a few
passengers up on the top deck stargazing. There were so many stars
and I wanted to sleep up on deck, but around 1 am I went to my real
bed for some more comfortable sleep.

November 3, 2008 - Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:44:00 +0000

Today was amazing. I finally got a chance to explore some of the interior of the islands on foot. I have fallen in love with Fatu Hiva because of the amazing scenery and the friendly people. Fatu Hiva is the most remote, southern, wettest and greenest of the Marquesas. We went ashore at Hanavave, which is also called the “Bay of Virgins”.

Here is a view of the bay from the ship – as you can see it is incredibly striking.

Bay of Virgins

When we landed at the village, it seemed like all of the residents were there to greet us. Instead of just having fruit tasting and crafts like the other islands, they had set up demonstration stations so we could see how some of the things are done. I got to watch some carvers in action as well as people making tapa cloth. Of course, they danced for us, which is always one of my favorite parts.

After this, I got to go on the waterfall hike with the passengers. It was a fairly challenging hike, especially because it had been raining in the early morning. The path up was single track and very slippery with rocks and fallen trees. Luckily the passengers did ok with the hike – there were only two minor injuries. The waterfall at the end was spectacular. It wasn’t rushing down heavy, but the drop was very high, making it extremely striking. It felt great to get in the water and take a swim after sweating the entire way up the hill. Here are some photos of the hike and the waterfall.

View from the hike

On the trail

Waterfall

In the afternoon, we weighed anchor and started our sail back across the Pacific to the Tuamotu Islands. There are only a few more days of this cruise. Like all of them, it has gone quickly.

November 2, 2008 - Hiva Oa, Marquesas – MANTA RAYS!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:21:00 +0000

All I can say about today is Manta Rays!!! I had the most amazing experience this morning that I was actually shrieking underwater.

Around 7 am Ingrid came up to me and told me that someone had spotted manta rays off the side of the ship. After talking to Aaron (the expedition leader) we got the ok to go scout and see if we could find more. We did find more – about 30 – and they were all feeding on the plankton rich water. I got in the water first to see if they would be ok having someone in the water with them and they were not only fine with it, but they got up close to me, even brushing along next to me as I swam. Now, you have to understand that these creatures are not tiny – in fact, they can be over 20 feet in diameter. These were small, with the largest around 8 feet from wing to wing. They are gentle creatures, and feed with their mouths agape just flying through the water. We got permission to offer a snorkel for the passengers and only two took us up on it. Thank goodness someone came, or else we would not have been allowed to do it. And then the real fun started. Groups of about 18 surrounded us and we were able to watch them do somersaults in the water and piggy back feed.

Basically, that means that they stack themselves in a line, almost one on top of the other. This helps streamline them so that they can swim easier. At one point I was surrounded – left, right, and underneath there were mantas everywhere! I would have to rank this as the #2 marine experience that I have ever had. And from what I have heard, it is very rare to have this happen, so I consider myself very lucky.

Views of the manta rays from underwater

The view from above with a group of manta rays swimming around us with open mouths feeding

So what did I miss while snorkeling……the Gauguin museum and the gravesite of Jacques Brel and Gauguin. Oh well.

In the afternoon we repositioned the ship to Puamau and went to one of the most beautiful and significant archaeological sites in the Marquesas. I just love the scenery in the Marquesas. It is so dramatic and lush. We were greeted on shore with leis (I am getting spoiled with that), and here is a photo of the young boy that gave me my lei.

Receiving my flower lei at Puamau

The dancing was fantastic and I love the tattoos of the men. I haven’t yet gotten any good close up photos of the tattoos, but they are really intricate and incredible. Here is a photo of the largest tiki in French Polynesia (about 8 feet tall) with some other statues.

The tikis of Iipona tohua

November 1, 2008 - Nuka Hiva, Marquesas

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 03:31:00 +0000

Today we explored Nuka Hiva. In the morning, we went to Taiohae, which is the capital of the Marquesas. Most of the town was shut down because of All Saints Day. I walked by the Catholic cathedral and listened to the beautiful choral singing and drumming inside. I had a nice time walking around with the passengers and going to a small museum/boutique owned by an American woman named Rose who has lived on the island for 30 years and opened one of the first tourist hotels on the island.

