A full five hours flight over the barren churning pacific under the bright summer solstice of the southern hemisphere and finally with welcome relief some land came into sight, the eastern tip of the Poike peninsula and the plane spooled down for a landing on the west side. Isolation has dominated the island for millennia, the land only accessible by birds and the seedlings carried on the winds. Even below water the Island's steep slopes to the depths are barren and inhospitable, unlike the shallow atolls rich in sea-life more typical of the distant pacific islands. The nearest airport is over 1800 miles away in French Polynesia, so arriving flights better have an open runway, as the normal 45 minutes of excess fuel would otherwise end with a watery landing. Fortunately the runway is long, having been expanded as a backup landing site for the Space Shuttle and even received the supersonic concord in the 1990's. The plane seemed to hover for ages over the deep blue Pacific before a smooth landing and we were soon out on the tarmac in the balmy afternoon air. The small airport reminded me of so many remote locations in Asia. Click on link to views of
arrival,
panorama and
departing on Youtube.
Isolation and distance of the island is merely an inconvenience for today's travellers who maintain a modest, but important tourist business which is important for economic sustainability. Prior to the tourists it was mainly scientists who visited over the past few decades as it's isolation produced the remnants of interesting culture to study. However, the isolation must also be understood from a geological perspective. The pacific sea floor is being bulled apart and much of it is on the move east like a conveyor belt being gobbles up under the long land mass of the Americas. Faults due to the tension of the pacific seafloor lead to volcanic fissures which produce many sea mounts (underwater mountains) which are tall and steep, some of which pierce the ocean. These are more numerous in the west (French Polynesia, Hawaii, and further west), but few survived the erosion and time to make it to the eastern pacific like Easter and Galapagos Islands, as well as a few others. Terevaka Volcano forms the majority of the island, but is supported by Poike and Rano Kau on the east and west side and are less than a million years old. Standing 11,500ft in elevation above the ocean floor with only 1500ft exposed, the island will eventually disappear under the sea as the plate moves east and sinks, but that is a legacy for the future and what is most interesting about the island is it's recent past.
Finding islands became a skill set for the formidable Polynesian seafarers. Originating from land people of southeast Asia who colonized Borneo and Philippine islands by 2000BC and continued to develop techniques to access more remote Solomon and Marshall Islands. In the first centuries AD the resilient explorers continues east to Tahiti, Society and Marquesses Islands. Continued exploration would have been driven by growing populations on finite island resources and opportunity parties took off well stocked with plants and animals to start a new colony weeks away over the waters using the prevailing eastern winds. However, the islands became few and far apart toward the east and next stop would be the South American continent, which some parties may well have reached on these expeditions. It is believed that a party of maybe two boats and a few families reached Easter Island around the 5th century AD. It is the cultural aspect of their life on the island which attracted us here for a visit; no destination of ours had elicited more interest in discussion with friends and acquaintances prior to our visit - I noted that many people had a really good understanding of the history of the island from the various documentaries presented over the years on television. The books I read are referenced at the end of the blog and were very insightful. Jumping ahead in time, on our return to Houston our taxi driver one evening was a Peruvian and in discussion of Easter Island he proposed that the lost Atlantis people, large and powerful people in ancient times, had made these and many of the grand structures of South America, a theory I reject due to lack of evidence; however resilient these stories remain, there is a good history also to tell of the island within the laws of science, nature and the evidence available thanks to the many scientists who have spend long months there, including early ones like antropologist Katherine Routledge who spent 17 months on the island 1914-1915 and later Thor Heyerdhal who spent months there in the 1950's, although his efforts seem to be driven an unscientific and ardent belief that the island must have been populated from South America, rather than Polynesia; the is a clear weight of evidence to support the latter.
