When planning the trip to South America well over a year ago now, we were beyond excited about visiting Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited island in the world and located 2,295 miles off the Chilean coast. We knew that all over the island were hundreds of giant stone statues called moai which overlooked the ruins of the settlements that constructed them. We couldn't wait to discover the natural beauty of the island and why the Rapa Nui - as the locals call themselves - constructed and later toppled the moai.
It was a five hour flight plus a two hour difference from Santiago to the tiny speck in the Pacific Ocean but we were raring to go once we landed in Hanga Roa, the island's capital and only town.
I read that there are lots of theories but a combination of local oral history and European observations and guesswork tell the following story. King Hotu Matu'a and his family sailed here and landed on a beach on the north shore which began the population of the island. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl believed the original settlers came from South America and sailed from Peru in a balsa-wood boat called the KonTiki in 1947 to prove it was possible. Despite this, it is now believed that the Rapa Nui are of Polynesian descent.
Since we only had a few days on the island, we made a beeline immediately south to the nearby volcanic crater of Rano Kau. A road ran steeply upward from Hanga Roa through scrubby terrain to the Hanga Roa Lookout where we enjoyed a marvelous view of much of the island. We could see most of Rapa Nui National Park which was designated by UNESCO as a 'unique testimony of a civilization' because of the dozens of sanctuaries called 'ahu' and the giant torsos made of volcanic material.
One of the most magnificent sights greeted us when we looked on the side of the road and saw the enormous Rano Kau Crater. It wasn't hard to understand why Heyerdahl described it as a 'giant witches' cauldron' as it was filled with dark water and floating green fields of tortura reeds! The view of the volcano crater was one of the most spectacular I have seen, anywhere in the world.
We were fantastically lucky that we had this marvelous 90 minute long hike to ourselves. The hike took us through ever changing terrain that included fig and avocado trees that had been planted by the first colonists.
The basis of the bird man cult was finding the first egg of spring laid by the sacred Manu Tara bird or sooty tern. The chief of each tribe on the island sent one chosen servant to Moto Nui, the largest of the islets below Orongo. Swimming across the shark-infested waters, the unfortunate servants or hopus spent about a month looking for the first egg while islanders gathered on the Orongo cliffs (where we were!) making offerings and prayers to the supreme deity, Makemake.
When the egg had been found, the successful hopus plunged into the swirling waters with the egg apparently strapped to his head, and swam to the mainland and climbed back up the cliffs to present the prize to his master. The successful master would then be be named the 'bird man' for the year, an important status position until the next competition.
Standing at the very top of high cliffs, with the strong ocean waves crashing on the rocks on one side and the volcano on the other side, we could envision the Birdman Competition taking place and realize how brave the competitors must have been. On that sunny day, the view on the three Motu or little islands was full of colors: the black of the rocks, the white of the waves, the intense blue of the ocean that met the light blue of the sky over the horizon. Just breathtaking!
Orongo was a special territory in ancient times with the first yam planted there and the first houses built there during the 15th or 16th centuries. It was also where the island's first king, Hotu Matu'a, spent his last days. The village expanded with more houses located on higher ground in two large groups facing the islets. The homes belonged to chiefs, priests and others of important ranks related to the bird man cult. Images related to the cult were painted on the roofs and walls of the homes.
The ancient village contained 53 'homes' that were essentially underground pods that were used for sleeping. Their floors were cut into one side of the slope. Their walls were made from overlapping slabs of stone with other large slabs meeting horizontally to make an arch. The entrances were small tunnels big enough for only one person to enter at a time.
From the village, we had more views of the Motu or islets.
Just before leaving, we spotted 'bird man' and other carvings on rocks on the edge of the cliffs. One was of a man's body drawn with a bird's head and holding an egg with one hand.
After buying this very unusual water bottle when we had dinner that night, I kept it for the rest of the trip to bring home to our youngest child, Zachary.
The first sign in a long time to add to my 'collection' of interesting bathroom signs!
Nearing sunset, we strolled from our guesthouse to Ahu Tahai so we could see our first moai on Easter Island. What an amazing feeling, when we spotted in the distance the five moai in a row and others that were set apart. This was what we had come so far to see in that magical little island called Rapa Nui!