In the afternoon, we repositioned to the other side of the island to Hatiheu. The scenery is just amazing and it was really hard to get a good photo of the surroundings because of the combination of blue sky, clouds, green forest and black stone cliffs. Here is one, but it does not even come close to doing it justice. I feel like my photos are not good – it is so hard to capture the expanse of the scene. I have trouble doing it in Antarctica too.

Nuka Hiva Island

For those Survivor fans out there, this is the bay next to the one where they filmed Survivor Marquesas. I got to drive the zodiacs into shore which was nice, because I love getting out and having my own time spinning around before the passenger shuttle. Anyway, when we got there, we went to a tahoua called Kamuihei, which means “the gathering of the chiefly headdresses”. At this site we saw banyan trees that were over 400 years old. Here is a photo of Michelle next to one of the trees for scale.

Banyan tree

A group of local dancers performed a welcoming dance. I really liked the traditional Marquesan pig-hunting dance, where the men made grunting sounds designed to attract the feral pigs during a hunt.

Dance group at the tahoua

Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant for some food tasting and craft demonstration. I ended up purchasing one of the woodcarvings.

It is beautiful and I met the man who made it. The Marquesan Islands are famous for their rosewood woodcarvings so I was hoping I’d find one that jumped out at me and wanted to come home.

So at this stage since we are a little more than halfway through, please do email me if you want me to write about something in particular or if you’d like to see some photos of something that I have not yet attached, or has not yet been on the A&K log (Jess put a link to that at the top of the blog on the right hand side). Thanks!

October 31, 2008 – Happy Halloween! - Ua Pou

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:01:00 +0000

October 31, 2008 – Happy Halloween! - Ua Pou

Today was a great day. We spent the morning at sea and then arrived at Ua Pou in the Marquesas around lunch. When we arrived it was foggy and had been raining. I found out later that this was the first rain in three weeks. Throughout the afternoon, the rain stopped, but it remained overcast for most of the afternoon.

The Marquesas have rugged peaks, cliffs and valleys like Tahiti. This is a stark contrast to the Tuamotu Islands that we had just come from, which are low atolls. There is not much coral reef here, so the focus of the next few days will be the land and the culture.

We arrived on shore greeted with music and leis. The assortment of leis was interesting and I ended up with a lei made completely from cherry tomatoes and mint. We then piled into four-wheel drive trucks and made our way caravan style through the island. I was in the last car with three of the performers and the nurse from the college who was helping out for the day. It was fun going with them – the minute I got into the truck, they offered me a beer and we were on our way.

Despite their limited English I was able to learn a fair bit about the island. I wish I spoke another language. The roads were bumpy but the scenery was amazing. There were fruit trees everywhere and it was incredibly lush. Since it had just rained, there were parts of the road that were covered in flowing water, which we easily crossed in the trucks. We stopped a couple of times to look out over the valley and photos just do not do it justice.

Being welcomed with the sound of the conch shell

Once we got to our final destination, the local children performed some songs and dances for us. It was so cute. Here is a photo of some of the kids posing for us after the dance.

Posing for photos

After the dances, we were able to tour the tohua at our leisure.

Locals had set up craft tables as well as food tasting stations. One of the tables had samples of traditional foods, including four different preparations of breadfruit, the most important traditional starch food of the Marquesas. I especially enjoyed the fried breadfruit and was surprised to find that I liked the breadfruit paste soaked in coconut milk. During the car ride, the guys told me I should try the goat meat in coconut milk. It was very delicious.

There was also a variety of raw seafood, including chiton, sea urchin roe, fish and crab. I was one of the few people who ate the raw fish and tried the chiton, which tasted a lot like its relative, the clam.

The other table was set up with fruits to sample, including mango, papaya, pomelo and passion fruit. Of course I tasted them all. Pomelo is a lot like a grapefruit if you are wondering. It won’t surprise anyone that I spent most of my time tasting food – it is all so good! There were also some crafts there, but I did not buy anything.

