easter island

View the Total Solar Eclipse From 40,000 Feet

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events

Been there, done that? How about total umbral immersion 40,000 feet in the air?

For thrill seekers, that's the pitch from Rick Brown, a self-described "eclipse-chaser" who has chartered an Airbus jet that will fly into the path of a total eclipse of the sun set to occur on July 11. (And you thought that was just a Carly Simon lyric).

Total eclipses typically occur only once every year or two. And viewing them can be a challenge: they are often only visible from remote parts of the Earth, and even if you make the trek, clouds or weather can obscure the view. On July 11, for example, the moon's shadow, or umbra, will sweep across the South Pacific in a narrow band, only making landfall on Easter Island and a few atolls in French Polynesia. The "totality," as the period when the sun is completely blocked by the moon is called, will last just four minutes on the ground.

Enter Rick Brown and his EFLIGHT 2010. The forty or so eclipse-chasing passengers high above the clouds will watch as the moon's shadow approach them from over 200 miles away before basking in the darkness of the lunar shadow and gazing at the sun's pearly white corona for nearly 10 full minutes - which Brown says will be a record viewing time.

Tags: adventure travel, Airbus, astronomy, Easter Island, Eclipse Chasers, jet charter, polynesia, private jet, solar eclipse, tahiti

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Posada de Mike Rapu Lodge To Be Built On Easter Island

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

If you are interested in spending some time at the end of the world but have no interest in roughing it, you might want to know about the new Posada de Mike Rapu lodge that is set to be completed in December. The new lodge on the Easter Island's southern edge overlooks the Pacific and the ancient Raro Raraku volcano and is named for Mike Rapu, explora en Rapa Nui's local partner. The hotel will include 30 guest rooms including four suites and will use indigenous materials such as furniture of local Rauli wood, bathroom flooring and walls of Piedra Pizarra stone and an interior Lenga wood accents. Guest rooms will look out over the Pacific, and the lodge will also have a restaurant with a glassed-in kitchen, a swimming pool and Jacuzzis. Stays include all food and beverages as well as guided hikes with bilingual local guides and transfers to and from the island's airport. A three night stay will start at $1,794 per person, double occupancy for a standard room and $2,334 per person, double occupancy for a suite.

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Tags: easter island, EasterIsland, hotel, lodge, posada de mike rapu, travel, vacation