It is one of the most isolated islands in the world but 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon its shores.
Over the centuries that followed a remarkable society developed in isolation on the island.
For reasons still unknown they began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. These monuments, known, as "moai" are some of the most incredible ancient relics ever discovered.
The people of Easter Island called themselves the Rapa Nui.
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is one of the world’s great archaeological sites, and also one of the most remote.
The nearest inhabited island is tiny Pitcairn, over 1200 miles to the west.
Rapa Nui is almost 2500 miles from the coast of South America and, in the other direction, it is 2000 miles to Tahiti.
Its isolation is one of the key factors affecting the culture that evolved here.
Sunday evening the 30th of July we arrived at 20.30 on Easter Island. As it already had said in the Lonely Planet, islanders were waiting for us in the arrival hall and outside. Everyone who had accommodation for rent on the island was standing there. We ended up with Teresa and here mother Maria in a really nice house, just outside the center of town. We got a lovely big room which had a direct access to our own front porch with chairs and tables. Since it had been a really long day with long flights, we went straight to bed.
Monday morning I (Linda) had to skip breakfast since I wasn´t feeling well. After having slept some more it improved a bit the beginning of the afternoon. ´Mother´ Teresa had brought me some breakfast anyway, so they were looking after me pretty well! In the afternoon we took a walk to the beach were we saw the first Moai´s (statues). We also walked through the only town on the island - Hanga Roa - a bit. Almost all inhabitants of the island (4000) live here.
We were (hate to say it, but again) extremely fortunate with the weather. We got sunshine, only a few clouds and about 22 degr. C. When talking to a few of the other people in the hostel, we learnt that they had had a lot of rain the week before.
Tuesday morning we rented a 4WD car to drive over the island and visit some more sites of Moai´s. Again it was a lovely day full of sunshine. In about 7 hours we had visited a lot of the most important sites on the island (or at least we thought we had).
There aren´t even words to describe what you see. There are also so many questions still unanswered about this place and its original inhabitants, that there is also a great air of mystery around it.
The few things they do know that one particular tribe created the statues. They were all made in Rano Raraku, since the statues are all made from 1 particular type of stone only occurring at Rano Raraku. The statues were then put on transport to other places on the island. Most of the statues were finally knocked over during a tribal war on the island.
They also know that nearly all Moai´s which stand erect near the coastline have had eyes at one point. Unfortunately most of them were destroyed or have gone missing after the statues were knocked over.
They only found 1, which is made of white coral and a black volcanic stone. They believe that it would have taken them at least 1 year to carve out 1 statue.
What they don´t know, but have many theories about is how the islanders moved the statues from the quarry (the ´factory´ mountain where the statues were carved) to a place on the island.
Another question is how they got then got the moai on its Ahu (a platform) and how finally they lifted the Pukao on top of their head. The Pukaos were made of red stone and represent the topknots of red hair, a traditional hairdo by the original inhabitants. Another big question mark is the origin of the Rapa Nui people.
They have one theory where they came from a certain island in the pacific which has now disappeared in the ocean again. They also believe that there might be a link between the Rapa Nui people, the Inka´s and the Maya´s. Looking at some of the Ahu´s - platforms, on which the Moai´s´s were placed, you can see a great similarity with the Inka ruins found in Cusco.
Some data on the statues:
Total number of moai on Easter Island: 887
Total number of moai that were successfully transported to their final ahu locations: 288 (32% of 887)
Total number of moai still in the Rano Raraku quarry: 397 (45%)
Total number of moai lying 'in transit' outside of the Rano Raraku quarry: 92
The average moai is a little over 4 meters tall and weighs about 13,8 ton. The largest moai is 21.60 meters and weighs approximately 150 tons! So now it is easier to understand the mystery surrounding the transport of the Moai´s.
A few sites have been restored since that time and probably more will follow eventually. Especially when they find the right protection to cover the material with, so it won´t deteriorate due to the salt and the wind, they will probably excavate more Moai´s from the quarry site.
We had a marvellous time exploring the island and all the beautiful sites and thinking about all the questions which are still unanswered.
Wednesday the 1st of August we got up at 6 since we wanted to drive to the Tongariki site with the 15 Moai´s, to watch the sunrise. This wasn´t the best time of year to do that since in the summer (January-February) it rises from the sea, behind the Moai´s. Now it rose from behind the mountains, but it was still a beautiful site. This was the second time to see the 15 Moai´s and it was even more impressive than the first time.
After returning to our hostel and having breakfast, we went up the Rano Kau volcano. At the top of the volcano we could see that the crater was perfectly round shaped and had tiny lakes inside it. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the beautiful weather in the garden of our hostel.
Thursday we (Angela, Garreth, Rolf and I) were picked up by Patricio which is the brother in law of Teresa (but who isn´t related on such a small island!), who took us on an island tour. Half of the statues he showed us that day, we hadn´t seen when we were driving around the island with our car! The stories of original Rapa Nui people, the theories which has been made up since that time, all made the sites gain so much more meaning then they had before. Fortunately the weather gods were on our side again.
Patricio also took us to another sacred place on the island called ´the navel of the earth´. That is a really round stone, believed to be taken to the island by its first inhabitants. It original location was in front of a row of Moai´s, but later it was found next to it. Probably people tried to take the stone of the island at some point but didn´t succeed. The stone is believed to give energy to the people when rubbing it. Naturally we all tried to feel it and we almost all got a tinkling feeling in our hands when we had rubbed it! The stone is magnetic which he showed us by putting his compass on the pass, which then at some places got crazy.
That night we enjoyed a few drinks and a nice dinner with Angela and Garreth. They are also on a world trip, so we could share a lot of stories with each other. The local band was also playing their typical Polynesian music, so that made it a perfect evening.
Friday we rented a quad-bike, to see another volcano on the island and take a look a the major moai sites for the last time. Although sunny at the coast, inland it was very foggy and thus somewhat wet. When we rented the bike, a sticker on the bumper informed us that riding on it with two people wasn´t permitted. When I showed it to the girl of the rental shop, she was happy to inform us that these rules do not apply to the Easter Island!
Maybe this is also one of the reasons that you cannot get any insurance for your car or motorbike on the island! Whatever you do, you will have to pay for it yourself.
We this in mind, we drove up the volcano. Sometimes I (Linda) stepped of the bike when I thought the hill was too steep, or the mud path was too damaged. It all went OK, till the last hill we wanted to climb by bike. Already a 4WD car had stopped at the bottom and appeared not to go any further. Rolf decided to try and climb it by himself. At that point I was already a bit anxious and nervous that he wouldn´t make it. Halfway the hill the bike started to slide sideways and at one point the front wheels even got loose from the ground! By then I missed a few heartbeats and I was shouting to stop the bike and not try any further. With the help from the people in the car we finally got the bike backward in the mud-track again, so it could safely (slide) down.
After this terrifying event (at least it was for me), we decided to return to coast and drive the more safer roads around the island. Still it had been great fun!
Our last night in town we went out with Garreth and Angela again and enjoyed a great dinner in a nice restaurant where they also had live music.
After breakfast the morning of August 5, we went to the airport to take our afternoon flight back to Santiago. After having spent 5 days on the island, we now had to say goodbye. We hope that we have been able through our pictures and stories to get across some of the feelings we experienced on the Easter island.
It is a beautiful, friendly, mystical place and definitely one of the highlights of our trip!
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