I Expected Those Big, Mysterious Statues. I Didn't Expect This.

“You want to go to a birthday party in a cave?”

I have to say that’s the first time anyone had ever asked me that question.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised. It turned out to be par for the course during a memorable day that lasted longer than 24 hours.

It all started with my alarm waking me up at 4:30 am so I could catch my 8 am flight from Santiago to the remote Chilean outpost of Easter Island.

As it is for many people, Easter Island was a bucket list destination for me, so much so that I visited it while I was still employed, not putting if off until retirement.

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. The place with those monstrous and mysterious moai statues, one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth.

The flight there was mostly non-eventful, except for the sleeping young man sitting next to me whose head would slowly fall nearly into my lap before he would catch himself and pull back up. Then rinse and repeat.

After 5 ½ hours with nothing to see out the window except the endless, monotonous, deep blue water of the South Pacific Ocean, our plane touched down on one of the longest runways in the world. One so long that it was a contingency landing location for the Space Shuttle program.

The proprietor of the hotel I would be staying in always made a point to go to the airport and personally pick up all guests who would be staying at his hotel. And Álvaro was waiting in the arrival hall for me as promised.

Álvaro was a native of Easter Island, with ancestry that was a mix of the indigenous people and the Scottish who had “discovered” the island in the 1700s. His complexion and look confirmed that mix. He was probably in his 40s, casually dressed in a colorful t-shirt and baggy shorts, suitable for the warm and humid climate.

He warmly greeted me with a firm handshake and a big smile. As he drove me to the hotel, he pointed out various landmarks, restaurants and bars along the way to familiarize me with the small town of Hanga Roa that would be my home for the next 5 days.

Once at the hotel, Álvaro showed me to my room and asked me to come sit at a small table just outside the door. I sat in one of the two chairs while Álvaro sat in the other, displaying a detailed map of the island, which he proceeded to mark up with points of interest to help me in my exploration.

After he left, I went inside to rest and think about what I should do and see first. But the resting didn’t last long.

My excitement was getting the best of me. I wanted to get out and explore. Álvaro had shown me that a short walk from the hotel going toward the airport was the trailhead for a path that takes you up to a point overlooking the magnificent Rano Kau crater. I decided that would be my first place to see.

And it didn’t disappoint. The hike took about 90 minutes one-way. And the view was spectacular.

Rano Kau crater and lake

After walking along the ridgeline for a while, admiring the beautiful crater lake, I made my way back down the hill and to my hotel to relax.

It was coming up on 6 pm and I was pretty hungry after that hike, so I walked to a local seafood restaurant that was just a few minutes away with open-air seating looking out over the ocean. Along the way I walked past several locally-owned stores and a few bars. I realized that I would quickly become familiar with this small town of Hanga Roa, the main town on the island.

After dinner I walked back to my hotel room, feeling full and somewhat tired from my activities of the day. The sun had set and I was settling in for the night.

Then I heard Álvaro’s voice say, “Hey, Jim”, followed by a knock on my door.

I opened the door to see that he had changed into nicer clothes, a sporty short-sleeve shirt and jeans.

“How’s it going?”, he inquired.

“Oh, going well. I hiked up to Rano Kau crater this afternoon like you showed me on the map. That was amazing. Thanks for explaining how to get there.”

“No worries. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he replied. “I’m heading over to a bar to meet up with a couple guys from Germany who are staying here in the hotel. You want to join us?”

“Well, actually, I’m pretty tired. It’s been a long day. I had to get up really early to fly out here and then that hike this afternoon really wore me out. But thanks anyway.”

“OK. But if you change your mind we’ll be at (a bar whose name now escapes me) just down the street.”

“Oh, I know where that is. I remember walking past it on my way to dinner.” I’m already learning the town.

“OK. Well, maybe see you later.”

After he left, I thought about it. Yes, I’m really tired. But there’s that one rule about travel that you should always stick to: when someone invites you to do something or go somewhere, you should always say “yes”.

