On-the-Road Tales

There are a ton of theories surrounding Easter Island and you could go in circles debating them. After spending a week on the island, I am going to try to summarize my version of the island though I do not guarantee any authenticity!

Rapa Nui was an island formed by the eruption of large volcanos which created its land mass. It is one point of a triangular region, the other 2 areas being New Zealand and Hawaii made up on volcanic chains. The legend goes that one of the king’s son in what is presently French polynesia, near Tahiti, was forced to leave the island in search of new territory by his brothers. His advisor dreamed of a land to the east that was empty and had fresh water. The tribe sent 7 explorers who found the isle and returned to share the news. The group took about 15 years to build 2 vessels and set out to settle the new land. They settled on the volcanic land mass around 300 AD and another group, a lower class also from french polynesia arrived shortly after. The first group had royal lines and were referred to as long ears, the other tribe was working class and referred to as short ears.

The royal members of the Long Ears enlisted carvers from the Short Ears tribe to start creating stone sculptures from the islands volcanic rock, in their likeness. These statues, or Moai as they are called, took about 18 months to complete and were commisioned while the person was still alive. After the royal person died, the statue was removed from the quarry and transported to a platform on the island with his ashes buried beneath. The Moai face the land to watch out over their future generations of people. Many of the statues were adorned with a topknot on the head made of red volcanic stone. The Moai got larger and more elaborate as more were erected.

How these immense megaton bodies of stone were moved from the quarry to their platforms is much debated. One theory is that palm trees on the island were cut down and their trunks used to “roll” the statues. It is believed that the topknots were rolled on their sides since they were cylindrical. Eventually, it is believed the islands population grew to about 15,000 people and with most of the trees cutdown and animals caught for food, starvation was an issue. The Short ears are believed to have revolted against the upper class and eventually took control. To destroy the “mana” or soul of the Moai, the short ears toppled every single statue on the island. Thus, by the late 19th century – there were no Moai standing. The short ears even built small walls before they toppled the statues to ensure the necks would snap and heads break off. This ensured the mana was broken.

In the 1700s, explorers landed on the island and made some observations. In the next century, pirates arrived to capture slaves and many of the islanders were sent to a Peruvian island to work processing bird dung as a fertilizer. Among the slaves taken were the learned priests of the island who were the only persons able to interpret the writing of the people which was found on tablets. The only writing known to exist among all polynesian tribes. All these priests died during enslavement so the translation of the tablets was forever lost. Eventually, some of the slaves were freed and returned to the island but they brought disease back to which the locals had no immunity so many of the islanders sucumbed.

In 1888, Chile laid claim to Rapa Nui since it had an extensive seafaring Navy. They outlawed many local practices, customs and native tongue. In 1900, Chile rented the island to England for sheep trade. The English complained when families would steal sheep to feed their starving children so Chile had the military round up all 111 persons left on the island and put them in what is now the only city, Hanga Roa. They put a fence around the area and they were not allowed freedom to roam. Essentially they were treated like livestock themselves. The English rented the island until 1950 when Chile decided not to renew their lease. During that time, the English took many of the rocks from the sacred platforms and buildings to build the rock sheep boundries which still permeate the island.

A tsunami in 1960 devasted many of the platforms on the sea’s edge. Moais were pushed inland and topknots were dragged out to sea. The locals tried to recover as many as possible. In recent years, some of the Moai have been restored to their original platforms with the help of outside intervention. Japan offered cranes and assistance in repairing one of the major platforms and UNESCO oversees restorations. There are over 900 Moai on the island. Over 300 still in the quarry, or ‘nursery’ as it referred to. The Rapa Nui people have lobbied Chile to get their land returned. The coast and Moai platforms are considered National Park but the inland lands have been returned to the respective families and noone except Rapa Nui is allowed to own property on the island – not even Chileans. While they have their land back, it would be difficult to repopulate since their are no utilities anywhere except Hanga Roa. The locals recognized a decline and possible loss of their language and customs in the early 70s and have made an effort to revive them. School is still taught in spanish but many families raise their children speaking Rapa Nui and many of the crafts and festivals have been revived. Much of this is due to tourism. The island’s economy is almost solely dependent on tourism and the traffic comes largely from round the world tickets. If air travel gets more expensive or RTW tickets go away, the island will certainly suffer. There is no other industry and daily life is very expensive considering everything has to arrive by ship or plane from mainland Chile. It is often too costly to send children to college on the mainland and as I was told, Chile is a different world comapred to growing up on Easter Island. While they are Chilean in nationality, their isolation and polynesian roots makes it almost a foreign country.

