The Moais of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Iorana

It’s as awesome a bucket list item as it comes.

I came to Rapa Nui aka Easter Island to see the famous statues, Moai. I ended up meeting some of the friendliest people in a mostly unadulterated most-remote island. There’s history of colonization and exploitation that resulted in just being one village here, Hanga Roa. The island is formed form the eruption of three volcanoes, whose craters now form the three corners of the triangular island. Besides the village, there are farms in the fertile center, and most of coastal areas are protected as a National park where you need to have a certified guide to visit. This makes for some amazingly remote places and interesting experiences.

The word for hello and good bye in Rapa Nui is Iorana. Here’s my Iorana to Iorana journey.

You come down the stairs from the plane, and you feel the beautiful weather, see the greenery, and then this sign welcomes you. I have arrived. The flight was on a pretty decent Dreamliner and uneventful, the way it should be.

Locals bring a lot of produce and other items. The super-oversized packages on the baggage belt made for some fun reminders of this. Given this is at least 2300 miles from any other land, that makes sense.

I stayed at a family run small place/motel, Kaimana Inn, and it did not disappoint. Marcelo, the owner is a one-stop shop for everything Rapa Nui, from being a certified guide, a volunteer firefighter, to running numerous businesses. He and his family were amazingly gracious hosts. The experience was like staying with family. Here's me with my welcome lei. On my return, I saw that locals make and sell these just outside the airport, so I then knew where it actually came from. The lei smelled just as good as it looked, and made my room fragrant for several days.

The background songs and music is from a show I saw at Pea.

I saw the Moai carved with lava rocks, which are in fact tombstones in a way. I got to swim in the best and clearest of waters, see the stray horses and dogs that are all over the place, see some gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, do star gazing in a truly remote and light-pollution-free place, thanks to my volunteer firefighter guide do a tiny bit of help in fire control, enjoy Polynesian show and fresh fish, and most important of all made some new friends—human and dog. One thing I didn't do much was sleeping, but hey, I can do that back at home too.

A fun fact is that the cellphone time kept jumping between Rapa Nui and Santiago, i.e, by 2 hours. This can mess you up if your alarm goes off two hours earlier!!

Ahu Tahai

Soon after arrving, I went exploring the village of Hanga Roa. About a mile from my hotel is Ahu Tahai. Ahu means platform. This place has 5 Moai here, and one close to it, and finally another one that is the only one with eyes that have been restored. Every other Moai's eyes have been lost. This Moai is also more recent as it has a red top rock that captures the top knot of Rapa Nui men. The men grew their hair and wore them in a bun. This red stone captures that.

Stray horses are all over the island. The islanders stopped using them after cars arrived, and simply let the horses go. The horses went ahead and did what they do, multiplied, and now there's a lot of free roaming horses. Friendly, but good to keep your distance.

Stray dogs herding stray horses! I loved this ecosystem at play in Hanga Roa town. Here, some horses had wandered into the park and were messing up the trash cans. The dogs got together to send the horses back to the pastures and away from trouble.

The town beaches and pools

The town has a number of these areas where they have used rocks to create a water barrier and hence a sea-water swimming pool. I decided to take a dip here, and it was pretty nice.

How many turtles can you see? The big guy is feasting on some algae and weeds growing on the rock, You can swim here, but approaching and touching the turtles is not allowed as they are protected. Signs remind people to stay away.

Artisanal market

After the swim, I ended up at the artisanal market. Here lava-rock moais are for sale, which are more pricer than the other clay or plastic ones. I spent some time exploring and marveling at the many displays and artworks.

The Sunset

After grabbing some food, I walked back to the Ahu Tahai. This is THE place for watching the sunset, and it did not disappoint. I was tired with waking up at 4am local time so I called it a day after this.

A day out with Marcelo

The next day, I was going to meet Marcelo at the fire station. On the way, I found this sculpture representing the Polynesian boat which resemebles one that the Rapa Nui ancestors likely used to sail here from Tahiti.

At the fire station, I was instantly adopted by the cheif dog, Patricia. She made sure to keep me company, and also won't let me pet any other dog there. It's always good to have a loyal friend when you are so far away from home.

Ranu Kao Crater

We started our tour by visiting the south west volcano crater of Ranu Kao. The crater is filled with rain/fresh water, and weed grass like cattails grow here. This was the source of fresh water for ancestral Rapa Nui. The grass is used as cover for roofs of huts as well.

Here are the three crucial islets. These have cultural importance as this site on the rim of the crater was used for the Birdman competition. Basically, all tribes nominated a king and sent him and his two helpers here. They kept an eye on the big island back there, which is home to birds. Once the birds arrived, the kings raced down the 1500ft steep cliff, swam about a mile to the island, grabbed the bird egg, and then returned. Whoever came back first was chosen the king of the island for a year. (or so I have been told). Now that's a bit more demanding than a triathlon i'd assume.