I jumped into the shower to clean up and refresh myself. Then put on a polo shirt, a pair of jeans and some sneakers.

The bar was literally a 60-second walk down the sidewalk from the hotel. I immediately saw Álvaro sitting at a table outside of the open-front bar, separated from the sidewalk by a wooden railing.

“Hey, you decided to join us!”, he exclaimed. I walked around the railing and introduced myself to the two gentlemen from Germany who were seated with Álvaro. I don’t recall their names, so we’ll call them Karl and Hans.

As we chatted, I learned that Karl had been to Easter Island before and had stayed at Álvaro’s hotel. He and Hans were planning to do some hiking and exploring in Chilean Patagonia, but the notoriously fickle weather of that region necessitated a pivot to somewhere else. Because he had enjoyed his visit to Easter Island before, as well as his stay at Álvaro’s hotel, Karl convinced Hans that they should go there instead.

The four of us were enjoying our conversation, drinking beer, swapping travel stories, and laughing about our misadventures. Then, Álvaro’s cell phone rang. He excused himself to take the call, but really didn’t go any farther than the sidewalk on the other side of the railing next to the table, still within earshot.

The Germans and I continued our conversation until Álvaro interjected with an interesting question.

“You want to go to a birthday party in a cave?”

Karl, Hans and I looked at each other and unanimously yelled out, “Yeah, sure!”

I mean, really, how else do you answer a question like that.

“A friend of mine is having a party for his birthday. We just need to pick up some beer.” We finished up our beers at the bar and then walked further down the sidewalk to a liquor store to buy some beer to take to the party.

From there we needed to take a taxi, so Álvaro hailed one and the four of us squeezed inside. It wasn’t all that far, driving down a paved road that turned into a dirt road that then ended up on a flat, open area.

At that point we were getting close to the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were no lights other than the headlights of the taxi. Suddenly we could identify people milling around up ahead, looking into the headlights then turning away quickly to shield their eyes from the brightness. More and more people.

The taxi stopped and we poured out of it onto the sandy, barren landscape. Once the taxi with its bright headlights departed, moonlight illuminated the area to give us a better idea of what was going on.

Close to 100 people, talking, laughing, drinking, some dancing to the music playing from a large speaker. A small bonfire off to one side. A keg of beer and a table containing a variety of liquors, sodas, beer and water. It was a full-on party.

Several people greeted Álvaro, obviously knowing him. He introduced us to them and others as we mingled around the area. The Germans and I walked to a vacant space and began chatting about how this was a much bigger party than we expected.

There was a half-moon shining down, providing at least a little light to an otherwise light-free area. I looked out toward the ocean and could see the silhouettes of a young man and woman slowly descending and then disappearing along the edge of the cliff. They must be going down to the shore below the cliff. Maybe that’s where the cave is?

I decided to leave the Germans for a while and mingle around on my own. I talked to an interesting variety of people, most of them either somewhat tipsy or downright inebriated. Everyone was in a great mood, friendly, talkative (in English), and eager to find out more about me and the German guys, who were obviously the only foreigners in attendance.

The locals reacted positively when they found out I was from the US. Several of them had visited the US, and one guy had lived in San Francisco for a few years, telling me he really missed it.

After a while, I started walking toward the area where I had left the Germans. As I got closer, I noticed that only Hans was there. I assumed Karl was probably mingling around.

I looked up at the sky and remarked to Hans, “The sky is so dark here. Even though the moon is out it’s still really dark. So many stars.”

“Yes, it’s amazing.”

“Where’s Karl?”, I inquired.

“He went back to the hotel.”

“Oh, I guess he was getting tired. What time is it, anyway?” I checked my phone. “Damn, it’s almost 3 am. How did that happen?!”, I laughed.

“Well, Karl wasn’t tired. We were noticing that it seems like a lot of the people at this party are gay. I don’t mind that, but he was bothered by it and felt uncomfortable. So he didn’t want to stick around.”