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| 2500 Miles and 5 hours flying time from Santiago, Chile |
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| Flight plan on route |
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| Blue waters of peaceful Pacific from 35,000ft |
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| A welcome sign of land as we arrive over Poike Peninsula |
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| East side (Rano Raraku, Tongariki & Poike) |
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| Maunga O'Tu'u & Maunga Te Kauhanga O Varu |
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| Terevaka highlands |
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| Landing at Mataveri Airport |
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| Lan will refuel for the 3 hr flight to Tahiti |
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| Baggage Handling at Mataveri Airport |
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| Overview of Easter Island |
After 10 hours Houston-Rio, 5 hours Rio-Santiago and another 5 hours to Easter Island, we were glad to air out and wander the streets of Hanga Roa, the main population center of the island, down to the coastal cemetery and the restored Moai (statues) of Ahu Tahai. Moai Kote Riku stood there, back to the ocean with eyes of white coral looking inland and slightly skyward as we wandered the Christian cemetery and restored coastal alters (Aku) north of Hanga Roa. Christian crosses infused with Rapa Nui art packed the individualized graves at the cemetery of about 1000 plots, which could hold only a small fraction of the few hundred thousand human beings who have inhabited the island in the 60 generations, or so, since habitation and who are buried unmarked throughout the island and in caves. The pier at Roa Bay held some small boats protected from the ocean swells, but was too shallow even for small ships. Offshore the island's supply ship was anchored and nearby a private sailboat. Surfers hung half submerged in the rolling waves like sunken Moai animated by a persistent Pacific swell and braving the wicked volcanic rocks of the coast in their wet suites, worn for buoyancy rather than warmth in the balmy summer waters of 25C. We relaxed at the cafe at the head of the pier for late lunch with an exceptional view of Roa Bay; the food was good, but one soon recognizes that most things are imported, even produce which could be grown on the island is flown in from Santiago. A red Santa Claus sat on a red fire truck and passed through town, a reminder of upcoming holiday and the far reach of Christianity to fill a void as happened with the arrival of Father Eugene Eyraud in 1864; he was welcomed with hostility by islanders who were on the edge of survival and suffering from slave raid from the mainland which had whisked off many of their leaders. Regretting his arrival, Eyraud tried to flag down the ship, but it sailed off to the horizon for Tahiti, leaving him there to be robbed of his belongings before being rescued nine months later. He left, but Christianity remained and eventually became the accepted religion, although always with a Rapa Nui infused spiritualism of "Mana", the power of nature.
We stayed in a cabin run by Tita, a local Rapa Nui woman and Lionel, her French husband who settled down there. Their daughter had collected us from the airport and not having Spanish, nor English in common, reverted to French, which is also prevalent in French Polynesia to the west. Our cabin lodgings were located in a lush garden by the owners house on the north edge of Hanga Roa an easy walk from the town and sea coast and we retired there after exploration of the afternoon to rest and get a good night's sleep from our travels the prior day. Although there are a few compound like small hotels, the island is mostly small local accommodations of a few rooms or a few cabins. Dogs barked all evening from throughout the town lands, cats meowed near our cabin and ants patrolled the soil; all three species having been imported by mankind. The unhindered evening sun scattered light between clouds and ocean to make an impressive close to day.
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| Pretty house at Hanga Roa |
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| The dead look out on their escape vessel |
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| Local soccer pitch Hanga Roa |
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| Moai Kote Riku at Hanga Roa |
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| A reminder of the risks from far off earthquakes |
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| Rapa Nui infused Christian headstone |
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| Shallow pier at Roa Bay |
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| Rapa Nui Surfing |
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| Early dinner at the heat of pier on Roa Bay |
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| Pier at Roa Bay |
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| Western style worship |
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| Derelict house on main street, Hanga Roa |
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| Rapa Nui style worshop |
ORONGO
We booked a tour guide for a half day and started with a trip to the southwestern volcano of the trinity, Rano Kau. Nothing is far away on the island whose longest axis is less than 15 miles from sea to sea, but we stopped at the National Park headquarters to pay the entrance fee ($60 Adults, $10 Children under 12). Besides the impressive volcanic crater of Rano Kau, we were there to visit the important site of Orongo from where was administered an important leadership contest during the later years of Polynesian culture on the island. Actually Orongo may be a bad place to start an island tour, as to understand it, one needs to understand the history of mankind on the island from arrival in the 5th century; a summary is provided as follows.
The volcanic island was a pristine natural environment when the few or less boats arrived. These travellers were in turn just the outcome of millennia of eastward colonization by the tough and resilient Polynesians who started probably in the Mekong delta. The island up to that time had a thriving ecosystem, but whose flora and fauna had developed only from transport by birds and the biology from the ocean, or via particles in the air and seeds on floating logs on the beaches; upon arrival the island was covered with palm trees and supported a large bird colony. The group of tens of people, maybe 50, thrived on the unusual, but fruitful island along with the bounty from newly developed plants which they brought along, as well as the product of small domesticated animals (pigs, hens). Rats would have stowed away on their boats and one theory has it that they voracious appetites stripped the palm's of their reproducing nuts; whether true or not, the rats would have competed for resources. These original colonizers would have brought with them the belief system traditional of the pacific islands consisting of
Make Make, creator of humans and on an individuals
Mana, or spiritual power, which varies in strength with ones rank in society. Leadership in society were hereditary and philosophy, culture and rules which governed daily life, called
Tapu, were rigorously followed by society. One of the ancient coming of age rights held at Orongo governed by this belief system involved a bird-man ritual which is recorded in the petroglyphs at the site.
