Travel, just like life, has its ups and downs. In the last blog RobO shared some downside, but we didn’t know then how significantly our luck would change. We left mainland Chile and flew 5 hours west to Rapa Nui (known in English as Easter Island), which is considered the most remote airport in the world.
The only way to access Rapa Nui is via Chile. In order to board the flight to the island you have to have accommodations booked at a registered location and (since Covid) you have to have a Rapa Nui certified guide to visit most of the protected sites. I had reached out to 6 different guides on the official tourism website and they either didn’t respond or gave me other names to try. They definitely need to update their list. In the end I only had 2 responses, one which had many good reviews but was very expensive and one that only had 1 review (5/5) but was more reasonably priced. We opted to go with the second option, and this was where we had some real travel luck.
Ata Christino is a relaxed guy around our age who instantly felt like a friend. He is so humble that along the first day’s tour he told us a few breadcrumbs of information that started to build on each other: his parents are both archeologists; they have done some work with restoring the Moai statues; they actually were the people in charge of the largest restoration project; as a child Ata would play in the sacred sites while his parents worked. This guy was raised at the sites, surrounded by teams of scientists and is pretty much an island celebrity (though he would never say that). At one point another guide was telling his group about the restoration of the statues and he said, “the work was done by that guy’s parents”, pointing at Ata.
Ata is knowledgeable, passionate, and makes the history so interesting. Plus, we had the chance to spend a lot of time sharing cultural information about each of our countries. If you ever plan to come here the first thing you should do is ask me for his contact information.
Our first day we explored numerous sites that gave us an understanding of the timeline of the Moai statues, a revolution that destroyed many of them, and the subsequent ‘bird man’ chapter, where rulers were crowned via a crazy Hunger Games style competition.
We learned that the Moai statues were chiseled in 1 piece from the quarry, on the northeast side of the island. Somehow using hundreds of people and maybe rollers they were transported to all corners of the island. Once erected upon their alters the last 2 steps happened: adorning them with hats or topknots (made with red stone from another iron-rich quarry on the island) and placing their eyes. This final step is when they became representations of chiefs and ancestors who had died.
The understanding is that the Moai statues serve as the gateway between the islanders and their ‘Heaven’, which is located in the depths of the sea. The Moai almost all face inland to watch over, protect, and provide spiritual guidance to the living.
One exception is a grouping of 7 Moai that face toward the sea. These are said to represent the 7 explorers who found the island, or perhaps the 7 star Matariki constellation that may have guided them.
Eventually there was a revolution and the people pushed over these symbols of the old regime.
The new way involved new symbolism and systems. Each spring, when the manutara birds returned to their nesting grounds, the competition would begin. Hopefuls had to scale down a 300 meter cliff to the ocean, swim about 2 kms to an island, find the first egg laid, then return it to the starting point. The champion would be the ruler for the next year.
The second day’s tour supplemented information from the first day, plus we got to hike through a lava tunnel in the ‘youngest’ section of the volcanic island.
The icing on the cake was the chance to see the sunrise over 15 Moai statues. It looked pretty dire at first as dark clouds rolled into the area, but that anticipation made it even more exciting.
There is an area within walking distance from town where there are Moai in a perfect sunset location. We visited the area a couple of times as it is one of the sites where you don’t require a ticket and guide. Incredibly there were some wild horses hanging out there one night, which elevated the experience.
There is so much more to say about our island experience, but I’ll leave you wanting one final blog!
