Petersontravels

Despite having so much to see on the island, Explora didn’t require us to get up at the crack of dawn, which was nice.  Our first excursion departed at 0930, and our van took us to Ana Te Pahu, a site with a network of lava tube caves.  It’s a short hike from the entrance to the caves, and along the way there are several points of interest.  Our guide Ricky pointed out this unusual looking piece of carved volcanic rock that was once a corner of a Rapa Nui building.  You can see several other blocks in the background.  These small holes carved into the blocks allowed pieces to be fitted together much like Legos.

We also passed a single decapitated moai on an ahu.  There would have been several here originally.  This moai is older than others, as they were built larger and larger as time progressed.

The first sign of the caves was this tree growing right out of one of them.  I honestly don’t know how the tree got started as the sunlight would have hit the floor of the cave for maybe an hour a day, but life finds a way.

The main entrance to the caves is almost completely obscured by vegetation, including these banana trees.

Here we are just inside the cave entrance.  The helmets were a very good idea, as there were spots where we actually needed them.  Some of the natives lived in these caves, and they built up rock piles that they would sleep on during rainy weather when the caves would flood.

We’ve been in lava tube caves before, and they lack the formations you see in limestone caverns, so it’s interesting but not really all that beautiful.

It is unique however to see trees growing right out of them!

This is the view looking back towards the entrance.  We exited from a different opening maybe 50 yards later.

We jumped into the van and drove maybe a mile to the next spot, Ahu Akivi, another set of moai on an ahu.  These 7 moai actually face towards the ocean, aligned to face the setting sun during the Spring Equinox.  One thing our guide pointed out regarding these moai that sit on an ahu is they all have an odd number of statues.

Here is a view of the moai from the rear.  You can clearly see where the decapitated heads were reattached to the bodies with cement.  It’s interesting to me that they didn’t decapitate all of the statues.

One last stop on this excursion that was directly adjacent to the main town on Rapa Nui, Hanga Roa.  This site is called Ahu Tahai, and sits right on the waters edge.

This moai is the only one on the island with the eyes restored.  The eyes were made of cement versus the originals which were made of coral.

This site has 3 distinct ahu’s as seen in the below photo.

The moai here aren’t in the best shape, but this spot is quite popular at sunset as the sun sets directly behind them.  It’s also just a few hundred yards from the most populated part of the island.

After lunch back at the resort we had another excursion to the volcanic quarry where all of the moai came from, known as Rano a Raraku.  Half of the islands moai are located here, including hundreds in various states of completion.

This Chimango Caracara was posing in front of a fallen moai.

This moai was in progress when the carving suddenly stopped.  There are several theories as to why the natives stopped carving moai, but the most likely answer is the very foundation of their culture, the belief that erecting statues brought prosperity and spiritual goodwill,  was challenged as the Rapa Nui suffered hardship and internal strife.

The largest moai on the island is here at the quarry, known as “El Gigante”.  This moai would have stood 72′ tall if it was completed and erected.

These moai on the slope of the quarry are actually complete, they have just been partially buried.

These are said to be a showroom of sorts, showing the potential suitors who may want a moai made in their honor the options available to them.  These two are my favorite moai, almost comical with their expressions.

The style differences here might have been showing off one carving artist’s skills versus another.

One last shot of the “moai showroom”.

From this site you can see the 15 moai we visited the day prior, and this view shows how close they are to the ocean.

Our guide took us on a short hike leading away from the quarry, where there are several toppled moai laying on their face.  Nobody is sure why they ended up here, but there is a thought that if they toppled in transport that they no longer held their “mana” and were abandoned.

Speaking of transport, there are a multitude of theories as to how the moai were moved from the quarry to their final location, sometimes miles away.  The most popular theory is they were moved upright with ropes (made of hair and grasses), as shown in the video below.

The verbal history of the natives has always said the moai “walked” from the quarry to their final destination, and that may have appeared to be the case if you were watching the above from afar.  There is also a local joke that it was aliens who moved them.  I guess we’ll never know?

At dinner that night they served butter in the shape of a moai.  Nice touch!

Coming up, still more moai sites as well as some petroglyphs.

The drive from the cruise ship in San Antonio to the Santiago airport was uneventful.  It was strange to see almost no traffic, but it was a Sunday so I’m sure that helped.  The flight from Santiago to Easter Island is nearly 5 hours, and I will state we were very impressed with the Business Class seats on LATAM Airlines.  Actually the entire experience was excellent!  I took several photos as we approached the island.  The Rano Kau volcano is clearly visible, a spot we will visit during our three day stay.

The current runway on the island has an interesting back story.  Back during the Space Shuttle days, NASA needed emergency runways in several worldwide locations, and one of them was here.  This runway was built by NASA in 1987 and is two miles long.  Fortunately for the residents of Easter Island, this new runway enabled wide body jets to land, enhancing tourism dramatically.  Interestingly, our plane was a huge 787 Dreamliner, and the flight appeared to be full.

One more shot as we made our final approach.

Despite the huge runway, the terminal itself is quite small, and you walk off the plane onto the tarmac.  The sign as you enter the terminal lists the name of the island in Spanish, Isla de Pascua.

The resort we were staying at, Explora, had staff greeting us as we exited the terminal.  We were whisked to our hotel and advised that our first excursion was in 10 minutes.  Explora is an all-inclusive resort so everything is covered, including expert guided tours of the island’s most important sights.  It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every penny and then some!

First, a little bit about Easter Island, known as Rapa Nui to its indigenous Polynesian inhabitants.  It is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, a tiny volcanic island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean roughly 2,300 miles west of Chile and over 1,000 miles from the nearest neighboring island. This Chilean territory, discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday in 1722 (hence its name), features a dramatic, windswept landscape dotted with nearly 1,000 monumental stone statues called “moai”.  These towering human figures were carved from volcanic rock by the Rapa Nui people between 1250 and 1500 AD to represent ancestral spirits of the islands tribal leaders. The statues, mostly facing inland, have sparked fascination and debate regarding their exact purpose and the methods used to transport them throughout the island. This UNESCO World Heritage site is protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

We jumped into the deep end of the Top Five “must see” spots with our first excursion, Ahu Tongariki, the most famous site on the island.  These 15 moai sit on a platform called an “ahu”.  What a stunning sight for somebody who has always dreamed of visiting!  I was absolutely geeking out!

The moai are all facing inland towards where their village would have stood back during their lifetime.  In 1722 when Europeans first discovered the island the moai were all standing upright like these, but at some point between then and the late 1800’s they were all toppled by the locals, with many decapitated.  Nobody is entirely sure why, but most believe internal tribal conflicts caused the natives to destroy them, perhaps with the belief it would rob the statues of their “mana”, or spiritual power.

Here is a short video from the site with our guide and the handful of people we were touring with.

We of course had to get a selfie here!

Here is an up close shot from behind the ahu.  What appears to be a hat on the one moai is actually supposed to represent a topknot of hair.  Of the moai that have these, they are all made of a lightweight red volcanic rock from a single source on the island.

These moai were repaired and put back on their platforms in the 1990’s by Chilean archeologist Claudio Cristino with the assistance of the local population.  A total of about 50 were restored before they decided to leave the rest where they lay.

Our guide got us back to the resort just before dinner, where we sat down and discussed our options for the next day.  The guides point out the best sites on the island, and then each couple decides.  There are multiple options.  Explora really has the whole experience figured out!

We had a beautiful sunrise on our first morning, with a couple of the wild horses that roam the island right outside our bedroom window.

On our way to breakfast we saw even more horses.

Up next, we visit more Rapa Nui sites, including a walk through a lava tube.