Rapa Nui island

 

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

 

Rapa Nui is one of the most remote places on Earth. It is 3,512 km away from continental Chile and 2,075 km away from Pitcairn island. Pitcairn is inhabited by only 50 people, some may be descendants from the mutiny on the HMS Bounty ship. To the left in the map below you see the two Fiji islands and New Zealand which I could also visit a couple of years before while in Australia. Even though South America looks closer and the Kon-Tiki famous voyage proved it is reachable, the island looks more like a part of Polynesia

 

I was fascinated by Easter island ever since I read Thor Heyerdahls book “AKU-AKU – The secret of Easter island”. So when I went to Chile on a business trip I decided to use one weekend and use a regular flight from Santiago and back, indeed it was an occasion not to be missed.

There are many mysteries regarding Rapa Nui island e.g. when it was first inhabited by Polynesians or by people arriving on balsa rafts from South America, as the famous Kon Tiki of Thos Heyerdahl, what was the purpose of the numerous stone statues – the Moai, erected on Ahu platforms, how the Moai were transported and erected, the flourishing and decline of the local tribes and culture. As of today, the island has some 7000 inhabitants, half of which are indigenous Rapa Nui descendants. 887 Moai are found in the island, 397 still remain in the Rano Raraku quarry where they were originally carved out of the rocks. The biggest Moai remaining in Rano Raraku measures 21 m  with a weight of 160 tons. The biggest Moai transported and erected on Ahu te Pito Kura is “only” 9.8 m tall and weighs a modest 74 tons. It was supposed that most of the palm trees were cut down to serve as rollers and levers for transporting and erecting the Moai, leading to the total deforestation of the island. But recent research has shown that rats gnawing on the palm fruits also contributed to the deforestation.

Originally I was to land Saturday at noon and fly back Sunday afternoon but for good or for bad there was a spell of bad weather that weekend. This meant initially we did not have to pay the Rapa Nui National park entrance fee at the airport as entrance to some sites was not available. But then the Sunday flight was cancelled and I could only fly back on early Monday morning so I had an extra night to spend.

I had booked my stay at Cabanas Pumakari and the owner Jean Patricia was waiting at the airport for myself and a French family that had flown in from Polynesia.

 

Jean, always with a flower in her hair

It warmed my heart to be greeted with a wreath of flowers. When we were departing we had a necklace of seashells as a farewell gift, still hanging by my desk at home.

 

 

Welcome at the Mataveri Airport in Rapa Nui

 

Once I dropped my bag at the Cabanas Pumakari I shoot off immediately to the nearest Ahu Tahai, at the sea side near Hanga Roa, the only village as of today, the rest of the island included in a National Park. You pass by the Hanga Roa cemetery, where someone placed a mini Moai as a tombstone.

Hanga Roa cemetery

 

There weren’t many people visiting in the afternoon.  The 5 Moai behind are the Ahu Vai Uri and the Ahu Tahai standing somewhat apart.

 

Ahu Tahai in front, the five Moai of Ahu Vai Uri in the back

A hundred meters away from Ahu Tahai  is the lone Ahu Ko Te Riki, the only complete Moai with the red Pukao hat and even the white coral eyes with obsidian pupils. Both the Pukao and the eyes were mounted recently but still believed to be close to the originals.

 

Ahu Ko Te Riki

I came back at sunset, hoping like a bunch of other tourists to catch the spectacular view of the Moai but no luck as it was cloudy. Still this photo can give you an idea of what I missed.

 

Sunset behind Ahu Ko Te Riki

 

  Then I decided to hike to the Ahu Akivi (Siete Exploradores) which lies inland and unlike the other Moai, the ones in Ahu Akivi are not with their backs to the sea, but facing it. I relied solely my phone GPS to find my way  for the 6 km dirt roads so had to negotiate some barbed wire enclosures on my way. When I was only some several hundred meters away a torrential rain downpoured and I was all soaked wet for the time to put on my raincoat. I trodded on in the rain, there was fortunately some shelter near the Ahu itself where I could wring my clothes and take a shot from a distance.

             

Ahu Akiwi – Los Siete Exploradores

The Seven Explorers as they are known, are the only Moai group that looks like a team, roughly the same size and looks. The Ahu is oriented strictly from north to south so that at summer solstice the statues face exactly sunset and at winter solstice the sun rises in their backs. Thus this is believed to have been some kind of Observatory for the Rapa Nui people. There is also a legend that the Seven Explorers were the first group to have landed on Rapa Nui before the true settlement began.

When the rain subsided a bit, a farmer gave me a lift to Hanga Roa, but I was still set to visit one Moai more that is practically into the village and easily accessible by road. This Moai is known as Ahu Huri A Urenga, another Astronomer, facing directly the sun at the winter solstice. It is also the only one to have four hands carved but as they are close to the body I had not even noticed them at he site.

  

Ahu Huri A Urenga – the Moai with four hands

Again a local gave me  a lift to the village as this statue was quite in the outskirts  and I hurried again to the Ahu Tahai, but no luck, the horizon was all cloudy so no sunset. I could only catch a glimpse of it through a cemetery cross, very proud of this one shot.

 

 Hanga Roa cemetery at sunset

 

The next day was Sunday and I was supposed to leave for the airport at about 11am. So in the morning I went to the Rapa Nui museum which had quite interesting exhibits and data not only for the Moai but also wooden sculptures, petroglyphs and some interesting 3D printed small sculpture replicas

3D printed replicas in Hanga Roa Museum

Then it turned out the flight was canceled due to bad weather although there was no tempest and I could fly back to the continent only early next morning. Nothing to do, I visited the local church and wandered along the seashore. There is an interesting place with wooden sculptures of the 7 Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel. I only knew the first three.

Hitu Merahu site with the 7 Archangels

                                The Holy water vessel and the Pulpit

 Next morning the flight was very early and I was packing in the dark. So when landing in Santiago I started searching in my backpack for an envelope with some USD 120 cash and it was not there. I explained to my seat neighbours and they phoned the Cabanas Pumakari, the envelope was found and someone brought it for me at the airport in two days so all ended well. If you ask me where I have been, the next photo says it.

 

 

Au Bout du Monde Restaurant