Prosperity was found on the island, trees were knocked, boats were built, possibly allowing return trips to Polynesia in the early years. Population grew to the thousands and veneration to the
Mana of households and communities showed up as alters known as "Aku", flat low stone platforms along the coastal lands. Later
Moai (statues) of a few meters showed up, carved on igneous rock from the volcanic island. These statues were not art, but a channeling of excess capacity into a
tapu which followed a specific form at each period of history, starting with plain alters, then with smaller
Maoi and as time progressed the designs evolved and the size increased. The large
Moai were probably moved from Rano Raraku on logs, further depleting the valuable tree resources of the island. Even as the trees were on their last stand and people forced to switch to peat charcoal, the statues continued to become greater; then it all stopped, with some of the largest statues still half carved up on the sides of the Rano Raraku volcano. Descending into civil strife and subsistence on birds and the meager deep and nutrient poor ocean waters, living in caves for protection, the population declined and resorted to toppling each other's statues to destroy the
Mana of their neighbors in hopes of strengthening their own. There were still some statues standing when the first westerner, Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen, arrived 1721, but none by 1800, which indicates that the downfall was in the recent centuries before communication with the west.
In the disorder of the day a leadership battle began between the old order, governed as it was by the hereditary religious leader,
Ariki Mau with his
Mana and
Tapu, and a new upstart who effectively hijacked the bird-man coming of age ceremony, converting it an annual competition for the leadership of the island. The Bird-Man cult of Orongo now involved a select group of leaders and important people from the community which would congregate at Mataveri (now where the National Park headquarters stand) each year breaking away and hiking up to Orongo on the edge of the Rano Kau volcanic creator where they had built a compound of stone huts. Each aspiring leader would send of tough young tribesman to swim off to the Moto Nui Island with the aim of capturing the first egg delivered by the Sooty Tern on their annual migration cycle. The winner swam back to hand the egg and power of leadership of the island to their sponsor for a period of one year. Easter Island of the time period had the shortest known term limits on governance, 1 year, but likely a compromise in a dire situation. However, some leaders were strong enough to compete themselves and one is reported to have won the competition 4 years in a row, making one term in the USA executive branch.
Our guide dropped us at the edge of the small but impressive crater of Rano Kau and we walked the ridge up to Orongo. At 900 ft the compound of solid round stone huts had a great vista of the three small islands, Motu Kao Kao (more of a spike), Motu Iti and Motu Nui, the nesting place of the Sooty Tern; these birds would have originally nested in the main island, but their eggs were top prize for rats and people alike. The history of Easter Island was fast, but pristine due to it's isolation from external influences and it doesn't take much imagination at Orongo to imagine islanders waiting there for the cycles of nature of the Sooty Tern which fulfilled the birdman ceremony. One can imagine walking the site the shock an islander would experience on sighting a tall ship of a captain from Middleburg after over a millennium of views of empty seas, but for a few drift woods.
Orongo is devoid of
Moai statues as it was not a traditional alter ("
Aku") location; during the birdman years there was one
Moai called Hoa Hakananai'a installed inside one of the stone huts. Most
Moai came from Rano Raraki on the other side of the island and were carved from tuff, or fused volcanic ask which form the walls of the crater there, so Hoa Hakananai'a was unusual in that it is carved in harder basalt rock, available at Orongo where the
Moai was likely carved. To use the description by The British Museum, it was "collected" by the English ship HMS Topaze in 1868 and "Islanders helped the crew to move the statue" making it all OK. It is true that these cultural gems were valued little by that time due to the devastating decline of society
Rano Kau crater of a kilometer in diameter is one of the few basins on the porous volcanic island which retains fresh water and an important source of water for the islander, especially as the denuded landscape reduced the little water retention there was in the thin soil and dried up streams. The high walls of the crater offer protection from the persistent wind which sweeps the island allowing the wetlands to produce delicate plants and reeds from which the islanders built their tube shaped swimming floats to help cross the stiff currents to Motu Nui island. The last basalt rocks of the crater's edge were laid down only two hundred thousand years ago, but the island has been inactive since human habitation. In 1965 scientists found an substance in a bacteria found in the soil around Rano Kau and refined it into Rapamycin, an immunosuppressant. Later unproven claims that it could cure cancer and slow aging added to the mystique of Rapa Nui as a special place.
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| Rano Kau crater |
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| Orongo |
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| Bird-Man Petroglyphs of Orongo |
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| Sharp edge Rano Kau crater |
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| Motu Nui, Motu Iti & Motu Kao Kao |
Puna Pau & Ahu Akivi
Descending from the heights of Orongo we had a view of the daily Lan Airlines flight having just arrived from Santiago. Our guide, Mario, mentioned that today there would be a second plane arriving from Tahiti. A second ship sat offshore also that day; a fuel tanker having arrived overnight bringing kerosene for the airplanes and gasoline for transport. Seat belts are generally not worn on the island and many vehicles don't even have them in the back, but cars drive relatively slowly. Mario, a local of Spanish Rapa Nui origin was well educated and spoke English well, having learned it just from speaking with tourists. Having had gone to University on the mainland in Santiago to study ecotourism we had returned home to work in the industry there. The people of the island are an interesting study as there were only few original Easter Islanders left after the decline, western disease and slave raids reduced the population to about 100 people whose genes have only partially influenced those of the 6000 people who live on the island today. Scottish sheep farmers, from the years the island was run as a private ranch, Tahitians and other Polynesians who arrived over the last century, Spaniards from mother Chile and a few French from French Polynesia have also been melted into the gene pool resulting is quite a diverse population today. Mario referred to his early Spanish upbringing when he clothes, style and manner carried all the etiquette of Europe, but when his father left his Rapa Nui mother, he stayed with her and was glad to adopt the free and wild spirit of a Polynesian, growing his hair long and living the island life.
