How Cold Could It Be to Scuba Dive in Easter Island?
Damn that’s cold! The shock of the entry cascaded across my whole body instantly. My skin felt like it would jump out of the suit and back onto the boat, if it could. I began...
Tagged: island
Launching My Pacific Odyssey While Hiking to Orongo
I decided to hike to Orongo, after my successful attempts to visit the moai-era archaeological sites of Rapa Nui. As the ritual site representing the cult that came to be following the doom of...
The Explorers Who Discovered Easter Island
If you had wondered about the explorers who discovered Easter Island, Ahu Akivi is their monument. It was my fifth day on Easter Island. So far, I had managed to get to my top...
Anakena: Where Easter Island Became Polynesian
We couldn’t go to Poike, after I was finished at Rano Raraku. My taxi driver told me that the volcano peak was closed for visitors, for rehabilitation reasons. So we would go to Anakena...
Ahu Tongariki: Sunrise over the Easter Island ‘Heads’
The taxi arrived in the darkness, as promised. I scrambled to gather my things, and struggled briefly with the fidgety lock on the door. I was going to see the famous Easter Island heads...
Rapa Nui Moai Saga: My Unexpected Way to Tahai
My first morning in Rapa Nui* broke with rain. The incandescent sky of the previous day had been quickly overtaken by storm clouds fetched by the fleet Pacific winds. Overnight, the wind howled over...
Is Boracay Worth Going in the Rainy Season?
The Philippines has a distinct typhoon season towards the middle to later months of the year (although as climate change progresses, it is becoming a bit less distinct – and ‘typhoonier‘). This does not...
Did We Find the Hidden Sibu Island Mermaids?
He chose Sibu Island for the dugongs. “Remind me to take you to a Malaysian island!” I had said, many weeks before my couchsurfer even arrived. In retrospect, it was an unusual invitation to...
Pulau Sibu is the Most Unique Malaysian Island
One of the perks of having marine conservationist friends, is that you have the inside scoop to the many islands they work in. I already knew about the endangered dugong population of Pulau Sibu,...
Dancing with Pulau Carey Guardians on Mah Meri Spirits’ Day
“Why don’t you ask the shaman directly? He’s at ease now, since we’re waiting for low tide,” the organiser said. He led me over to the rough wooden platform, bedecked in nipah frond origami decorations,...
The Non-Honeymoon Maldives Introduction
When I decided to join the MWSRP project in the Maldives, I faced a hesitation that probably only other females would guess. And that was: Would I feel absolutely stupid and awkward, going to the...
The Tide to Dhigurah and Jumping Overboard
I hadn’t even arrived in Dhigurah yet. My flight to Maamigili, where I would transfer by boat to the atoll island of Dhigurah was late that night. But Day 0 of my volunteering stint...