“Ah, I see. Yeah, I was noticing that as well. It’s fine with me.”

When I first realized the predominant makeup of the party crowd, I thought it was quite unusual that here on one of the most remote places on earth, on an island with only a few thousand inhabitants, that there would be what appeared to be a thriving gay community.

But then the more I thought about it, it really shouldn’t be surprising at all.

I think we sometimes visit places, especially ones that are known as popular destinations, thinking they were prepared just for us tourists, to give us a type of Disneyland experience where we are the guests and the locals are simply there as the employees of that theme park, to cater to our needs as their sole purpose.

We forget that every location we visit contains locals who live, work and play there, most of them having nothing to do with tourism. They’re living lives that are quite similar to our own. And every place has many types of people, no matter how isolated it may be.

So why wouldn’t there be a gay community here?

Hans and I took swigs from our beers and started talking about places we had traveled to and places we still would like to visit. And of course, we discussed strategies for exploring the various parts of Easter Island.

Despite how late it was, the crowd wasn’t thinning out much. Occasionally, some of the locals would pass by and chat with us for a while.

From a distance I could see someone staggering a little as they approached us. It was Álvaro. I hadn’t seen him in hours.

“Having a good time?” he inquired.

Hans and I both nodded our heads in the affirmative. I added, “Yeah, it’s been fun. But we’re getting tired. Probably should go back to the hotel.”

“OK. We can walk back from here. It’s not too far if you walk along the cliff.”

As we walked, I mentioned to Álvaro, “I thought the birthday party was supposed to be in a cave.”

He replied, “Yeah, that’s what they planned but so many people showed up that there wouldn’t be enough room. So they said, let’s just have it on the cliff where there’s more room. Worked out better that way.”

I nodded in agreement.

As we reached the hotel, a man and woman shouted down to Álvaro from an upstairs patio area. It was a couple from the Canary Islands who were staying at the hotel.

“Come on up and have a beer!”, they suggested.

Hans said, “No, thanks. I gotta sleep,” as he walked off to his room.

I said the same, but Álvaro insisted. “Come up and have a beer. You can meet this couple. They’re really nice.”

I thought back to earlier in the evening when I had initially said “no” to Álvaro about meeting the Germans at the bar.

“OK, just one more beer.”

Up we went to the patio area where there was a large picnic style table. The Canary Island couple offered me a beer.

When they found out I was from the US, the male looked disappointed.

“I don’t really care for Americans,” he boldly stated. The beer was definitely helping him speak his mind.

We talked some more, including speaking in Spanish. Once the man realized that I could somewhat converse in his native language, there was a shift in attitude toward me. He was now much more friendly.

I glanced down at the hotel courtyard, noticing things I hadn’t seen the last time I had looked down. I realized the reason for that was that the sun had brightened up the scene as it made its natural progression toward sunrise.

One more beer turned into three. I looked off in the distance to see that a tiny sliver of the bright, orange orb was piercing the horizon.

I told the couple and Álvaro that this was all I could take. I needed to finally get to bed.

We said our goodbyes and I made my way to my room as the sun continued to rise over Hanga Roa.

Laying in my bed I looked at the time on my phone. It was 7 am. Factoring in the 2-hour time difference between Easter Island and Santiago, where I started my day, I had been awake for 28 ½ hours.

It had been a memorable “day plus”. And not at all how I expected I would spend my first day in this bucket list destination.

During my 5-day stay on Easter Island, I enjoyed the experiences that most visitors have there…seeing the massive moai statues in various locations around the island, visiting the Rano Raraku quarry where the statues were carved, peeking over the crest of Rano Kau crater to glimpse its picturesque lake.

But I also had some experiences that most visitors never have, ones that gave me an interesting insight into the local community.

It’s funny. I never would have thought that my most memorable Easter Island experience would be a birthday party on a cliff with the locals.