It is hard to summarize my experience on Easter Island,
called Rapa Nui by the locals, but I can tell you I left a peice of
myself there... it is such a special destination and people. Easter
Island is one of the most remote places to visit. It is connected with
the rest of the world by once daily flight to Santiago. Only local Rapa
Nui people can own land. The Rapa Nui are Polynesian people, sharing
their heritage with Tahitians, Hawaiians, and the Maori of New Zealand.
Most islanders are descendants of just a few Rapa Nui families from when
the island population was only 111 people. Many islanders are "mestizo"
now, with mixed Chilean or European and Rapa Nui heritage but the
traditional Rapa Nui culture is still very alive. The locals speak Rapa
Nui language and uphold many traditions and fishing/agriculture
lifestyle. It is a calm and peaceful island, where time seems to
disappear. A true departure and uninhibited experience for an American!
The first afternoon we arrived we met our explora guide
Niko who would be with us for the duration of our 3 night experience.
He is half Rapa Nui and half Chilean and has lived on Easter Island his
whole life, with the exception of a few years in Santiago for
university. We took a hike they call "Caves and Cliffs" where we could
see the stunning rocky coastline of the island and many volcanic caves.
The cave of "Dos Ventanas" (Two Windows) was an incredible cavern with
two opposing "windows" overlooking the waves crashing onto the coast
below. A very special place to stop for a little meditation and taking
in the spirit of the place. We ended the hike on a magnificent cliff
with a stunning sunset view. What a welcome!
The 2nd day on Easter Island was a favorite day of the
trip. In the morning we hiked to the huge crater of Rano Kau, the largest
volcano on the island. Paige, Christian, and I decided to challenge
ourselves to a trail run of about 2 miles around the crater's edge. It
was a great rush! At one side of the crater is a small National Park
area with preserved traditional Rapa Nui houses of volcanic rock built
into the coast.
Today we had an delicious picnic lunch of fresh fish grilled traditionally over hot stones with fresh grilled vegetables.
After lunch we headed to one of the most iconic places of
Rapa Nui to view the 15 moai! In Rapa Nui the word moai means "witness".
These massive stone structures were sculpted to represent chiefs of a
tribe after their death. They were all crafted in a huge quarry on the
island and brought to an area of the island for that clan. There was a
separate quarry of softer rock for the top knots (headdress) of the
moai, and also for the coral and obsidian that would make up the eyes.
Like many cultures, the Rapa Nui believe the eyes are the window to the
soul. There are over one thousand moai on Rapa Nui, scattered throughout
the island. After a peaceful era on the island when the Moai were
crafted, the Rapa Nui had a civil war where most of the Moai were pulled
down by opposing clans. So most of the moai are currently fallen down
on the ground but many have been restored upright on their platforms.
The 15 Moai are the most moai found together so it must have been one of
the most powerful tribes. Of course we had a lot of fun taking photos with these guys!
On our third and final full day on Rapa Nui, we planned to
snorkel in the morning but it was rainy so we changed plans. Easter
Island has some fantastic snorkeling and scuba the water is so pristine
and also great surfing (for an experienced surfer!). We visited the
quarry of the top knots as well as the quarry of the moai. There are
many moai standing all down the side of the quarry that never made it to
their intended home due to the civil war. You can also see many moai
half carved into the rock of the quarry but were never completed.
We also learned about the athletic competition called
"Birdman" that happened every year on Rapa Nui and is still practiced to
this day. In its original form, the clan of the winner of the Birdman
competition would take over the mayorship of the island for the next
year and the Birdman himself was prized with the most eligible virgin
for his wife. Today it is an athletic competition with different
challenges that occurs in the first two weeks of February. Challenges
include: swimming out to two islands to fetch seabird eggs and swimming
back without breaking them, running around the crater with 40lbs of
bananas on your back, swimming across a lake on a raft of reeds, and
sliding down a volcano on a sled made of banana leaves. Our awesome
guide Niko was a recent champion of the competition!
On the way back to the lodge we were stopped by a local
horse race going down the middle of the road. A man who looked like the
Marlboro Man in a long worn leather jacket was organizing the race of
men riding bear back. Of course one of the guys turned out to be our
guides uncle! (It's a small world here!)
For our final night on Rapa Nui we went to Kari Kari, a
show of the traditional Rapa Nui dance. Wow, those Polynesians (men and
women!) can use their hips! Some of us did not make it through without
being pulled up on stage to participate! After the show, some of us
stayed in town and went out for some cervezas and bailando with the
locals... which made for a tired goodbye in the morning, but we were all very sad to leave...