The top of the cliff is marked by these closed stone homes, one for each tribe that competed in the Birdman competition. The competitors used these to watch the birds to arrive, and also to protect them from the intense wind that blows here.

Ahu Vinapu

After Ranu Kao, we went to Ahu Vinapu. There are many toppled over Moai's here. The ancestors were afraid or wanted to have their tribe's Maoi higher than others, so they'd sometimes topple the exisiting Mois. Typically to have thier face down in the ground. This would also mean the head would break off as it's a weak point, the neck.

All Moais are typically male. This one in the picture is the only female moai that I saw. This is from red rock, unlike greyish rock used to make males.

After that we went back to the village for lunch, and I went exploring. Here's some local artists and craftsmen I met.

I came across a smoothie shop that was rather busy, and I decided to have this mango/guave and local honey delicacy. The bees on the island are unique, and make honey that is almost clear.

Then I went to the town beach, and enjoyed by drink.

Puna Pau

After the lunch, Marcelo took me Puna Pau, which is a quarry for red stone. Here the rocks are used to make circular top knots for moais. I thought the top knots are just placed on the Moais, but turns out they measured the head, carved a slot, and then did a proper fitting. Now thats very impressive, given the limited tools they had.

Ahu Akivi

Next stop, a quick photo op at Ahu Akivi with its seven moais. These are well preserved, but not as tall as I had expected.

The lava tubes at Ana Te pahu

It was time to change gears, and we went to see some lava tube caves at Ana Te pahu. It was interesting to see that in the middle of lava rocks and unfriendly terrain, some parts of the caves have collapsed, and exposed fertile ground below. This is where a lot of trees and plants had taken roots.

The ancestors used the cave as homes, and the these collapsed roofs provided for light to grow food, yet protection from wind and the elements. The caves run for several miles.

After visiting the caves, we called it a day, and I ended up at Ahu Tahai again. Here's another view of the area. And another beautiful sunset.

Marcelo recommended that I go see a show, which I did. The artists went around the room painting faces in traditional style. The show was intense and in a more intimate setting. I was very impressed.

(sounds and snippet from it in the highlight video above).

Stargazing

At about 10:30pm, I decided I should go see some stars. I had rented a quad, and went on a 10 mile journey out towards the northeast of the island. The area is not inhabited.

It was supposed to take me 30 mins, but actually took an hour. Once I got there, it started raining. I got soaking wet. Then the sky cleared. And I got some nice star views. This is from just a lowly iphone, but what I saw was breathtaking. Also, I have never felt so alone, and yet so calm in the dark.

My long exposure of Ahu Tongariki (with it's 15 Moais) ruined by a lighthouse light!

Another try and a construction truck had to pass through at 1am. Ah!

Finally, success. This is a quick mashup of several ones. Zoom in at the bottom for a surprise. Finally, I made it back to the hotel for a quick nap.

Sunrise at Tongariki

In the early morning, I headed out back again to Tongariki for watching the sunrise. This is THE spot for sunrise.

Here's a video of some parts of my journey. when I came across some horses.

Glassbottom Boat ride

I came back to grab some breakfast. and then went on a boat to see some coral. Best $20 spent.

Our glass bottom boat was more of glass in the middle like a window boat. But it was fun indeed. I also got a chance to swim in some deeper sea water. The buoyancy with this salty water is pretty good, so even a novice like me can have a good swim.

Anakena beach

You can easily spend a day or two or many at the surreal Anakena beach. This is a must must do, when on the island. The water is perfect. The scenrary is perfect. And the majestic Moais keep an eye on you from atop the hills.

The beach is open to everwhere. However, you are required to have a guide when on the archeological areas.

I really enjoyed swimming here.

Ahu Tongariki

Third time's the charm. After coming here several times (for stargazing, for sunrise, and now again to see the site), I was able to see the Moais upclose. These Moais are huge. 30ft or larger, and impressive. I'd say I fit right in.

Moai Tukuturi - The Moai Factory

We were running out of time, it was already 5:00pm, and we have to rush to Moai Tukuturi, the quarry where Moai's are carved. This is a huge operation. Moais are carved directly into the lave rock, and released when done. The carvers show excellent knowledge of geometry and material saving. Once the Maois were carved, they were slid down the hill, and then went all over the island in what is called the Trail of Maoi, which could be as far out as 15 kms. Now that's some distance to move these giant rocks.

This one is called the nose. The head alone is like 10 ft, and the body which is now buried is twice that.

This one is called the Thinker because of his tilting head.

The quarry and huge number of moais that were carved. Some also broke when moving, and the area is littered with pieces of them.

Unlike many other people here, this park ranger was quite fluent in English. So we had a good conversation.

On the way back, we stopped at a model village representing how life used to be in Rapa Nui. Because of the high wind, they used rock walls and grew plants etc. in them. Since they didn't know how to build roofs, but knew how to make boats, their houses are more like upside down boats.

One more sunset at Ahu Tahai.

Time to say good bye to Marcelo...

...and Iorana.

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