Happy Easter (Island)

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The next place I visitied was a little bit special. Easter Island is one of the most isolated places in the world, located as it is a 5 hour flight off the Chilean coast. Flights to the island are controlled by LAN, and as there is no competition, they are prohibitively expensive on a backpackers budget. Luckily, on my RTW ticket, it simply counts as a stopover on the journey between South America and New Zealand, meaning I had the chance to visit. It was with palpable excitement that I boarded the plane in Santiago, and a thoroughly enjoyable 5 hour flight later, it was an even more excited Stewart that touched down (still inside the plane) on Easter Island.

Having found the cheapest place on the island to sleep (in a loft next to the campsite) I set off for a bit of an explore. As an aside, the reason I didn't camp was that I'd seen the weather forecast for the next 5 days, and they suggested that each night would bring a torrential storm. Not being a fan of camping in torrential storms, I was happy to be inside. Anyway, it was literally a 2 minute walk from the campsite until I happened upon a moai, the most distinctive feature of Easter Island. I was all ready to carry on walking, but it was lunchtime, so I retired to eat, then set off for a wander round the northwest of the island, passing many more ahu's and moai, and also some really interesting caves.

I guess I should take a minute to furnish you all with some terminology, as I shall be sprinkling it liberally throughout the remainer of this entry. I assume that most of you know that the moai are the big stone heads. What you may not know is that the platform on which the moai stand is known as an ahu. And the topknot that some of them have is called a pukao. Oh, and despite appearances, the pukao is not believed to be a hat, but instead it is believed to be a popular haircut of the period. Makes the mullet look acceptable.

The following day, I set off with a Chilean guy I'd met on the campsite and headed towards Rano Kau one of the extinct volcanoes on Easter Island. What makes Rano Kau distinctive is that it is home to most of the island's native fauna, which covers the crater lake in small islands. If you like to read guidebook prose, you would be told that it resembles a witches cauldron. Now, there was certainly no hubble, bubble toil and trouble, but it certainly was one of the more distinctive crater lakes I have seen in my time. Nearby to the volcano is the Orongo ceremonial village, and by using some word perfect Spanish, my Chilean compatriot convinced the Conaf officer to give us a guided tour of the site. Which means I can now give you a little history lesson.

Back in the day, different areas of Easter Island used to be controlled by different tribes, each of them with their own moai. The tribes believed that the moai gave them superhuman powers, and so during the frequent wars, they would try and push down the opposition's moai, which is why nowadays so many of the island's moai are lying in the mud. Anyway, eventually the chiefs had a bit of a meeting, and realised that if they kept killing each other there wouldn't be anyone left. Therefore, in future years the tribes would instead compete in a birdman competition, based in the ceremonial village of Orongo. Each year, a representative of each tribe would dive off the cliffs of Easter Island, and swim across shark infested waters to a nearby islet to try and find an egg. The first to find it would win, and be declared the birdman. Their prize? A year's solitary confinement. Apparently a great honour.

Today, Orongo is an interesting little place to wander around, Conaf have done a good job restoring some of the old houses so you can see what they would have been like, and some of the birdman petroglyphs are very prominent. The most interesting feature of Orongo however, is a moai which is inscribed with birdman petroglyphs, the only time these 2 eras of Rapa Nui life are represented together. I didn't see this moai however. It currently resides in the British Museum.

After 2 days of walking, I wanted to get off my feet, and so the next day I hired a jeep for the day together with other campsite residents. I was designated driver, and after a bit of a false start, we set off down the coastal road. The road was dotted with Ahu's, with moai in various states of repair. The first few we visited, at Vinapu, Vaihu and Akahanga had all seen their moai pushed down and not restored, with the area around the ahu littered by moai bits, pukao and debris from the ahu itself. Also noteable driving down the coast was the sea. As Easter Island is so isolated, there isn't much pollution in the ocean around it, and the crystal clear rolling waves coming in to shore were absolutely beautiful.

Next up were 2 of the island's posterboys. Firstly, Rano Raraku, or "the nursery". This volcano is where the moai were all made, and today you can follow a walking track around the slopes, which are just littered by the heads in various stages of construction. It's a really incredible place, and actually a little creepy just meandering around these heads, one of them reaching a height of 21m (well it would do if it was standing up). Around the front, there's quite a few people, but as the others went back to the car, I carried on round the other side of the volcano, where it was just me and the moai. I dawdled here a little bit too long, and got caught out by one of the instantaneous downpours which seem to happen quite often on the island.

Replacement t-shirt bought, we went to the islands most famous ahu, Ahu Tongariko. Restored with Japanese money, this now is the site of 13 standing moai, the largest on the island, and the one you see on all the postcards. It is quite remarkable. Just as remarkable, especially for someone who has been to places such as Machu Picchu and the Corcovado etc, is that unlike those 2, you can enjoy the moai here in relative tranqullity. Indeed, when myself and Britta (one of the girls I hired the car with), went back out to Tongariko the next morning for another gander, we had the place to ourselves. Wonderful.

There were another couple of stops after Tongariko on this particular day, a quick visit to a magnetic stone known as the naval of the world, before a visit to Anakena beach, a beautiful white sand beach, which also has 2 great ahu. We stopped long enough for me to go for a bit of a swim (even though it was raining!) and then retraced our steps. The day wasn't through yet though, as we still had time to visit Ahu Akivi (one of the only inland ahu) with 7 standing moai, and Ahu Tahai, where nearby there is the only moai which still has eyes.

Another day, another dollar, or on Easter Island, another day, another torrential storm. As I mentioned earlier, I had wimped out of camping, but there was a Chilean couple that had braved it, and took pleasure in telling me every morning how much of a wimp I am. To try and counter this, I announced I was going on a walk to the islands highest point, Maunga Terevaka. The chap obviously felt his masculinity challenged, as he announced he was coming with me. As we departed, he told me that his job is a trekking guide at Torres del Paine. I guessed then that I wouldn't be setting the pace for the day. And so it proved, as I trailed him up the hill and through the rain, until we reached our destination. Clouds rather spoilt the view now. At this point, I was ready to turn for home, but Torres del Paine guides don't do that, and he announced we would be carrying on to the other side of the island. It was a bit of a scramble, but we did eventually arrive at Anakena, and hitchhiked back to camp.

My penultimate day on Easter Island was duly followed by my last day, and having seen most of the sight, I took it easy, and hitchhiked out to the beach for a good old lazy day. I bought a few trinkets, then it was time to board my plane that would take me to New Zealand (via Tahiti). Easter Island really is unlike any other place I've been on this trip, and I consider myself privaleged to have the chance to visit.

Stewart

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Photos

Complete Moai
The only one