Good morning and Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging .
I visited Easter Island for a week this past March. Some may ask, what could you possibly do on a small island for a week? We found there was definitely not enough time to do it all. We each picked one destination each day and then went to both. Our last full day, the agenda was Easter Island’s Botanical Gardens (my pick!) and the beach. So join us below at our cabin, then we’ll take off for this one day adventure and try to stay out of trouble while leaving our American aesthetics behind.
The view below is from our cabin’s bathroom shower. There are over three thousand wild horses on the island and it was incredible watching these magnificent animals while showering.
“Come for the statues, stay for the horses” could be an alternative tourism slogan for one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands.
As you can see on the windowsill, I always travel with a washcloth (see Mom!) and the soap was purchased locally because the room did not have any, much less a soap dish. Luckily someone had left some dish-washing detergent until we could get to a grocery store. I’m an adventure traveler so we booked this cabin for the cheap price with the expensive view!
So what was a bit of dirt road traveling several times daily from our cabin to the Island’s only town .
Our cabin consisted of one room with two beds and a kitchenette plus a separate bathroom. Dining was outside on a covered porch and below was one of our views. Our rental car is the silver one on the right — we paid the cabin owner for the use of one of her own personal cars for the week. We never saw her again until she picked us up on our last day to take us to the airport.
We even had rainbows in our view. We hung out with the moai below several times as he was visible from our porch and within walking distance. There are about nine hundred moai around the island. A sign to the right of the moai warned us that we were staying in a tsunami zone and included evacuation routes.
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The name of the Botanical Garden was Jardin Botanico and was definitely one the hardest places to find on the island. I cannot tell you how many different wrong turns we made and almost gave up. This is the main entrance below so you can see part of the problem.
Thankfully we had spotted this van parked out front with Jardin Botanico on the door. Viewing the place from the outside, I was disappointed and reluctant to enter.
I believe entrance was a $3 donation. Yet the plants were absolutely incredible and the landscaping very beautiful. It was a complete delight and well done. So getting to the main subject of this diary. While wrapping up our self-guided tour, this garden hose and its holder caught my eye. I believe the holder use to be a car wheel but loved the old patina green paint. And what was behind the green door? Finally, the entrance into bathrooms!
Upon entering the men’s room, I walked in on a woman taking photographs of a posing fully-clothed man. A bit shocked, I tried to quickly exit. The young couple in a panic started talking rapidly to me in French. Two years of high school French paid off as I could understand a few bits and pieces. In looking around the restroom, I could understand why they were taking photographs. The restroom was unbelievable with all its plants. On the below right is one of the French couple’s legs (not sure which one of them). They embarrassingly apologized for her being in the men’s room but we all had big laughs and nodded bye. Once they were outside, I hurriedly started taking photographs myself. Enjoy as this is part of the men’s room.
I had a look-out so quickly entered the women’s bathroom. No time to focus my shots as I had to get out of there quickly. The last thing I wanted was to be arrested in a foreign country taking photographs in a women’s bathroom! But I did it anyway just for y’all!
But back in the entrance, I had to laugh, has anyone ever seen bathrooms so beautiful??
The garden grounds were also beautiful but another diary for another time. From the road, I just had no idea what was waiting inside this compound and I’m very glad I overcame my hesitation to enter. I highly recommend Jardin Botanico!
then it was off to the beach on the north side of the island
this was the main walkway with moai in the background and the beach to the left
Beach scenes
these wild horses were to the left of my beach towel.
It truly was a spectacular last full day on the island. And of course SMGB would not be complete without some pooties and other animals.
we slowly moved through this group of horses crossing the road. Love the young colt watching us.
there are also as many as three thousand roaming cows on the island.
I even managed a bird photograph for kishik. Some type of hawk?
And our very special buddies are below. The mother came by and entered our cabin the first and second night looking for food. When we purchased soap at the grocery store, we also bought some cat food and hot-dogs for a begging stray dog outside. The third night, the mother brought two of her babies. The fourth night she brought all four and continued until we left. We bought cat food and left it in the room (with soap!) for whoever the guests would be after us. Hopefully our friends are all doing well. We miss them and also a friendly pack of roaming dogs that visited us once each day.
I’ll end by showing this telescopic photograph I took from the top of Rano Raraku Volcano. In the distance is Ahu Tongariki, probably the most famous of the moai. You can get an impression of their size by comparing them to the small specks of people in the middle. I’ll do a diary on these one day.
Here in the Connecticut Valley, we’ve had rain every day this week and might get a break on Monday, only to have rain return again on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m a bit behind on planting due to this and also cooler temperatures than normal.
So what’s going on in your gardens or side of the world? and please don’t tell my Mom that I forgot and left the washcloth on the windowsill and ruin her Mother’s Day tomorrow.