Isla de Pascue (the Chilean name) or to the rest of the world, Easter Island (Rapa Nui to its native Polynesian inhabitants) is like nowhere else on earth. Historically intriguing, culturally compelling and scenically magical, this tiny speck of land looks like it's fallen off another planet. In this blissfully isolated, unpolished gem it's hard to feel connected even to mainland Chile, over 3,700km to the east, let alone the wider world. Just you, the indigo depths and strikingly enigmatic moai (giant statutes) scattered amid an eerie landscape.
When the moai have finished working their magic on you, there are dead volcanoes to climb, and waves to splash in. And there's no better eco-friendly way to experience the island's savage beauty than on horseback! Once you've had your fill of hiking and clambering, gawking and gasping, a couple of expanses of silky sand beckon (and not a jet-ski in sight). Basically, Easter Island is refreshingly void of bling and large-scale development.
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| We went from the cold and windy southern Chilean Patagonia to a south Pacific island paradise, all within a 3 week period. It took a lot of money and a fair amount of travel time, but we are here!!! |
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| The Cabanas Inaki Uhi, our hotel for the next few days, offered a shared kitchen……an ideal place to keep the beers and wine chilled!! "Isn't that correct Mel!?!?" |
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| Our first order of business after arriving was to have a cold beer, relax and people watch! I'll drink to that! Cheers! |
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| After a couple of beers we decided it was time to explore this town. Hanga Roa is the only town on the island……and it ain't a big one! |
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| Caleta Hanga Roa, the town's small bay and fishing port! There's even a couple of moai here….our first sighting!! |
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| Easter Island is the world's most isolated inhabited island. Its closest inhabited neighbour is Pitcairn Island, 2,075km to the west, with fewer than 100 inhabitants. Isla Salas y Gomez, 415km to the east, is closer but uninhabited. Regardless, it's a long swim to any location from where I'm standing! |
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| Hanga Roa, the sole town on the island has a population of approximately 4,400 people. Upbeat it ain't, but it's home for the next few days!! |
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| We were able to get our hotel owner to take us for a tour of the island. This was stop #1. |
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| The Rano Kau crater is almost a mile across and is partly covered in a bog of floating totora reeds and filled with opalescent waters. The crater of the dead volcano, Rano Kau looks like a giant witch's cauldron. |
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| The obligatory picture!! |
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| The crater is perched 400 metres above sea level, a crater wall on one side abutting a vertical drop plunging down to the cobalt-blue ocean on the other side. |
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| The lake-filled crater is one of only three fresh water sources on the island. The crater, because it is 200 metres deep and sheltered from the wind, boasts its own micro-climate. |
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| "So Mel, let me get this right. You want me to walk backwards about 20 feet and you'll take a picture?" |
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| Orongo is a stone village and ceremonial centre at the southwestern tip of Easter Island. With 53 stone masonry houses it is the focus of the island wide bird cult linked to the god Makemake. It was here that an annual race to bring the first mantra (Sooty Tern) egg from the islet of Motu Nui to Orongo. The site has numerous petroglyphs, mainly of tangata manu (bird men). |
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| This stone house was only used by the natives during the bird man cult ceremonies. The houses have walls made of horizontally overlapping stone slabs, with an earth-covered arch roof, giving the appearance of being partly subterranean. Since the walls have to be thick enough to support the roof's weight, the doorway is a low narrow tunnel. |
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| Petroglyphs representing Bird Men on Easter Island with the three islets of Motu Nui (the spike island), Motu Iti and Motu Kao Kao in the background. As Easter Island became over-populated and resources diminished, warriors known as Matatoa gained more power and the Ancestor Cult ended, making way for the Bird Man Cult. This cult maintained that, although the ancestors still provided for their descendants, the medium through which the living could contact the dead was no longer statues, but human being chosen through an annual race-for-the-egg competition. The Matatoa warrior would swim out to the Motu Nui, climb the cliff's, snatch a Sooty Tern egg, swim back and climb the cliffs up to Orongo. |
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| On our second stop we go to a part of the island that isn't on the tourist trail. Next stop from these shores is the Antarctica!! |
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| The first recorded European contact with the island was on April 5th (Easter Sunday), 1722, when Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen visited the island for a week. The next foreign visitors (on November 15, 1770) were the Spanish that reported the island's seashore was lined with stone statues. Four years later, in 1774, British explorer James Cook visited Easter Island; he reported that some of the stone statues had fallen over. The British returned in 1825 and reported seeing no standing statues. |
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| The moai range in size from as short as 2mt to the longest being 21mt, however the usual length is from 5.5mts to 7mts…..sooooo I'm guessing this one is closer to the 7mt size. |
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| Afterwards we went for a swim in the local swimming hole…..no beach on this part of the island! |
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| One would be hard-pressed to say that this is a perfect swimming hole, but it was all ours and the water was very refreshing…..and it was hot out. The climate of Easter Island is subtropical, the lowest temperatures are recorded in July and August (18C) and the highest is in February (Max 28C), the summer season in the southern hemisphere. |