Delicious local food

Since today is Halloween, we decided we should have a party with the guests. I dressed up as a pirate using some of the supplies that we had on the ship. I was most impressed with the creativity of the passengers. People used their sheets, towels, makeup and creativity to come up with costumes like sumo wrestler and “e” male (mail). We also had a party with the crew later in the night. I think my favorite costume was Quasimodo.

Marcia in her best beauty queen pose as Miss New Zealand, Michelle as a spider, and myself as a pirate.

October 30, 2008 - At Sea

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:07:00 +0000

Today we were at sea the entire day steaming for the Marquesas. It was a nice day and the sea was not too rough. I spent most of the day listening to lectures and learning more about this area from the other expedition staff. Everyone is very knowledgeable. I also snuck in a mid afternoon nap, which was very nice.

I am feeling pretty sunburned today. Overnight, my sunburn settled in and turned out to be worse than I had thought. Yes, I have been using sunscreen, but I guess it doesn’t work when you are in and out of the water for five hours. It is blotchy sunburn and hopefully today’s rest out of the direct sun will help it turn to tan faster. The only thing that hurts is my lip. It seems that most of the staff managed to burn their bottom lips, so we all look like someone snuck into our rooms and gave us collagen injections in the middle of the night.

The photos today are of views from the ship during our cruise. Jess requested that I include a photo of the bow of the ship looking out, since this is normally what I include on trips where I am sailing through ice. I have included it so that you can compare it to another photo from a different climate.

The other photo is of a double rainbow I spotted while up on the bridge this evening just as the sun was beginning to set.

View off of the bow of the Clipper Odyssey

Double rainbow

October 29, 2008 - Rangiroa

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:49:00 +0000

This morning we were in Rangiroa, the largest atoll in Eastern Polynesia. The morning was jam-packed. We entered the lagoon at around 0630 and by 0700, Ingrid and I were in the water scouting the snorkeling locations. We went first to a patch reef and jumped in to take a look. There were tons of fish, including a huge school of unicorn fish. The patch reef area was pretty big, so Ingrid put a line over the side of the zodiac and pulled me around the reef for a ride. It was such a fun way to snorkel! After checking out that area, we went into Tiputa Pass, the cut in the reef where the ship entered the lagoon. The currents in this pass can flow at speeds of up to 6 knots and it was flowing pretty fast when I jumped in to check it out – wow – what a ride! We scouted a few different areas to try and find a place to go with the group that was not too dangerous.

This morning was a great one for marine life – I got a lot of underwater photos to take back to use for identification and have started to recognize species in the water. With the passengers, I got to snorkel twice at the patch reef and once along the ledge in Tiputa Pass. By the time we went snorkeling with the group in the Pass, the current had changed and was not very fast. I am glad that it changed, because it was a really nice snorkel. We saw a hawksbill turtle, barracuda, and other larger pelagic species.

At the patch reef, there were big schools of fish and lots of variety. There were also about 10 blacktip reef sharks, but they were in the shallows so it was hard to see them. At one point, I tried to swim into the shallows to see them, but the visibility got bad and made it too difficult, so I turned to leave. Coincidentally, one of the sharks had turned too and all of the sudden I found myself almost nose to nose with it. You can probably guess what happened – I jumped, it jumped and that was the end of the encounter. On the way back to the deeper water, I spotted an octopus, which was cruising along the reef. I was bummed that we had to leave the site at 1 pm for lunch since everywhere I turned there was something new to see.

Passengers snorkeling

Striped Surgeonfish

We left Rangiroa at lunch to sail to the Marquesas. On our way out, we had some dolphin playing in the wake of the ship. All in all it was a fantastic day.

October 28, 2008 - Matavia

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:11:00 +0000

So I realized that I forgot to mention the marine mammals that we saw yesterday heading into and out of Bora Bora. In the morning, as we were sailing in, we saw a group of spinner dolphins. They were riding our wake and they were so beautiful. I did not get great photos, but here is one of a mom and baby surfing the wave of the ship.

Spinner Dolphins

In the evening around sunset, we saw about five Humpback whales. They came very close to the ship and, as always, it was incredible. I did not get any photos as I was just coming out of the shower when they were spotted so I ran up on deck with no camera.

