Easter Island, Part 2

Moai at Tongari Kim

Easter Island
ms Amsterdam
January 21, 2013

Easter Island (officially Rapa Nui) is a province of Chile. It is one of the most isolated
inhabited islands in the world. It lies 2237 miles west of Chile and 1290 miles east of
Pitcairn Island. It's five hours by air from Santiago or five days by sea from Peru. It was
discovered on Easter Sunday in 1722 by the Dutch.

And that is about all the "experts" can agree upon. Some say the island was settled by
Hawaiians in 300 to 400 AD, others say it was not inhabited until 700-800 AD with a
recent study claiming it wasn't until 1200 AD. Easter Islanders (population 3,000) say
they are Polynesian and arrived during the early period.

Today many of the 3,000 residents hold military or government jobs but tourism is
growing and there is a sporadic scientific research industry. Our guide's mother is head
of the research department on the island, so he was especially well-informed on both the
traditional stories and recent theories.

Rapu Nui is just 45 square miles, a triangular island spawned by ancient, now extinct
volcanoes. There are three "major" villages, the largest being Hanga Roa where we
landed. It's lush and tropical but not manicured like Hawaii. It rather looks like a scruffy,
Polynesian Mayberry. There is one main, paved two-lane road across the island, but
most "roads" are dirt, some smooth but most rocky with impressive pot holes. Horses
easily out number the cars. They are everywhere grazing in fields, pastures or front
yards. Lots of dogs, too. We saw cows and cattle as we drove across the island, as well
as small farms.

But the moai are the main draw. These are the enormous statues carved from soft
volcanic rock at the Rano Raraku quarry and then moved miles to the coastline. Their
backs are always to the sea so they can look upon the land and villages. Some 600 of
these statues have been resurrected, some as tall as 18 feet weighing several tons.

But how was it possible to carve hundreds of statues with no metal implements and
then move them several miles from the quarry to the coast with no modern equipment?
Theories abound. The natives say the moai "walked" to the sea. Period. Scientists are
continually trying to prove that they were transported by rocking them on their bases as
we would move a heavy piece of furniture or rolled on logs, thus the deforestation of the
island. There is no recorded history, so theories abound.

Some of the moai have been restored. All had eventually been knocked over by man
or nature. Those along the coast have been tipped upright onto their platforms, some
with their red rock top knots on their heads. One has even had its black and white eyes
restored. Many have been eroded over the years. Nicholas, our guide, told us that the
natives understand that nothing is forever and the moai were expected to eventually
disappear. Of course they also understand that "no moai, no tourists", so they aren't going
to protest the restoration work.

The Quarry on Easter Island

The quarry is quite something. It is the side of an extinct volcano. There are statues
everywhere; some standing, many fallen (always face down) and half buried and others
still partly carved and attached to the rock. There are walking trails along the face of the
quarry so visitors can get quite close to the moai (but no touching; very bad ju-ju). Some
are short-eared, some long-eared representing two tribes, for lack of a better word, from
long ago. Supposedly these two groups were the Hatfields and McCoys of Rapa Nui,
killing each other (And eating each other? Cannabalism is strongly suspected.) in feudal
wars. The faces are not all the same. It's believed (there is a theory for everything!) that
the faces were carved to look like the king at the time. It's also thought that the statues
lying face down, some broken apart, fell over when they were walking to the coast and
simply left where they fell.

The statues were carved with a stone harder than the volcanic rock. They were carved
lying on their backs, the statues not the carvers. The earth was excavated around the
statue as they carved until the figure was attached only by a "keel" of rock like a spine
on its back side. Then a deep hole was dug at the base, the figure was separated from
the mountain and tipped, upright into the hole. Tons of rock, tipped up by men holding
ropes. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Thus the broken moai scattered all
over the side of the quarry and down to the flat plain below. It's almost more interesting
that no one is quite sure how this was all done. You find yourself just standing and
staring at these things wondering how? why? and why here? and why did they stop,
leaving so many unfinished?

The shoreline of the island is mostly rocky. The color of the sea is just breathtaking
and the sky so very blue. There are numerous pebbly coves that reminded me of the
tide pools along the Pacific coast. As we walked up the side of the quarry, suddenly
you round a corner and there, way below in the distance is a line of moai at the water
line. Fifteen statues of varying sizes in a row at Tongari Ki facing towards the back
of the quarry mountain in the distance. Nicholas told us that in the 60s a tremendous
tsunami wave resulting from a tremendous earthquake (Note to self: Google this when
it doesn't cost 25 cents a minute to do so) hit that spot, knocking down all the statues
and scattering them across the plain. The water rushed up the side of the mountain and filled the crater of the volcano. The villages on the other side of the island were
unaffected by this calamity. I believe Nicholas said that the restoration of the statues
was funded by the Japanese. We drove around to the spot to see them up close and
take pictures. Lots of pictures. Thank heavens for digital cameras!

Our last stop was the beach of Anakena on the north east side of the island. It's a small
cove with a white, fine sandy beach that stretches a few hundred yards inland. It's the
swimming beach on the island and is quite popular and well-used by native and tourist
alike. There were several little food shacks selling empenadas (the Chilean influence),
grilled chicken, soft drinks, etc. It's also the equivalent of a national park, so we spotted
a couple of park rangers sporting hard hats as protection from coconuts falling from the
trees. (That was our only warning as we left our little bus to explore: Don't sit under a
coconut tree.) A row of seven figures at the top of the beach guards the cove.

Because of our delayed arrival, our tour began two hours late (although one gets the
feeling that the place runs on Island Time, whatever that might be at the moment) so we
didn't have time to explore the town. However, the islanders had set up souvenir tables
at every stop so shopping opportunities abounded. We have been warned that anything
made of wood, stone or food will be confiscated when we disembark in Sydney which
eliminates a lot of fun stuff. Jim got a T-shirt and I a couple of post cards. We haven't
been leaving many Yankee dollars behind. Maybe in Tahiti, our next stop. We'll have all
morning in Papeete, or as Jim calls it, Pah-pete.

Easter Island. Chalk up another once-in-a-lifetime experience. I keep looking through
the pictures taken that day to confirm that I was really there. And I have a list of books
to read and re-read about Easter Island when back in the US of A.

And now we head towards French Polynesia, setting our clocks back an hour every
night as we finally leave the Eastern Time Zone. Adios Rapa Nui and Bon Jour Tahiti.