Isla de Pascua is a unique speck in the pacific ocean. It is a little disappointing in some ways to see the quarries and hear the theories since it dispels some of the mystery of the island. But, actually being there, seeing it up and close and personal and meeting all the descendents of these amazing craftsman is indescribable. Fascinating country – amazing people – great sunsets and skies can not ask for much more in a destination….

The only part of the island I had not yet explored was the north, so I walked up past Tahai. I stayed along the coast with a bit of a breeze so it was much more comfortable than other parts of the island I had hiked. It was completely deserted, it is hard to comprehend that you have this immense island but everyone is concentrated in one tiny town. (see erin’s brief history for that explanation) I visited some more Moai, checked out some wildlife, stared down from the cliffs at the crazy rough sea beating the rocks below. There are all sorts of caves formed from Lava tubes on the island. Some have as many as 8 entrances and end up looking out like windows onto the sea. These proved to be vital places since the population would escape into them to evade capture when pirates or slave ships would try and raid the island. Since there were openings above in the land, they were able to grow plants and vegetables in this environment as well. Tried to find some coast lookouts on my map, again with limited success but I was just exploring as it was. One of the three cars that passed me on the dirt road during my 5 hour trek, offered a ride. I declined but it was a nice gesture in the event I was dehydrated and lost like the other day!

I stopped back into town to do some last minute errands. Had to swing by the post office to get my passport stamped. Since it is still Chile, there was no official passport stamp but – – the PO will put a cool semi-offical Moai head stamp. Don alerted me to this in Machu Picchu where I did it too! Silly yes but travelers get off on these things – so how many stamps and visas do you have??? Watched the sunset once again. Everyday the clouds and colours are just that bit different.

I took a 1/2 day tour to get up the middle part of the island. The locals who give the tours are very interesting. They tell you the party line they learned in tourism school. Then they tell you the stories they grew up learning and what parts of history the missionaries decided would be better not to propagate. Thankfully there are families left that remember those things. We visited one of the platforms that had an elaborate base. The platform design contains rocks that interlock in a design similar to those at Machu Picchu. Thor Hyderall (sp) believed Easter Island was settled by people originally from Peru, not Polynesia. He wrote Kon Tiki which ‘put Easter Island” on the map and actually built a reed boat and successfully made it from Peru. He used the interlocking rocks to help substantiate his theory. Unfortunetly, despite all that effort – it has since been disproven. While there may have been some explorers from that area, DNA tests have established the people came from the Polynesian isles. We also visited a platform where the 7 statues face the ocean, only place on the island. These are meant to represent the first 7 explorers and they are looking back towards their homeland. Every other Moai face inland to protect over the people. We also stopped at the Topknot quarry, a volcanic quarry of a red material. The topknot which fits perfectly on top of the statue was made only from this special quarry, the red representing the royal blood. They were cylindrical and are believed to have been rolled to their destinations.

In the morning, I heard a truck out back. Since there are only woods behind the house Iit registered as strange but I did not investigate further. Bad mistake. I opened all the windows to air the place a bit from the musty, tropical air. I sat on the porch for breakfast – Lucia mixed it up everyday for something different – breads, eggs, fruits. I stepped back into my bathroom for something or another and was aghast to find several cockroaches hopping about. Blahhhh! I boltted onto the porch where Lucia was shooing more around with the broom. Aghh. Apparently that truck like sound was the island fumigation. And well since the houses are not sprayed, it is a natural refuge for the slimy buggars. So they flocked into, on and around the house to basically die. Ugh – I was mortified, They are not super big and scary like florida ones but still kinda vile. I rushed around closing my windows and sat at the table trying to avoid them crawling over my feet. I was coping until one dropped from the overhang above right onto my toast and headed straight for my lap. I nearly flipped the table trying to get up and avoid a lap pet. One of the girls living in the house looked at me like I was ridiculous because it was just a cockroach but hey, not accustomed to them in my space. So my appetite over – I headed into town.