Along the way we passed under the peak of
Malunga Orito one of the few sources of precious
Obsidian, a black glass like volcanic rock which was valuable as a cutting tool, originally for palm and fruit, later for spearing fish as land resources became less available and finally as weapons of battle in civil strife among communities. We couldn't drive up on the hill, but as we walked the road side there was a trove of obsidian under our feet and, having become the boys favorite stone, they scurried around collecting pieces to take home.
We drove on to
Puna Pau a set of hills from where the islanders got a source of red scoria from which they carved the hats or head gear of the
Moai. These red tops only developed later in the
Moai evolution and represented red hair rather than hats; the iron rich soil of the island probably provided pigment for dying islanders hair red also. Scoria is a rock which forms as the fizzy depressuring volcanic gases expand and result a lightweight, but strongly fused rock as it solidifies. The minerals would have been black underground, but as it oxidized either during formation or later by exposure to air, it turned to the red oxidized form of iron. Strewn around the base of the hills were carved topknots which were likely to be matched with the incomplete
Moai left at the quarry 12 kilometers away. Some were hollowed out and it was unclear whether this was related to making the topknots lighter to put less stress on the
Moai below. From the hills we had a view of Hanga Roa town and up to the elevated Rano Kau.
Our next stop was the restored alter of
Moai; Aku Akiva, one of the few located inland away from the coast. Seven moderate sized
Moai stood erect and showing signs of erosion; these were of the period before installation of topknots, which required a broader head top platform for support. Facing the sea, in contrast to the coastal
Moai which face inland, these
Moai also face the sunset during the spring equinox. Departing the site on the way to town we passed a pineapple farm and I must admit my ignorance that I assumed they grew on trees; the fact that they grow from the ground surprised me.
Earlier that morning I had taken a run north along the coast from Hanga Roa, stopping at Ana Te Pora cave about four miles from the cabin along a dirt road. As the lava flows careened down from Terevaka and slowed on the lowlands close to the coast, their outer surface started to solidify eventually freezing over and allowing the hot liquid river of lava below to flow to the sea, leaving a cavity behind. Although the community would have lived in huts above ground during the prosperous years, during the decline resources were sparse and need for security increased so people started to make homes in these dark damp caves. They built stone walls to cover the entrance with just a narrow passage for entry and probably gladly collected the valuable water seeping from the ceiling as it did on the morning of my visit. Ana Te Pora cave made an impressive chamber which could have housed a large extended family and was close to the coast for fishing.
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| Topknots under Via Ohao Hill |
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| Internal cavity of topknot at Puna Pau |
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| Topknots of Puna Pau awaiting Moai of Rano Raraku |
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| Ahu Akivi |
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| One of seven standing proudly |
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| Corroded heads of carved tuff from around 1500AD |
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| Seven of Ahu Aikivi facing sunset of spring equinox |
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| Entrance to cave at Ana Te Pora |
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| Grand interior of cave occupied at Ana Te Pora |
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| Pineapples; who knew they grew from the ground! |
Hanga Roa
Mario dropped us off in Hanga Roa town and I rented a small for two days tour the island. That afternoon we swam and picnicked along the coast at a wonderful Rapa Nui swimming pool; rocks had been laid to isolate a small cove from the breaking waves making a perfect seawater swing pool. The water temperature was perfect; many locals were swimming, diving from the rocks and surfers hoped for a few good sets of rollers offshore, but the pacific was calm that day. Further offshore a number of canoes powered by solo paddlers cruised fast and light through the calm caters; up to 33ft (10M) in length these narrow designs are stabilized by an additional side float set about 6ft (2M) off to one side. Rapa Nui locals, both men and women, are active people in good physical condition as evident in a group of youths tried their luck rock climbing nearby. As we toured the town a parade of horse drawn carts with music celebrating the upcoming Christmas holiday passed by and a lady handed the boys and children of the town gags of sweets. The Tangata Manu (Birdman) cult succeeded in taking over from the Make-Make belief system, but arrival of Christianity quickly suppressed the Birdman competition in the 1860s and Catholicism is the main religion of the island today as evident by the crosses and the church in Hanga Roa. A fare along the waterfront displayed locally made crafts, but I did not find any reproductions of the wooden
Moai Kava Kava traditionally carved by locals and installed in their houses to ward off harmful spirits, a legend supposedly dating from Hotu Matu'a, the island's founder. Nearby children played and dived off the small boats tied up in the main harbor which is too shallow for large ships; the lack of a deep safe harbor has been quite a hindrance for Easter Island historically. Had there been such a natural harbor, there may well have been a power struggle for control over the island in the 19th century among the British, French and United States leaving it is different hands than the reluctant Chileans who took it over in 1888.