So back to today - We spent this morning at sea sailing to Matavia atoll in the Tuamotus Islands. We arrived around lunch and I drove zodiacs to shuttle everyone ashore. Although the islanders had a nice program planned for us, I did not attend. Instead, once we got everyone ashore, Ingrid, Aaron and I went scouting for the perfect snorkel site. It was really fun to scout. We went first to the outer reef, where there were spur and groove formations. The water was super clear and there were a ton of fish and some good healthy coral. I am so amazed at the fish here and could spend hours in the water. Ingrid and I spotted a blacktip reef shark, which was very cool. After snorkeling at a few different spots, we picked the best one to bring the passengers back to. When we got back to the landing site to pick everyone up, we realized that we still had some time before the group was ready for us, so we went exploring inside the lagoon. We wished we had more time here, as it would have been a great spot to take the passengers. Inside the lagoon we saw a few different fishermen fishing with nets, traps, and also spears. Here are two photos of Matavia, one taken inside the lagoon and the other outside near where we snorkeled.

Matavia lagoon

Snorkel site

In the afternoon, we took the group snorkeling. I was stationed on one of the safety boats, so I did not get back into the water. This was ok with me since I had had such a great snorkel with Ingrid during our scout.

October 25 - 27 Catching Up the Past Few Days

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:10:00 +0000

Time is flying by and I have been very busy. This is actually one of the first times I have had to sit down and write since the last entry. So, I figured I'd just write one long entry, combining the last few days together.

When I last wrote, I was still in Papeete getting acclimated. I did end up going to the central market with Marcia. We took the local bus into town and wandered around the market looking at the local crafts and foods. We opted not to eat lunch in town, but instead back at the hotel. This was a good call, as I was able to try the local dish of poisson cru - raw tuna marinated in lime and coconut milk. Wow, was it delicious. In the evening, we had a reception for the passengers and then all had dinner and watched a traditional dance performance. This cruise is small - there are only 34 passengers in total! My first impressions when I met them were great, and now, a few days later, I can say that my impressions were correct. The group is wonderful and it is so nice having such a small number.

The following day (October 26th) the passengers all went on an island tour while I went to the ship to help get things ready. We had a lot to get organized since a different company had previously charted the ship and we were basically an entirely different team. The day flew by, and before I knew it the passengers were on board and we were doing briefings and drills. After dinner and after meetings, I finally went to bed exhausted at around midnight.

One side note - upon getting on the ship, I learned that there is not only satellite email, but also satellite TV. The kicker is that we get only one station. One station in the entire world and it is FOX news. So, fear not, I can watch the elections unfold. It is so strange to have access to TV. It completely changes the experience of immersion. I actually have only turned it on once and then quickly turned it off. I can also check my regular email, but it is slower than molasses and seems to work only sporadically. I think I liked the old blast email system better.

Another thing to note is that one of my jobs this cruise is to write the Abercrombie and Kent weblog. Ingrid is doing the photos for it. So, each day, we have to post the log and the photos back to the office where they then post them on the web. I have asked Jess to post a link from here to that blog so you can look at that too. (Link is to right towards the top of the blog - please note that link takes you to most recent posting. Click on previous post to view earlier posts.) I think you will enjoy reading it, as it will give you a good overview of the different activities all of the passengers are doing. In addition, there are five photos each day so that is nice. So far, writing the log has been challenging, because I have to write about everything and obviously I can't be everywhere. However, the rest of the staff has been very helpful at filling in the gaps.

I spent Monday, October 27 in Bora Bora. We arrived early in the morning and jumped right into everything. There were three tours in the morning and I was assigned to the mildest of them all, the basic circumnavigation around the island. It was very interesting and I learned a ton! One thing I did not know is that there is a large Chinese community on the island. The Chinese came to Polynesia originally to work in the sugarcane and cotton plantations.

Along the way, we stopped to see a demonstration on how to make the native sarong or pareu. Basically, they dye the fabric and then put linoleum shapes onto the fabric as it dries in the sun. This marks the shape permanently onto the fabric, resulting in really beautiful designs. I've attached a photo of the pareus blowing in the wind.