Met up with my friend Dominique whom I had met in Argentina along with another new friend from Chile. Anneke. We went to find some massive turtles supposed swimming in the harbor but no joy. There is a film about Rapa Nui directed by Kevin Costner, based loosely on some legends that they show during the week. We went to check it out, interesting – nice to see in the setting but a little stupid to see supposed locals running around shouting in English. We went for cocktails to a swanky bar afterwards and all made fools of ourselves at one point when, surprise, a cockroach jumped down onto the couch and we squealed and bolted. They got a good laugh out of the silly, scared of an insect tourists.

Lucia was waiting up for me when I returned since I was late – nice to have someone watching out for me! Her family makes jewelry and shell crafts to sell at the local tourist spots. Every night, sitting on the porch, I learned how to punch holes in several types of shells, string up some necklaces designs, watched them work with feathers and sand carved wooden statues. Local craft 101 – just up my alley! Loved it. Alicia made me a lovely pair of earrings and braclet. Great reminders on my time on the isle.

I bolted out of bed a mere few hours after settling into it and rushed into town for mass. Been in a lot of churches on this journey but actually getting my travel schedule to coincide with a Sat/Sun mass time and location has not been too successful!I missed the 0900 because I was not going to appear on 2.5 hours sleep but luckily the 1100 was still on. The church is a combination of tradition and the influence of missionaries. The statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary, guardian angels, saints are carved out of wood in a manner similar to the Moai. Very unique and amazing craftsmanship. The altar incorporates the seascape and Rapa Nui prayers are written on the walls. One of the early priests on the island was instrumental in helping to catalog the Moai and spent his life trying to raise money and awareness of the culture around the world. The local museum is named after him.

I arrived home and it was family dinner. Everyone was gathered around outside on porch -everything happens outside at the house- and I was sat down for some chicken (probably the one the dog killed the day before – yeah hope not), and watermelon. Some more people arrived for lunch and I kept looking at them thinking they look awfully familiar – then I realized it was the guys from the band the night before. Guess everyone is soemhow related amoung the 3000 people on the island!

I was told to hurry up bc I had plans. What? What are they talking about? Bad translation because I had not figured out what the day held for me yet. But no I was informed my friend had rang and was arriving in less than an hour to pick me up and go to the other side of the island to the beach. The beach, Anakena, is located 16 km from the town. Many people do not have cars since they are wicked expensive to ship 3000 miles out from Chile. There is only one main town and taxis are cheap so most of the locals rely on them. Many of the local men use horses – no saddles, barefoot, and barechested with Rapa Nui tattoos but more on that later. Luiz showed up in a white truck with another family friend I had met except now he was in uniform. He was on duty which apparently included borrowing the Navy seal emblazoned truck for a spell to drop us and another family off at the beach for the day. I felt so privledged with my military transport! We brought a picnic and headed out to swim and do some hiking. The family brought a harpoon gun for fishing and since the other guy was a free diver, he would going down 15 meters or so forever to collect neat sea stuff. It was really interesting to talk to these folks about politics and police and pride considering Chile’s spotty recent history. Pre/post Pinochet etc. Fascinating to hear the military perspective and discuss some of the differences in training , education etc. Turns out Chile has a kickin Navy/Marine contigent consdiering their lengthy coastline.

Lovely day and I tried out Easter Island Ceviche for dinner. Not bad but too much raw fish in one sitting does not appeal to me. On the walk home, I went past the cemetary. Only part of the road that was not lit naturally. Enjoying the night sky I heard hoofs gallopping towards me. I watched Sleepy hollow while in Brasil so I was a little apprehensive bc the chances of Johnny Depp appearing from the bushes on Isla de Pascua were slim. I met my horsemen and he stopped and turned towards me. Like I said – a Rapa Nui with his polynesian features and intricate local tattoos seated bareback atop a horse in the middle of the road on a dark midsummers night is quite a sight – he asked me if I would like a ride home in spanish thankfully, not local tongue. Some of the local legends tell of Rapa Nui princesses being kidnapped and absconded and I could not help some primal vision coursing through my head of being whisked off to some cave never to be heard from again. But – I regained my composure and thanked him for the offer but respectfully declined. I chuckled on the short remainder of the walk home but kept my ear cocked for falling hooves just in case.