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| Aku and Moai of Tahai Kote Riku |
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| Rocks protect our coastal swimming pool |
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| The boys meditating on Rapa Nui |
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| Rock climbing Rapa Nui |
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| Surfers await the calm pacific for a set of rollers |
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| A parade on the eve of Christmas Eve |
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| Handing out presents for the children |
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| Harbor of the island, but too shallow for ships |
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| Pacific island canoe (33ft, 10M in length) with side stabilizer |
That evening we put the boys to bed in the cabin and drove to a bar on the edge of town where a local dance group were to perform at 9:00PM (not Kari Kari which is well known dance group in town center). There was no sense of a jaded display for the tourists; instead it was a full on and powerful dance with a great support band. The men came out first painted and tattooed, some with hair down to the waist, and did a physically demanding routine. Women then came and dances in more of a group harmony and making designs in string. Both wore little clothing as is typical of traditional pacific islanders, a trait which was seen as savagery by Christians who aimed to "civilize" the locals; whereas in fact the islanders have a healthy relationship to sexuality and their bodies, they just don't have the quirky hangups infused on society by the mono-theistic religions on the west (or should I say east relative to the island). Roggeveen wrote of the first contact with an islander in 1722; "he had some shame because of his nakedness when he saw that we were clothed." and later "we tied a piece of sailcloth in front of his private parts, which wonderfully pleased him.". Clearly the mores of Europe and Pacific Islands on nudity were different, but shame wouldn't come on instantaneously (it takes centuries of dogma by religions), so I can only imagine the local was jealous of the clothing of the Europeans. War like scenes, community scenes and many other dances were performed and eventually they brought audience members up on stage; Annette was giggling like a little girl as one of the warrior dancers brought her onstage for a dance.
Listen to links as follows;
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| Rapa Nui warrior dance |
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| Warrior dance with waist length hair |
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| Presenting string dance |
Island tour - Ana Kena - Northeast Coast
Each of the three mornings on the island I ran along the dirt coast road after waving good morning to the silent and calm
Moai of Tahai on their grand platform over the sea. On this particular morning I visited the coast to view the small islands of Tuatara surrounded by the clear light blue waters of the pacific. Caves exist in the lava flows there, both inland and on the shear cliffs of the coast. By the 1800's the locals were terrified of seeing ships arrive on the horizon as they had few good encounters; some sought shelter in the sea caves which were inaccessible to the slave raiders who carried many of the remaining islanders off in 1862 to work on guano mines in Peru. They left small pox behind which further decimated the population such that there was only 111 people remaining by 1877. Along the dirt road I routinely passed Rapa Nui also out for their morning run.
I gathered the family and we drove across the center of the island toward Ana Kena from where we would do a circle back; a grand total distance of some 35 kilometers. A plantation of Eucalyptus trees of a few square kilometers at the center of the island stands out in stark contrast to the mostly barren peat lands which have never regained their natural ecosystem of flora from pre-human contact. Eucalyptus were not a part of that ecosystem either, but were planted as an efficient wood energy producer to generate power for the island; however, the power plant now runs on oil and the trees run wild and mature. Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier arrived on an already decimated island in the 1860's with the aim of converting it into a sheep farm; after doing enough damage he was killed by the locals a decade. Eventually the Chileans took over, but then contracted the island out for sheep farming for seven decades; sheep eating grasses to the rout would not allow a recovery of flora. Besides the tree farm, there are some new growth today around the town, but the remote countryside remains barren. Being delicate with little water retention, the soil needs development of trees to increase it's ability to support more flora. There is a theory that the earlier collapse in tree population may have been due to rats eating the reproducing nuts, rather than purely resource demand and such threats would require manual intervention to get the ecosystem restarted on the island. The persistent wind is also problematic for aspiring plants, and one can see traditional stone circle walls throughout the island to protect young trees and plants. Another traditional technique was to pave the soil with stones which is shown to improve the retention of water in the soil beneath and had been practices on the island in ancient times.