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| Ramo Raraku is one of three volcanic craters on the island. It was a quarry for about 500 years until the early 18th century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the island's known moai were carved. There are still 397 moai in and around the crater. |
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| We walked up and into the Rano Raraku crater just in time to see a few men harvesting totora reeds. These would be used for the Tapati Rapa Nui festival that takes place in a couple of weeks time. If you look real hard you'll see some moai peppered around the sides of the crater. |
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| Perhaps the most famous of the Easter Island heads. Why you ask?……the big guy is the only moai with its head turned so that he looks like he's looking at you! |
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| The large stone statues, or moai, for which Easter Island is world-famous, were carved from 1100 - 1680AD. A total of 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections so far. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues are actually torsos, with most of them ending at the top of the thighs, although a small number of them are complete, with the figures kneeling on bent knees with their hands over their stomachs. Some upright moai have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils. |
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| The outer slopes of Rano Raraku has 20 moai that are obviously on their way to their final destination. However the Islanders definitely ran out of steam and they abandoned their carvings where they stood. The shifting sands of time froze them in their current state. |
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| The hills are littered with moai that were being transported down the slopes. It is not yet known how they transported the statues. Possibilities include employing a y-shape sledge with cross pieces, pulled with ropes and tied around the statues neck. Anywhere from 180 to 250 men would be required for pulling, depending on the size of the moai. |
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| These moai are like icebergs - 80% of the statue is buried in the shifting soil. |
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| "Here Paul….take the picture so that it looks like the head is about to bite my head off!!" |
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| Since the quarry contains moai at all stages of construction, it's easy to visualize the creation process. Most moai were carved face up, in a horizontal or slightly reclining position. Workers dug a channel large enough for the carvers around and under each moai, leaving the statue attached to the rock only along its back. |
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| Me and my rock band…..The Headstones! |
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| Lil Mel and the Friendly Giant. |
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| Paul standing next to the 21 metre giant moai…….the largest moai ever carved. |
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| Tukuturi is an unusual moai. Its beard and kneeling posture distinguish it from standard moai. Tukuturi is made of red scoria from Puma Pau, but sits at Rano Raraku, the tuff quarry. It is possibly related to the Tangata Manu cult, in which case it would be one of the last moai ever made. |
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| Ahu are stone platforms. Varying greatly in layout, of the 313 known ahi, 125 carried moai - usually just one, however Ahu Tongarika (as seen here), had the most and tallest moai, 15 in total. |
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| Ahu Tongariki is the largest ahi on Rapi Nui. Its moai were toppled during the island's civil wars and in the 12th century the ahi was swept inland by a tsunami. It has since been restored and has 15 moai including an 86 tonne moai, that was the heaviest ever erected on the island. All the moai here face sunset during the summer solstice. |
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| Wild flowers grow out of the old lava field with Ahu Tongariki in the background. |
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| ……and yet another obligatory picture!! |
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| Anakena Beach, one of only two on Easter Island. According to island oral traditions, Anakena was the landing place of Hotu Matu'a, a Polynesian chief who lead a two canoe settlement party here and founded the first settlement on Rapi Nui. |
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The Nau Nau Ahu at Anakena Beach. Four of the moai on this ahu have cylindrical topknots that supposedly reflect the male dreadlocks hairstyle once common on Rapa Nui.
Quarried from the small crater at Puma Pau, only about 60 moai had topknots, and another 25 remain in or near the quarry, they appear to be a late development. Carved like the moai, the topknots may have been simple embellishments, which were rolled to their final destination and then, despite weighing about as much as two elephants, somehow placed on top of the moai. |
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| The south Pacific sun sinks on Ahu Vai Uri's 5 moai……we came here at dusk (along with perhaps 20 other tourist) to watch the big yellow ball sink behind the silhouetted statues - a truly ethereal sight. |
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| This lone moai is the last one with its eyes still intact. The white was from seashells and the black from obsidian. |
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| Paul catching the last of the sun before it dips into the sea. Notice the silhouetted moai standing next to the telephone pole. |
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| Our guide, Alvero, took us to an out-of-the-way restaurant where the food and atmosphere was dead-on!! |
On the next day we went to a show.....
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The traditional dance show at the Ma'ara Nui venue.
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| Melanie with all the right moves……….. |
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| …..Paul with all the wrong moves!! |
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| Dancing sensation, Moisty Summers! |
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| ….and to finish the night off……da Jesus Big Feed !!! |
On the next day Paul and I went for a horse ride.....
