Easter Island

Pine Mountain News

It has been another fall week at Pine Mountain ranch.

Most of the week was spent finishing a small furniture

order then harvesting vegetables in the greenhouse.

Local News

A new Mt Pinos district ranger has been appointed.

His name is Eric L. Van Walden.

Poem of the Week

by emily stine

We ride the highway with the Wyoming wind,

slithering through this desolate land,

pausing only a moment to smile at happy jack road.

Far in the distance, two clouds seem to

kiss the ground. We stare transfixed.

A tornado, quite possible, but too

innocuous it stands.

Slowly we swirled toward the clouds as they formed

two slippers, a ballet in this white Wyoming morn.

Closer we drew, watching toes of white clouds

dusting the landscape floor. Closer and closer,

til at last we saw, two factories, industrial chimneys--

narrow in size, chugging and working

spilling smoke to the sky.

Feature story of the week

Easter island (Chile)

by Oxana Arzamazova

The next day I departed for Easter island which

belongs to Chile. The airport on the island is called

Mataveri). We left Santiago at 9:30 AM, and arrived

at 12:25 PM.

It is now possible to reach Easter Island by plane -

airline LAN CHILE. I bought, the ticket aboard the

plane in Santiago on the evening before our departure.

It was low season. The plane from Santiago flies to

Tahiti with landing at Easter island twice a week.

All of Easter Island can be examined in 2 days if

there is a car available. But in some places it is only

possible to reach on a horse or on foot. Island

exploration on a bicycle takes about a week and a

half, on foot with a tent about 3 weeks. The total

island area is 117 sq. km.

The prices for products are 3-4 times more than

on the continent, in the cheapest café $ 10 USD

for a salad. It is better to take products and water

with you from Santiago if you want economy.

Souvenirs are expensive and not interesting - a

simple pen costs nearly $20.

Weather is cool in winter, during the day 15-17

degrees C and the breeze, sometimes drizzles rain.

After sunset it is cold, and at night often there is

rain.

Habitation

On the island is one small, but well arranged

village, Rapa Nui. There are hotels which are

expensive. At the airport there are local residents

with posters in hand about rooms for rent in their

own homes. A good big room with a personal

bathroom, a toilet and towels, free of charge tea,

coffee, fruit from a garden and a roll in the mornings.

The room in the house I rented was on the main

street about 5 minutes of walking from the airport.

Besides, there was not anything cheaper.

The People were decent, the owner was a village

trustee.

Sights

Since 1935, Easter Island is considered a national

park. On the island we traveled on a country road

along the coast to see all the sights in 2 days. Huge

stone Maoi statues are scattered along all the coast

Near the village there is a volcano Kau, height of

410 meters. In the crater is a bog and small pools.

It is possible to reach it on foot from the village.

Nearby is the ceremonial village Orongo with

semiunderground dwellings. It is here petrographs

on rocks have remained. Egg island is visible from

the village

.

The second most important place on the island

is the volcano Raraku. In the crater is a small lake

and the island panorama opens before you. Nearby

is another volcano and on its slopes are about 600

Maoi statues. The statues are made from stone.

In one place on the coast there are well-known

caves with color images of

birds. In a suburb of the village there is a small

museum.

There are two beaches on the island. One is in

the village, the other is in the bay of Anakena.

The beaches have white sand and bays where

it was possible to enter the sea. In other places

there are cliffs and thunderous waves break on

high rocks.

Earlier when there was no airport, a ship from

Chile once a year would arrive with foodstuffs

stocks, but because of the rocky coast it could

not approach close, products had to be

transported ashore by small boats.

I wanted to remain there longer and simply

have a rest in this pleasant and silent place

my schedule would not allow it.

Pine Mountain Evening

It is evening once more at Pine Mountain ranch.

A warm cheery fire is burning in the fireplace.

we have just finished dinner and are relaxing

in the family room. Tonight my coffee is Organic

Rain forest. This Vienna roast coffee from

http://www.coffeefool.com has a fruit

and nut taste that goes well with fresh baked

sugar cookies.

Well my coffee and cookies are finished now

and it is time for bed. Good night all.See you

next week.