From the highlands we had an amazing view across the entire island to the heights of Poike peninsula to the east and the Rano Raraku volcano from where the majority of
Moai originated. The white sands and blue water of Ana Kena beach were a welcome sight as would have been for early settlers; Hotu Matu'a the leader of the original party is said to have circumnavigated the island in search of a safe landing site and chose Ana Kena, although there is no real evidence and the population center has long been on the other end at Hanga Roa. Ana Kena became the seat of the royal Miru tribe and their alter, Ahu Nau Nau, has been restored. The children of Motu Hatu'a spread out and divided up the island resulting in various tribes and communities. The history is quite sketchy, but much later there was a reported conflict among two main groups; Hanau epe (long ears) and Hanau Momoko (short ears) in which the long ears lost out. No one can agree upon even the meaning of the terms, nor the origin of the peoples involved, so it will likely remain a legend due to lack of supporting evidence. The
Moai there have topknots and their facial features are intricate and well preserves as they were covered in sand after toppling rather than being exposed to the elements. We swam in the beautiful waters of the beach spying colorful fish along the rocks. Ana Kena has a wonderful stand of tall thin palm trees whose high leaves jostle in the wind and provide some shade; however, these were imported from Tahiti, and the original island palms would have been of different species, with shorter and wider trunks.
Further long the roadway we came to a site of petroglyphs with sketches of scenes from the ocean and of fish, indicating their importance from an early time. Nearby was a singing rock; one with many natural holes from it's volcanic origin and which allowed locals to blow sounds of various tones through the many openings. We stopped at the alter of Te Pito Kura alter along the north coast and in the silence imagined the sad scene which lead to the tallest
Moai,
O'Paro, being toppled. It stood along in the Ahu giving it'w 10 meters in height more importance. To break the
Manu of the tribe of whom it represented, a rock was placed on the ground and the statue was toppled face downward, an insult in itself, but also in hope of breaking the
Moai in two which was the case for
O'Paro. His topknot went flying and landed a few meters away. Eighty ton of rock carefully carved at Rano Raraku, transported to this site, erected and loved by a community now lay smashed and humiliated on the rocky ground; a testament of the great achievements and destructive powers of mankind. In contrast with the destructive forces evident in society of the toppling years, the aspirations of the islanders are recorded in the even larger statues which lay unfinished at Rano Raraku quarry at the same time; evidence of the fast pace of change from society builders to society destroyers.
O'Paro was reported standing by a ship visiting 1838 and was likely toppled shortly thereafter as no following accounts to standing
Moai are recorded.
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| Tahai early morning |
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| Tautara Islands bathe in clear blue waters off the coast of Easter Island |
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| Cliffs line much of the coast of Easter Island |
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| Gaseous fluidized lava flow as solidified near the ocean |
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| Tahai faces the morning sun |
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| Eucalyptus forest planted center island |
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| Ana Kena Beach (one of only two beaches on the island) |
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| Ahu Nau Nau at Ana Kena of the Miru tribe |
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| Well preserves Moai of Ahu Nau Nau |
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| Tall palms imported from Tahiti |
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| Detailed facial features of Moai at Ana Kena |
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| Typical carving of hands with long fingers - fingernails of Moai |
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| A wind break and symbolic rounded rocks |
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| Fish petroglyph |
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| Stone wall circle to protect plants from the wind |
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| Ocean boat scene petroglyph |
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| Singing stone, one could blow through the many channels for sound |
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| View east to Poike peninsula |
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| Blue waters indicate almost, but not quite a beach along north coast |
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| O'Paro, Tallest of Moai toppled at Te Pito Kura |
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| O'Paro, Tallest of Moai toppled at Te Pito Kura |
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| O'Paro, Tallest of Moai toppled at Te Pito Kura |
Tongariki
We rounded the east end of the island before the highlands of Poike Peninsula, crossing the barren peat lands before descending to Hotuiti Bay between the highlands of Poike and the Rano Raraku volcano. We were immediately impressed by the sight of a line of fifteen
Moai on the alter of Tongariki. Varying from large to massive these
Moai were restored to their platform in the 1990's with funding from the Japanese. Only one has it's topknot remounted on it's head and many topknots sat in a pile to the side. Such a grand display of
Moai must have reflected the strength of the Hotuiti clan who resided there and are legended to have descended from the youngest son of the founder Hotu Matu'a. The quarry of Rano Raraku would have been part of their territory probably a source of power, as it was also the source of most of the island's
Moai. The toppling and destruction of the
Moai of Tongariki would likely have been a grand prize and one can only speculate to the circumstances; surely the most prominent clan would have had support from other communities nearby for protection, even if just to bolster their own security and one may speculate such larger toppling feats would require an attack from a large group alliance, possible from the west. All fifteen
Moai were toppled and strewn inland and nearby the alter (
Ahu) which ran to a fifth kilometer in length.
