Arrival – Day 1

Rapa Nui - Isla de Pascua - Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited island in the world and home to the mysterious moai.

Six hours in the air from Santiago, Chile and then faint airstrip lights appear through the night sky of low clouds.

We search the small crowd welcoming our flight and spot a smiling face with a card carefully lettered WALSH. Our driver has no Spanish or English but presents us with colorful flower lays. We follow her to a van and climb aboard. The van makes its way through the dark deserted streets of Hanga Roa and up a hill through strong wind, heavy rain and whipping trees.

Having been awake for 38 hours, we fall into bed. Stronger winds build during the night and I begin to worry about the possibility of our cottage blowing out into the Pacific. I decide to get up and locate my flashlight in case we lose power and find that the floor is flooded. The bedspread is wicking water up to the sheets. In the morning I discover that a very soaked but strategically positioned bath towel has been carefully placed at the exterior of our cottage door.

Lay of the Land – Day 2

The island is roughly triangular in shape. Three volcanoes form the points of the triangle and about 70 secondary cones plus marine erosion formed the island’s present perimeter. The first volcano, Poike, erupted from the sea about three million years ago followed by Rano Kau about 500,000 years later. The final point, Terevaka, is estimated to have appeared about 300,000 years ago.

After purchasing fresh bread, cheese and bottled water at a very tiny “supermarket”, we decide to first visit Rano Raraku quarry, the birthplace of the moai. The moai are sculpted from volcanic tuff and many unfinished or unmoved moai remain part of the quarry. Driving along the southern coast to the quarry, we encounter only two vehicles on the journey. The coastal drive is very beautiful with waves crashing onto the rocky shoreline. Rano Raraku offers an empty parking lot. We have the entire quarry to ourselves!

We approach from the south side of the volcano and many of the enormous heads face this direction as if they are expecting visitors. Nearly 900 moai have been discovered most of which originated at Rano Raraku and nearly half of them remain on the inner or outer slopes of the volcano. We hike the narrow path up the side of the volcano touching the enormous heads as we pass. The largest statue is still joined to the mother rock and measures over 72 feet in length. This megalith would weigh close to 300 tons if it were removed from the quarry.

It is a blustery day and my khaki poncho whips and snaps in the wind. The moai are dark and foreboding as they still retain moisture from the previous night’s storm. This is a very lonesome spot – yet, the moai seem to be trying to impart a message. What? Perhaps it is “be kind to the environment”. Even before Commander Jacob Roggeveen of the Netherlands discovered the island on the eve of Easter Sunday, April 5, 1721, the island had overpopulated and declined. Abundance and free time to sculpt the religious moai had deteriorated into warfare and cannibalism.

At last we reach the top and peer into the caldera of the volcano. More heads protrude from the sides of the volcano. I wonder how they planned to hoist them up the interior side of the volcano to escape the caldera. Do they remain because they were considered inferior and not worth moving? It is thought that the island was deforested when the islanders cut trees to aid in transporting the moai. The caldera depths contain a lake. We descend the volcano and decide to make time to return another day.

A short distance up the coast we find Ahu Tongariki. Again we have the parking lot to ourselves. After a very short hike we are face to face with fifteen moai on their ahu. The ahu platform is extended all around by several feet of stones carefully laid out in rows. This is the largest ahu on Easter Island. One of the moai sports a red topknot.

Day 3

Easter Island has only two beaches and both are situated on the north shore of the island. We decide to find Anakena Beach as there is an impressive ahu of seven moai nearby, four of which have the red topknots.

The most direct route is the one road that crosses the middle of the island. In spite of being volcanic in origin, most of the island has a soft hilly terrain. We are surprised to drive through wooded areas as we had read that the islanders had decimated all vegetation when the island became overpopulated. Signs inform us that we are traveling through a project to reintroduce vegetation to the island.

On our first try for the beach, the road disappears before us and we return to the highway for a fresh start. Successful on our second try, once again we have the site to ourselves. Excitedly I begin to collect an overabundance of sea glass on the beach. Closer inspection reveals that it is only wind, sand and water washed plastic. Evidence that this beautiful beach is used by the locals.

We find the Ahu Nau Nau proudly displaying the four moai with the fanciful red topknots (pukao). There are several theories as to the significance of the topknots and they have been identified in various ways: crown, hat, turban, basket, diadem of flowers and hairstyle. I believe it represents the hairstyle of the chiefs or dignitaries of the island. Weighing about 11 tons, they were rolled across the island to the moai from their quarry.

We notice that once again the moai face inland. A little research in my book reveals that with the exception of one ahu, all moai face inland. We decide to locate Ahu Akivi with the moai facing the sea. Our route takes us over some rough roads but when we arrive there is a small tour viewing our ahu! We have had every site to ourselves and are rather dismayed. However, there are seven very handsome moai all displaying the typical long snubbed nose, prominent cheekbones, fine joined lips, pointed chin and large ears.

Day 4

Realizing this is our last full day on Easter Island we decide to visit the Volcano Rano Kau crater and the nearby Orongo ceremonial village. We drive up to the rim of the crater and a short hike allows us to view the caldera. Most amazingly the bottom is a bog. With a spot of bright fuchsia flowers on the slope, rock, water and floating vegetation, the interior of the caldera is a study in textures. A portion of the rim is gone and the very blue ocean is visible.

On the western rim of the crater the ceremonial village is perched high above the sea. This village was the ritual center for the Birdman Cult. The views over the ocean are expansive and the curvature of the earth is perceptible. Offshore are three islets the largest of which was used for the ritual seclusion of young initiates into the priesthood during the moai building era. At the emergence of the Birdman Cult, the islet became the destination of a competition. The competitors descended the cliffs and swam in shark infested waters to the isle on a quest to find the first egg of the manutara (Sooty Tern) which nested there. The winner’s chief became the year’s birdman and was thought to have considerable, perhaps dangerous, supernatural powers. Interestingly, his family members had the right to raid and plunder other groups.

The ruins consist of round structures of layered flat basalt slabs. All structures face south toward the sea. The interiors are cave like and the entrances are very low. Rocks and statues around the site are carved with thousands of petroglyphs. We drag ourselves away to return to Hanga Roa in order to visit several ahu near a ceremonial plaza and visit the charming Museo Antropologico.

The museum is focused on the ethnology of the Rapa Nui culture. One of the first displays lays out the geology of the island. Another section addresses the theories of who first inhabited the island. Other subjects include the social organization, religion, the significance of wooden figures and moai, construction of the moai and ahu, weapons, tools, adornment of body and garments, etc.

We return to Hanga Roa for dinner and an evening cultural dance show at the tourist hotel. The dancing is energetic with sharp contrast between the movements of the male and female dancers. The men leap, stomp and generally look ferocious while the women sway gently and look beautiful.

Day 5 – Departure

At the airport check-in counter I realize the young lady helping me is one of the dancers. I compliment her on her dancing the previous evening and she is delighted that I recognized her.

Although not chronicled here we did return to the Ran Raraku quarry three different days to revisit the moai. The quarry moai do not have topknots or eyes. The red scoria topknots were carved at Maunga Puna Pau quarry several miles away. The eyes made of white coral and red scoria or obsidian were inserted when the moai were situated on an ahu (platform). Although still unfinished – they were calling us.

Copyright Photos & Article 2008 by J.G.Walsh

Walsh Biography