Independent Travels with a Jeep

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Today, I became a proud hiree of a Suzuki Vitara 4-wheel drive car. Never mind that I had no idea how to engage the 4-wheel drive bit, I was determined to explore the Island! After a tentaive test drive to the local supermarket to stock up for a picnic lunch (bread, cooked meat, cheese, soft drinks and chocolate) I headed out of town.

It didn´t take long.

Before I knew it, I had run out of paved road and was climbing up an extict volcano (at least I hoped it was extinct) and the "road" was becoming rougher with each passing kilometre. Naturally, on my map, it was designated a main road(!) After 40 minutes of bumping and crashing about inside the Jeep, not meeting a single soul, I arrived at the crater of Rano Kau.

I wasn´t sure what to expect, but it truly is stunning! The sky was bluer than blue with not a single cloud. This was perfectly reflected in the stunningly clear water of the crater lake with its deep green reed beds. The side of the volano were perfectly steep with red earth. A wonderful combination. The wind howled and blew off my hat but did not disturb the water one whit. I had the place to myself for a few minutes, which after the tour yesterday, came as a welcome relief.

A few photos were taken and I climbed higher for an impressive view before returning to the car and moving further up the "road" to Orongo Ceremonial Village.

I introduced myself to the Park Rangers, a friendly bunch of souls before entering the Village. A bit of background - not an awful lot has ever happened on Easter Island, and in days gone by, the highlight of the natives´year occurred here when some foolish or brave young men with suicidal tendencies would jump off the cliffs here with the blessing of the local priest and if they survived the drop, they swam to some nearby, uninhabited islands. On those Islands one called Motu Nui, some type of bird would nest yearly during August and September. Basically, the mens´ task was to return to Easter Island with the first Egg of the season. Intact. After swimming and climbing back up the cliff, the egg must be intact.

The reward? The successful young male´s Clan Chief (NOT the successful chap himself) would be Birdman for a full 12 months from that day. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the Birdman would be assigned a priest for the whole year and he had the choice of living at Orongo or Rano Raraku, depending on where his tribal loyalty lay. He shared a house with the priest. However, absolutely no-one could look directly at the Birdman nor approach him. Nor could they speak to him. The priest was the only person who could touch him, feed and clothe him and he had to accompany the Birdman everywhere for the whole 12 months.

That´s my idea of Hell, but apprently not theirs for the Birdman Cult was very deeply ingrained. The last Birdman ceremony was held toward the end of the 19th century.

Orongo is an engaging place to visit - perched precariously on the cliff edge, there are stunning views of the Pacific and the cliffs on either side of the village. Here, because of the winds buffeting the village, they built stone houses (elewhere on the Island, roofs were made of earth & straw) but here, the entire house were built of slate as it didn´t blow away during high winds.

The houses themselves are tiny with impossibly small and narrow entrances, no windows. The houses are grouped round a village square with rock pools and various stones placed for ceremonial events or village events.

The rock where the priest in charge would await the return of the successful chap hangs perilously over the cliff, decorated with images of tuna, Birdmen, the sun and moon, and all kinds of things that were important to the natives. Really intricate carvings.

On the other side of the village is a look-out point over the wonderful Volcanic crater and lake of Rano Kau, thus linking it to the ceremonial village.

After a good walk round the place and just soaking in the atmosphere, I headed back down and circled the runway to reach Ahu Akivi, which is highly unusual for having inland Moai, nowhere near the coast however, like all Moai, those overlook the ceremonial ground. Ahu Akivi has five Moai, all raised by the Mulloy expedition. Consequently, the site is in excellent condition.

A little further along the dirt track were some caves, Ana Te Panu (sp?) with drawings on the cavern walls and tiny little houses within the biggest caves. It´s surprising just how dark the caves become within only a few minutes walk from the entrance. I soon wished I had brought a torch as there wasn´t a single soul but me. Slightly creepy but great!

By now, it was nearing 6-30pm and I was anxious to watch the sunset, so rushed out of the caves with some relief and raced to Tahai, just outside Hanga Roa, on the west coast to watch the sunset behind five Moai. Stunning. Absolutely stunning and the perfect end to the day.

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