By 1960 the island had stopped being a sheep farm under contract to Williamson-Balfour Company and the islanders sat in limbo only to receive full Chilean citizenship a few years later. That same year a massive earthquake along the mainland coast of Chile registering 9.5 on the Richter scale sent a wave of energy across the pacific at a speed not much slower than the plane which flew us to the island and within 5 or 6 hours the fast traveling wave met with the steep face of Easter Island lifting a massive wall of water up Hotuiti bay engulfing Tongariki, lifting the toppled
Moai and moving some up to 200 meters inland. Although
O'Paro is the tallest mounted
Moai, Tongariki holds the heaviest weight in at 86tons (being fatter than
O'Paro); the tsunami was large enough to move this
Moai also. A separate lone
Moai stands near the Tongariki alter and is known as the travelling
Moai as it took a tour of Japan in the 1980's and was returned.
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| Fifteen face Rano Raraku from where the came |
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| Tongariki, Hotuiti Bay & Poike |
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| Of varying height, Moai of Tongariki |
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| Tongariki under peak of Poike |
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| Fifteen standing Moai of Tongariki |
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| Tongariki Moai under the cliffs of Poike |
Rano Raraku
Our excitement grew as we approached the steep side of Rano Raraku crater and a view of the many
Moai strewn across the grassy slopes as if in transit to their destinations. The tours has already left and only a few people remained allowing is to wander the pathways among the
Moai in peaceful thought. With intermittent drizzle and sun we walked the sloped from where the giant heads of
Moai emerged in all angles. "Do these sunken
Moai have bodies below ground?"; this was a question of past generations and answered by Thor Heyerdhal in the 1950's as he excavated one of the hillside
Moai to reveal a long torso below ground and indicating that they sank in the soil and were covered by new soil before the sheep of Bornier and Williamson-Balflour nibbles the soil making plants to the nub.
Moai were not carved as free art; they follow specific rules or
Tapu dictated by some hidden code like DNA which allowed for some varying individual traits and an evolution of design over time, like the genes passed down from generation to generation. The characters became more complex over time and those
Moai in transit from the quarry had specifically advanced features; thin lips, protruding mouth, sharp rounded chin, long ears and sharp arching forehead line. Each with individual expression and posing at different angles brought the scene to life, like animated characters from a comic book; I could imagine them speaking among themselves and envisioned them rising and bounding down the slopes. A slight angle of the head with eyes open wide make some look like they are about to ask a question, or are communicating with their body language. Some had tripped over and fell flat face down, the soil being too weak to support them. Others were buried neck deep or nose deep and rendered immovable. Whereas the stoic order of
Moai on the alters (
Ahu) is in contrast with the disorderly, animated and unplanned scene of the
Moai on the slopes of Rano Raraku. Most of the
Moai on the slopes are standing and were not a target for being toppled during the war, probably because they were not seen to have
Mana, or power for their community until they were installed on their alters and took on the representation of the
Mana of their community, probably after some ceremony and only then became targets for retribution.
As individual but formulaic as the
Moai of the island are, one stands out as completely different; Tukuturi a small kneeling statue with a beard carved in red scoria from Puna Pau and placed here on the slopes of Rano Raraku twelve kilometers away. It does not fit the extensive and consistent evolution of
Moai of the island and one theory speculates that it may have been in the post statue building era of Tangata Manu (Bird man cult). Further up the hillside we came across the half finished outline of
Moai being carved from the tuff. Some were larger than any which stood on the island up to that time, reflecting the continued upward aspirations of the population before the civil strife began. One of them sits over 20 meters tall weighing four times the largest already installed and unlikely they would have had the resources to move it with the decline in trees on the island.
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| Rano Raraku (northeast) |
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| Rano Raraku (view from northwest) |
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| Faces come to life in the quarry |
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| Large Moai half cut from the quarry walls |
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| Overhand produced from under carving of statues |
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| Large Moai carving outlined on side of Rano Raraku |
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| Quarries of Rano Raraku |
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| Outline of Maoi in the quarry |
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| Moai head emerging from the rock of Rano Raraku |
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| A scattered graveyard of Moai comes to live on the slopes of Rano Raraku |
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| Head tipped forward, another sunk well under ground |
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| One of the few toppled Moai on the slopes |
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| Expressive faces of Rano Raraku |
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| Maoi looking to the south seas |
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| Tukuturi, the most unusual Moai with Poike behind |
Circling the island clockwise was best as one sees most of the interesting sites prior to Raraku and they are not then overshadowed by it. The drive along the south coast home revealed many community alters along the coast and some with toppled
Moai readily visible where they fell. The lonely coast brings with it a sense of isolation from the very ocean which washes the hard volcanic rock due to the difficulty to enter in rough waves. The soil is thin there and with no water source, nor streams or rivers, the barren coastal plains would have provided a tough fight for survival in the dry season. We stopped at Akahanga alter where three
Moai lay face down exactly where they were toppled, their topknots having rolled a few meters away. While touring the more remove north east coast and the south coast of the island the remains of many
Ahu (alters) reveal themselves if one looks closely, most without
Moai and visible only as a low pile of stones. In places along the coast these
Ahu are located every 150M, or so, each originally associated with a household or small community living there and evidence of the population density during earlier times. There are relatively few
Ahu inland and the coastal ones were probably built when the island was still fully covered with trees and vegetation, the population expanding along the coasts which had access to the sea but whose soil benefitted from water runoff from the hills. With 35 kilometers of low accessible coastline and an
Ahu every 150 meters, 20 people a household would put a population of 4-5000 people range, or half it's peak.
