Easter Island

After a luxurious flight with LAN Chile, we touched down on the most remote island in the world. Fumbling in the dark streets of the tiny village, Hanga Roa we were picked up by a friendly local and delivered to the Minihoa campground, our home for the next six days.




Unsurprisingly, Easter Island is expensive. Groceries cost the locals at least 3 times as much as they would on the Chilean mainland and the airport is always a hive of excitement as this constitutes their main link to the outside world. The arrivals lounge is a bonanza of freight- LCD televisions, food processors and furniture, while flower necklaces are handed out the arriving tourists.





Our first couple of days of exploring saw us visiting the many Ahu´s (ceremonial platforms) of the Northern Coast. Some have been restored while others still lay toppled after the tribal warfare of the 19th century. These sites are very atmospheric in their tragedy and give a sense of the cultural self destruction that occured. This part of the island is also littered with lava caves and manavai (under or above ground lava gardens) which are still used to grow bananas, sweet potatoes and other exotic vegetables. Even the large volcanic crater at Rano Kau was used as a large, humid greenhouse. We also visited Orongo ceremonial village at Rano Kau, the site of the birdman ceremony. Representatives from each clan would race down a 300 metre cliff face, swim through shark infested rough waters to Moto Nui (the islands pictured above) and the first to return with a coveted manutara (sooty tern) egg would be crowned birdman. His clan´s family would enjoy an elevated status for the year and greater ´mana´ (life force) . We stared down the cliff in horror, next to beautiful petroglyps and wondered what kind of strange substances they were imbibing when they came up with this crazy idea! We also visited a sea cave near Orongo village that contained the only rock paintings on the island, featuring flying zoomorphic figures.







Towards the end of our stay we hired a scooter for the day. We whizzed round the coastal roads taking in archaeological site after archaeological site, but undoubtebly the star of the show was the moai ´nursery´ at Rano Raraku quarry. Hundreds of heads peek through the grassy slopes and wild flower covered crater creating the most unforgettable atmosphere. The quarry was abandoned during the calamitous upheavals so the moai now sit smiling or thinking for the day they might be liberated...








After a day of sun and rain on the scooter we visited the final site at Anakena beach. This beautiful calm bay offers warm swimming and a stunning palm fringed archaeological site. What a wonderful way to finish a monumental day of sightseeing!







On our final day we climbed the largest volcanic crater on the island, Terevaka to appreciate a 360 degree view of the island in its isolated splendour. We also took in some local polynesian culture at a dance and music night where Leon even got on stage to shake his booty with the locals!




We had a wonderful six days on this most magical of isles. The hospitality, archaeology, caving, beaches and Polynesian culture make Easter Island stand out against anything else we´ve seen in South America.