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Easter Island/Rapa Nui

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Had to come here 'cause it's on the way back home. Ignoring the fact that actually to get home we have to fly back to Santiago de Chile and then to Auckland. Anyway, good excuse to come, it seemed like it would be on the way home. Fabulous spot. Tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. Had another “Duh!!!!” moment – it's far more Polynesian than I expected. Sorry. I thought the original Polynesian population and culture had been wiped out in the 19 th century and it was now a basically Chilean society. But then we were greated at the airport by our bean an ti with a lai! And pretty much everyone looks Polynesian though they speak Spanish. The Rapa Nui indigenous population was reduced to 111 in the late 19th century - but considering this they've made excellent inroads into maintaining a link with their culture and attempting to retain some of the language, music and dance. It's a great little island. Only 6000 population, only 12 x 25(ish)km in si
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Cuba: Town by town

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Drove to Santa Clara – a big town that was the first to be “liberated” by the rebels in the revolution. Nice town, pretty plaza, nice restaurant (am currently testing to see if there's a limit to how much lobster and prawns you can eat before tiring of it), nice casa, cheap beer, good people-watching. Also, conveniently for folksong writers, Santa Clara rhymes beautifully with Che Guevara. The first of many lobsters eaten in the setting of a colonial house. Took a day trip to a resort on the coast. There's a scattering of big resorts all over the island for Canadian tourists who arrive by the planeload (50 flights a week from Canada into one particular resort!). It was nice to be back by the sea, in a tropical climate (though a chilly winter cold snap), with geckos and palm trees and mangroves. Karl had a swim, I chickened out. Karl "Tony Abbot" O'Neill. We gatecrashed the resort Jacuzzi. Once you look vaguely like a Canadian tourist you can do anyt
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