It struck us on our drive back to Hanga Roa that there was no shops or services on the entire island, but for a small store in Ana Kena and a vendor stall at Rano Raraku. Under a strong sun, along with the wind and sea spray, any cyclists or hikers of the island circuit would need to bring enough water along; however, the circuit is manageable in a day and a hiker would have access to the remote road-less north loop around Terevaka. Back in town Christmas Eve was well underway. Restaurants are expensive (with everything imported) for a family of four, but we found a reasonable local restaurant with standard menu; a few amazing whole cooked fish and chicken of exceptional flavor which I suspect were local free range. I took the boys to swim at the pool at Tahai that evening before sundown. Little green fish scurried around and nipped at our feet as nutrients were unearthed at each step. The pool at Tahai is a little too shallow for a proper swim and the waves were too rough to swim off the rocks. Without trees available on the island, they made up their Christmas tree at Tahai by wrapping a four poll pyramid with green. Back at the cabin new neighbors arrived that evening from Tahiti, a Frenchman and his wife from the Caribbean, both school teachers who rather the lifestyle in Polynesia to bring up their children.
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| Akahanga alter with three toppled Moai along the south coast |
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| Rapa Nui carving in Hanga Roa |
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| Sunset at Tahai |
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| Round stone hut at Tahai |
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| A Christmas tree on an island without trees! |
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| Sundown at Tahai |
Christmas Day on Easter Island
On the last morning, Christmas Day, running north along the dirt coast in the calm of early light I noticed a Rapa Nui runner following a ways behind, but keeping pace. I imagined such a scene in historic times on the fearful sighting of a ship offshore, as news would be spread around the island on foot; even the first ship of Dutch adventurer Roggeveen brought gunfire and death to a few islanders who spooked one of the officers into firing upon them. The other runner turned back around 5km out of town and I continued on alone up the low lands of Terevaka. Cows have taken over from sheep as the herbivores who keep the barren lawns of island in check and the road free and with full horns, but were comfortably docile. Along the dirt which traverses the dull grassy hillside a bright green stand of banana trees stood out and caught my attention; stopping there to explore I found a cave with collapsed road which housed a rich garden of trees and plants three meters below ground, their leafy tops bursting above the lean rocky surroundings with moist color. I walked across a rock bridge overlooking the two open chambers and their store of moist soil fertilized with droppings from ...... actually not many droppings as there are no bats, nor land birds in historic times, so the vegetation itself must have helped generate a richer soil than the surface and with better moisture retention.
Soon thereafter I met a few horse riders and called to them "Ola", upon which their retorted "Hello" and "Iorana" respectively indicating their mother tongue, the latter being their Rapa Nui guide. I turned south at the pineapple farm on the road back to town, arriving at the cabin well later than planned, having ran the full circle around Hiva Hiva and Roiho hills with view of the three crosses atop the rounded red hill of Tangaroa. We had learned so much from our visit to the island, but no evidence of the extraterrestrial intervention who were proposed to have laid down the statues. Roggeveen arrived on the island on Easter day 1722, which led to it's English and Spanish name. It's local name, Rapa Nui means Big Rapa, a recent name assigned due to it's similarity to Polynesian island of Rapa; the original islander's name was "Te Pito O Te Henua", or navel of the world. As we prepared for the trip to Easter Island I was surprised by how much people know of the history, which is likely due to the many great documentaries on the island over the years. In 1993 a movie crew descended on the island to shoot "Rapa Nui", the movie and dropped a welcome mm$20 into the economy. More recently the Chilean government invested mm$250 into infrastructural upgrades which is significant at $40,000 per person; islanders have good living standards overall relative to the mainland, which also does not drive sustainable development enough when one considers what they could grow and recover on the island's soil, but is is easy to fly supplies in from Santiago for such a small population. There is not agreement on which is the most remote island, as the result depends on how you define an island; Trinstan and da Cunha in the south Atlantic claims the honor, however, it 1800 miles from a continent, less than the 2500 miles we flew to Easter Island. Yes, inhospitable and uninhabited Salas Y Gomez, diplomatically named for two discoverers, peaks it's volcanic head just above water 250 miles from Easter Island; however, Gough Island (uninhabited but for 6 weather station staff) sits the same distance from Tristan de Cunha. Populated Pitcairn is 1300 miles away from Easter Island and St Helene is 1500 miles from Tristan da Cunha; the argument goes on.
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