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On our last day on Easter Island, Paul and I decided to go for a horseback ride. Melanie was feeling somewhat under the weather. :)
The last census taken on Easter Island revealed that 3,791 people lived on the island and there were 5,500 roaming semi-wild horses. |
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| A rare part of the 4 hour horse ride that offered any shade was this grove! Trees are sparse, rarely forming natural groves, and it has been argued whether native Easter Islanders deforested the island in the process of erecting their statues, and in providing sustenance for an overpopulated island. |
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| For the most part, Rapa Nui volcanic slopes are gentle and grassy, however the hot interior of the island is covered mainly in rugged lava fields. For about a 1/2 hour we picked our way through this field. |
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| Rapa Nui is just 12 kms at its widest point and has a maximum length of 24kms. That's Hanga Roa (the sole town) in the background and also standing out are the two volcanic sub-cones. |
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| Standing atop of Mt. Terevaka, the largest (507mts) of three volcanoes that form part of the island. From this vantage point you can see the entire island……and then you realize how friggin remote you are!!! |
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| On the way back we encountered a grass fire roaring up the slopes towards us…..minor panic for a few minutes!! |
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| Ahu Akivi is an Ahu with seven moai and an astrological connection. The moai face sunset during spring and autumn equinox. Unlike other ahu's, the Akivi complex is not located on the coast. In contrast to the monumental statuary at other sites on the island, the moai at the Ahu Akivi face the ocean. |
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| Our hotel, the Cabanas Inaki Uhi….a beautiful low-keyed spot with a great family hosting! |
All good things most pass and we fly back to Santiago.....
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| Back in Santiago and our last night out before Melanie heads back home. But are you having fun yet Mel?!?!? |
On February 4, 2011 Melanie headed back home and Paul and myself headed for Bolivia to continue our trip…….Cheers. See you in the next instalment blog......
DIARY ENTRY: Monday February 7, 2011 5:57PM: Here I am in Uyuni, Bolivia……yes it has been some time since my last update. I'll try to remember all the important things that took place.
On Monday
(January 31/11 - Easter Island) the owner of our hotel picked us up and gave us a full tour of Easter Island….and I mean a full tour. We visited the crater lake first and then afterwards we went and saw where the original Rapa Nui people would gather for ceremonial events. Afterwards we drove to the coast and looked at some of the fallen Moai heads that dotted this part of the island. Because this was a personalized tour, our guide took us for a swim in the ocean where the locals go. Afterwards we went and visited the quarry where the Rapa Nui people created these strange heads. This was truly the most interesting place……without a doubt my fav!! We took the obligatory pictures and moved on. We saw several more sites before finally ending up on the beach…..apparently the only one on the island. That night our guide took us to see the sunset at a nice restaurant.
On Tuesday
(January 01/11 - Easter Island) we were kinda lazy…..this had a lot to do with the heat…..and it was very hot. I estimated it had to be 32C. However, later that day Paul and I decided to go for a horseback ride but Mel was somewhat hung over and decided to nap instead. The horseback ride was to the highest point on Easter Island. This afforded us a great panoramic view of the island in its entirety.
On Wednesday
(February 02/11 - Chile), we got in some last minute shopping on Easter Island and our flight was at 12:30PM, so other than flying to Santiago and going out for supper there, that day was a write-off.
On Thursday
(February 03/11 - Chile) we had planned on going on a wine tour but we had talked to a couple from the USA and they indicated it was not worth the money that it cost. After careful deliberation we agreed and scrapped the tour, this left us with nothing to do but bum around and hang-out…..which was fine by me as we had done a lot of going and I enjoyed the opportunity to write my update and simply hang out.
So on Friday
(February 04/11 - Chile) Mel was scheduled to fly back home. This wasn't until late so we went shopping. The main items we had to get was some wine and after some exploring around Santiago we were able to find the wine we had discovered in Puerto Varas. Around 6:00 we headed for the airport and I must say it was the saddest day of my trip to see Mel off :( Later Paul and I flew onwards to La Paz, Bolivia, but it was about 3:45AM in the morning when we arrived. We were able to get some money and find a hotel. Unfortunately the hotel was going thru reno's so at 6:30AM we were awaken by the construction…..prompting us to change hotels.
Most of Saturday
(February 05/11 - Bolivia) was spent wandering around La Paz and becoming acclimatized. This is needed as La Paz is 3,600mts above sea-level.
On Sunday
(February 06/11 - Bolivia) we slept in and were slow to get on the go. We went to check out several hikes and climbs with various companies and checked out available hotels for when we were back in La Paz. That night we took the bus for Uyuni. It was the bus from hell and we arrived here about 9:30AM on Monday.
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