We have to say that the planes used by LAN are very modern and comfortable with excellent food and entertainment on board which means we almost didn’t notice the time was passing by.
Rapa Nui was annexed to Chile in 1888 however the name “Easter Island” was given by the Dutch that re-discovered the island in 1722.
I say re-discovered because the Island was actually discovered and colonised by the Polynesians over 1500 years ago.
For this reason from now on we will call it with its original name: Rapa Nui.
The Island is fairly small and you can visit it entirely in 3 days on a push bike.
There is only 1 road which goes all around the perimeter of the island (40 kms in total) on a loop.
All inhabitants (5000 of them) live in one town called Hanga Roa. There are no other buildings in the Island.
This place is probably the closest thing to paradise you can find on Earth.
The temperature is mild all year around. There is no crime on the island and certainly no stress, traffic or “road rage”.
Even the cemetery looks nice in Rapa Nui........
The island is very well kept with colourful flowers everywhere. This is probably why women tend to wear flowers on their ears or like necklaces.
The people of Rapa Nui make a huge effort in recycling rubbish. We saw special bins for glass, paper, tin etc.
They are also seriously engaged in all sort of cultural activity, from dancing to playing music.
Not to be missed the Kari Kari show, probably one of the best folk dance we have seen so far.
Knowing my exceptional dancing skills they asked me to go on stage to show some moves......
Sports are also key in their lives with surfing, swimming and playing football as core activities.
Pic 7 Rapa Nui footbal team in training session with Moai watching over them
Pic 8 Surfer in action at Hanga Roa beach
There is also a small cinema on the Island which is playing only 1 movie on Monday Wednesday and Friday :I am sure you have already guessed: Rapa Nui, a movie produced by Kevin Kostner in the 90s showing the story of the last days before the fall of the Rapa Nui civilisation and the arrival of the colonizers.
We could not miss it, could we?
The place is so small and isolated that heavily relies on goods imported from Santiago. It is for this reason that everything is quite expensive on the Island.
A basic room on a 3 stars hotel will cost around $200 per night.
A bottle of water at the supermarket is $4. You get the thrust.
Anyone coming to visit the Island however is coming for one specific reason: to see the Moais.
There are around 860 Moais scattered around the Island. Most of them are not actually standing but instead either lying on ground or still partially entombed.
In actual fact the ones that are currently standing have been raised from the ground and restored from the 60s onwards.
So, the question is: what led the Rapa Nui people to spend so much effort, resources and energy in the contraction of these monoliths and why this 1500 years old civilisation was almost extinct at the time of the arrival of the western colonizers?
We are told that the original inhabitants of the Island were divided in various tribes. Each tribe had rich families and people with influence, money and power. These families would commission the contraction of the Moais as images of their deads. In order to do so they would need to feed all the workers.
The Moais had the function to protect the village as they were producing a positive energy called Mana.
For this reason all the Moais were aligned facing the village, generally giving shoulders to the sea.
There are only 7 Moais facing the sea and they can be found at Ahu Akivi.
As time went on, the Moais became bigger and heavier.
A small Moai was 2M tall, but the tallest was over 21M weighting up to 160 Tons.
All Moais were carved in a quarry called Rano Raraku on the east side of the Island, and once finished erected and transported to the village.
There are various theories about how the Moais were transported (sometimes for kms), most likely rolled over using wood logs.
Another fascinating tradition was the “birdman ceremony”.
Every year at the time of the September Equinox the head of each tribe would meet at Orongo on the rim of the Ranu Kao Volcano.
Pic 16: Rim of the volcano
Then they would elect their champion to compete in a dangerous race which involved climbing down the volcano, swimming for 4 kms in shark infested waters up to a small Island called Motu Nui where they would seek an egg of the Manutara bird.
The winning tribe would enjoy for the whole year a special high statue which would often lead to dominate the other tribes.
Many archaeologists believe that the obsession for the construction of ever so big and numerous Moais led the Rapa Nui Inhabitants to deplete completely the Island from its precious forests.
Deforestation probably brought soil erosion. Beside that without wood they could no longer build boats to go fishing.
The lack of food and resources together with the resentment against the high casts probably led the Rapa Nui people to a period of war and destruction which decimated the population.
When the Colonizers arrived they found an Island with no trees, few inhabitants and hundreds of Moais crushed on the ground.
After visiting all the standing Moais in the island, the quarry, the caves and the Volcanoes we hired a quad and went to spend an afternoon at the Anakena beach.
With its 7 Moais watching over you, its white sand, lapis-lazuli colored waters and its palms under which the locals are roasting meet on the barbeque this is probably the best beach we have seen so far in our lives.
Pic 20: Anakena beach from distance
Pic 21: Palms at Anakena beach
There is no doubt in our minds that Rapa Nui is one of the highlights of this trip to South America.
We are glad that, in spite of all difficulties, we still ended up booking 5 days in this superb location.
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