Pareus of Bora Bora

At the pareu demonstration, they also had some fruits for us to taste and other crafts for us to purchase. I however, was distracted by the children running around and opted to take photos of them. The photo I am attaching is one of my favorites from the day of Grandma smiling at her grandchildren.

Beautiful Polynesian Grandmother

One of the most interesting sights along the tour for me was seeing the Polynesian version of boat davits. I've attached a photo so you can see how they put the boat into slings and then use two large wheels to lift it into place. They do this with all size boats and I wondered how hard it is to lift the larger ones.

Boat davits in Bora Bora

Although Bora Bora is not as developed as Papeete, it is still a very populated island with a large tourist presence. I learned that there is only one locally owned hotel on the whole island. That surprised me. Bora Bora is also a pretty popular place for celebrities. We stopped at a famous restaurant called Bloody Mary's and saw about one hundred names of celebrities that had also visited. They have them listed in the order they have visited. Paul Allen, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were added recently and were listed one after the other so they must have come together - Can you imagine going on vacation with those three? Their visit was sandwiched in between Danny DeVito and Martin Short.

Another thing I learned is that there are no cemeteries on the island, so people bury their dead at their homes. It is not a great photo but I've attached a photo of one of the gravesites just outside of a house. Our tour guide told us that sometimes when people want to add an addition to their homes, that they often end up enclosing their loved ones in the new addition. So, you can end up with your ancestors in your living room!

Bora Bora gravesite

I had a few moments to wander around town before heading back to the ship for lunch. I was able to duck into a few black pearl shops and see some of these amazingly beautiful pearls. I tried on a few earrings and necklaces, but none found their way home with me.

In the afternoon, I led a snorkel safety briefing at the pool and an introduction to snorkeling session. We also handed out gear. It was a hectic time as immediately after it was over we went out on the zodiacs to snorkel. We stopped first at a sandy area to get everyone comfortable in open water, and then we moved to a patch reef just inside the lagoon. Although there was not a lot of coral, there were a good number of fish. Now I have not seen Indo-Pacific fish since learning how to dive in Australia in 1993, so I was thrilled. I was able to identify all of the families of fish, but not any of the species. All of the fish were so colorful. I tried to take a bunch of photos so that I could bring them back and ID them in the book. My best photo of the day was a Picasso triggerfish.

Picasso triggerfish

Temporary Internet Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:45:00 +0000

Lori is having temporary Internet issues on the ship and will post as soon as she can. She says "great day today - snorkeling, whales, spinner dolphins and Bora Bora!"

Traveling to Tahiti and First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Lori) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:44:00 +0000

I chased the sun yesterday (October 24th), leaving my house at 6:00 am and arriving to Tahiti at 10:30 pm, yet I traveled for about 24 hours. If that sounds confusing, it was, especially for my body. I did some sleeping on the plane, but of course, once I was settled into bed at the hotel, I woke right up. The time difference is 6 hours behind Annapolis. Hopefully, it will not take me too long to adjust.

My flights were uneventful. I flew from Baltimore to Dallas, Dallas to LA, and then LA to Papeete, Tahiti. When I finally stepped out of the plane and the fresh breeze hit me, I was overwhelmed with a sweet smell that could only have been tropical flowers. I couldn’t stop inhaling after being stuffed into planes and airports for so long.

Upon entering customs, there were women welcoming us with a flower for our hair. And then, once I got my luggage and came out to meet the group, I was given a flower lei, which smelled just as sweet as the rest of the air. Now that was a great greeting!

We drove about 20 minutes along the shore to the Radisson where I am staying for two nights. We went through the center of town, which did not seem very busy for a Friday night. One of the things I noticed along my drive was there do not seem to be any streetlights, just a lot of roundabouts, or circles. Many of the people I saw were eating from food vendors set up out of trucks and vans. One of the things that seemed interesting was that the vendors seemed to congregate together. I wondered if they were all selling the same types of food.

The Radisson is extremely beautiful. I am sharing a room with another staff member, Alexandra, who is from Easter Island and is the historian. She is very nice and very interesting. We have this huge balcony overlooking the ocean – I feel pampered to be staying in such a nice hotel. This morning we had a great breakfast outside by the pool. I found out that we have the day free today until 6 pm, so I am hoping to get back into town and do some exploring.