Ahu Tahai was the only site on the island where we could see moai with eyes. A solitary moai was restored to show how it would have looked in the past. Artificial eyes were added but there is some controversy over whether all moai had white coral eyes, or only special moai.
Like other moai, they were knocked down, probably sometime during the 18th century. They were restored by the American archaeologist, William Mulloy, in the 1960s but the heads had to be restored again with quite large concrete collars to stop them from falling over. I read that Mulloy's grave was just a few feet from the moai.
The colors while the sun set were so intense and beautiful and it was the only place in the world we could see the sun falling down behind the moai.
Seeing the moai silhouetted one last time against the orange and scarlet sky before the sun took its last hurrah was a magnificent sight to behold.
As we went to bed that night, we could only pinch ourselves at how incredibly fortunate we had been to witness such a perfect sunset our first night on Easter Island.
We were delighted when our guesthouse owner, Steve, a Frenchman and longtime Rapa Nui resident, presented us with these lovely garlands when he picked us up at the airport! He took us on a short tour of the town before we picked up our rental car.
Colorful fishing boats bobbed up and down in the water at Caleta Hanga Roa, the town's tiny pier.
Across the street was the island's rugby pitch where a team of Tahitian players had flown more than 2,600 miles to compete against those from Rapa Nui. Talk about a 'road trip!'
The first European to stumble across the 64 square mile, volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean was the Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen who landed with his crew on Easter Sunday, 1722. He then christened the tiny island for the occasion. Until about 30 years ago, Easter Island was visited only once a years by a Chilean warship bringing supplies. Though few people before the 1960s visited the island, the world's imagination for centuries was gripped by the island's hundreds of giant mysterious statues made from basalt.
Their presence prompted one of the most fascinating architectural riddles of all time. How did an early seafaring people find this remote speck in the Pacific? Where did they come from? How did they transport their enormous statues, carved from a quarry in the side of a volcano, to the coast and erect them on giant stone altars? And, even more, why did they do so and later, why did they topple the moai?
The inactive volcano which hadn't been active for over 2,000 years collects rainwater in its basin. We overheard a guide say, that up until the early 1970's, people on Rapa Nui would come to Rano Kau to collect water for bathing and cleaning clothes. Only the people of Rapa Nui are allowed to enter the waters of the crater lake which had been declared a protected wetlands to help the environment.
We decided to hike to as close as we could get to the edge of the crater for more spellbinding views of it and the waves crashing in the ocean.
The steep 65' high cliff was eroded on the seaward side to include a breathtaking view of the Pacific and was a great spot to catch our breath and read our notes about the 'bird man' cult. The crater and the ruined ceremonial village of Orongo located just a couple of minutes' drive away was the site of the Rapa Nui Birdman Competition that was performed until 1862.
It was hard to tear ourselves away from the crater but there was more to see before the sun set that day. Next up - the village of Orongo.
The homes, likely constructed in the late 1600s, were only inhabited during the Birdman ceremony.
I remember our saying we felt like we were at the edge of the world as we walked around this side of the crater!
On our way back to town, we saw signs that some locals were clearly unhappy with the status quo.
The central platform or ahu with five moai with their backs to the sea was stunning even if the statues weren't in the best condition; it was fascinating to look at them listening to the ocean waves crashing behind them. Even though it was probably the most popular place to be on the island at sunset, there weren't too many people and it was such a peaceful site. There was a large field in front of the ahu where we relaxed and appreciated the approaching sunset.
The Rapa Nui people were not so keen on restoration at first but it has hugely enhanced the wealth of the island by bringing in significant tourism.
Some sights of the ancient village were still visible. We were just able to make out the base stones of the typical 'boat-shaped houses.'
Next post: Discovering more of idyllic Easter Island.
Posted on April 15th, 2018, from Littleton, Colorado.
Awesome photos of Moai at sunset. What a magical experience. Lil Red
ReplyDeleteWhat a magical day flying all the way to Easter Island and then capping it off with the spectacular view of the moai at sunset just minutes from where we stayed.
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