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Santiago Chile

Section 1-----Pine Mountain Ranch

Hello again from Pine Mountain Ranch. It is spring at the ranch and things are more lazy and laid back now that John is in charge.
The weather is slowly warming up. John is still making a few mistakes. He put Pete the mule in the wrong pasture and Pete promptly leaped over the 4 ft fence and took off down the road. I think that mule has springs in his feet. He can leap a 5 ft fence from a standstill. It took a couple of hours to catch up with Pete and bring him back to the ranch.

John takes care of the ranch and his wife and daughter look after the greenhouse and do the cooking and the household chores.

Jeff and Squeekers are at the Desert Outpost. They will be there until late fall working out in the desert on maintenance projects. The old desert cabin is getting a makeover and has electricity for the first time ever. Since it is so far off the power grid it has a stand alone system of solar panels and a small wind generator. Well enough about the ranch. Here is our poet with the poem of the week.

Section 2-----Poetry of the week

an.thro.poet.ry by Emma.Lee D

Tail End of Mexico book 2

written six.eight.eight

It's now 12:30 & estoy bebiendo the fullest glass of wine

I've ever seen. My flight leaves in just over an hour &

i had left.over pesos so i figured why not? It was cloudy

yes.ta.day&rainy today so i'm glad to be al aeropuerto.

I've taken 100 pictures here, about 13.5 a day. That's

a lot of pictures. I'm sure Europe will be 3 times worse.

It will be an interesting 36 hours home in Boulder, CO.

I want to save my wristband...la memoria de mexico at

a 5 star hotel. Futbol plays in the background & I stare

out into a gray runway refracting a gray highway where

the DULL cars drive by. In here it is NEON. ceiling orange

&green &the bar looks like a neon cup of guacamole.

Section 3-----Santiago Chile

Santiago Chile

Rich and I decided to hit Santiago, Chile on the next leg of our South American mini tour. We really didn’t want to leave Rio, truth be told, but we’d committed to seeing a few different countries and cultures and so we had to say goodbye to Brazil and head south.

There was no particular reason we chose Chile. I had worked with a guy who lived in Santiago and a friend of Rich’s had passed through there on his jaunt around the world a few years ago and said it was a great city to hit and that was good enough for me. Rich, my sometimes traveling buddy and all the time best friend, would have preferred a more structured approach, but planning is not and has never been my strong suit.

Which is why we rolled into Chile without a goal, a hotel reservation or the ability to speak Spanish, in spite of the fact that both Rich and I had years of Spanish classes. Rich wanted to consult the tourist bureau, if there was such a thing. I wanted to find something to eat and, frankly, I’m a lot bigger than Rich so we went to find some food.

I always try to eat the local cuisine, if it doesn’t include insects or things that look at me while I’m eating them – neither of which was a problem in Santiago. The capitol city is located in central Chile, and has some of the best food in South America.

If you’re a seafood fan, you definitely need to try the Sopa de Mariscos, a kind of seafood soup. I also recommend you try the Chirimoya Ice Cream, too. No seafood there, just a delicious indigenous fruit.

After Rich found us a decent place to stay at a good price (another benefit of being in Santiago) we dumped our luggage and lit out for Plaza de Armas, the main pedestrian area in the city. Think of an outdoor permanent fair, and you won’t be far off.

There are street performers ranging from dancers to jugglers, a bunch of surprisingly good artists hawking their wares, and a generally good cross section of the people of the city. It was just about too much to take in, and I again wished that we had more time to spend here. Another trip.

Rich wanted to head over to Bandera, which is a collection of outdoor used clothes stores a block or so off of Plaza de Armas. About two dozen of them, and frankly, I couldn’t tell the difference between these and new clothes, except they were about a quarter the price you’d pay in the states. I’m not a big shopper, but Rich has a wife and kids and if we expected them to let him go on these trips, we’d need to do some bribing by coming back bearing gifts.

After that, we turned in for the night. We were tired and I was slightly sunburned and tomorrow we were going to head to what is probably the number one tourist destination in Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal. We’d have to deal with a lot of people, but there’s no better way to see Santiago. But that, unfortunately, will have to wait until part two of this travelogue in two weeks.

Section 4-----Pine Mountain Evening

It is evening once again and we are all gathered around the gas fireplace.Tonight I am trying Dutch Chocolate. This American roast coffee goes well with cake. The chocolate and coffee taste is great for dessert. This coffee comes to us from http://www.coffeefool.com Well it is getting late and it is time for bed. good night all see you next week.

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