I took a tour with Tauraa to visit the south coast of the island. The guide, Helen, had lived in the UK for many years but was a local so I could actually understand everything. Learned alot of history and visited all sorts of important places on the island. The volcanic quarry, where the Moai were carved, was absolutely amazing. There were all sorts of Moai hundreds in fact in various forms of completion stuck into the hillside. Some still attached to the rock inside the volcano, some on the outside, some not completed bc they were flawed and many line up and scattered about the island in the process of being moved tot heir platform. Wild. Very surreal

Stopped in Anakena beach where one particularly well preserved platform is framed by white sand, palm trees and a blue-green sea. These statues were buried in sand for years, hence in better shape than most. They are the only ones with carvings on their backs and they were representative of where the king originally. We went for a swim and soaked up the amazing panorama.

I had been all sorts of worried that St. Patricks Day was going to come and go without a proper celebration (not really but it had crossed my mind to toast a slainte to my saint on the day). It is hard enough to find people in say, Arizona when I lived there to know that St Paddys day is an Irish national holiday but hey on this island in the middle of the pacific? I did not hold out much hope. Luckily, I made friends with a guy who came around the house often, a friend of the family. He is from Chile and is a Marine stationed in Easter Island for 6 months. He volunteered to hwlp me celebrate so we headed out on the town – all two streets of it! We went to the local hotspot around 2230, it was Saturday night so things were to be hopping when the locals finally came out around midnight. There was a Rapa Nui band playing and when they took a break, a music called ‘suk’ was played. Kind of a latin, reggae type deal. I do not have the magic hip fluctuations all latin americans seem to possess but I srtill had a great time dancing and trying – looking like a sorry gringa no doubt. No green beer but beer in a green can sufficed for the toast. I had a great night even though different than the usual mass, parade and corned beef and cabbage feast. The Chileans like to stay up late and party so I finally rolled in at 0600. Way too old for such nights but once in a while will not kill me I guess.

Went hiking down towards the airport in hopes of finding some Moai as shown on my map. After hours of walking in the sweltering heat and running out of water, I still had not achieved my goal. Rapa Nui maps suck and signposts are virtually nonexistent. An English couple who had hired a car and passed me several times obviously in an attempt to find the same things I was looking for finally gave up and stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift. I jumped at the chance and headed back into town. I went down to the harbor to sit and relax and watch the surfers battle the high swelling waves and deftly avoid the jagged rocks around the coast. I sat enjoying the tranquil view…for the short while it lasted. I noticed a red gasoline can float by and I thought it odd considering the pristine waters around. When a can of peaches floated by I thought something is really not right here. I wondered how far away a ship could wreck and the remnants would turn up in the harbor. As I busied myself calculating currents and winds I suddenly noticed 3 people clinging to a surfboard directly in front of me. Now that certainly was not normal. In the next instant, a large dingy was getting ripped across the rocks in the harbor reluctantly dragging and bashing the motor on the journey. The surfer was doing his best to steer his surfboard occupants away from the same fate. I hopped up debating between jumping in or calling out for help. Luckily, the islanders noticed it simultaneously and started gathering. In the meanwhile, groceries, rucksacks and all sorts of stuff were meandering by.

It seemed like a long few minutes but finally the couple and surfer were on safe ground. Soggy and shaken but unharmed. In the meantime, the Navy showed up on land and a boat launched to get the items still visible. The couple, German I would guess, spoke no spanish but had English so I made sure they were OK and did not need medics etc. (not that this necessarily would have been available anyway but…). Turns out they had been shopping and were returning to the their sailboat when there motor quit. With the nasty waves and current they quickly lost the battle against heading for the rocks and they had forgotten their paddle. They were planning on bailing out and clinging to a buoy but apparently things happened too fast. The authorities wanted the papers but that little rucksack that floated away contained all their documents. Bad deal. All I can say after seeing those waves is that someone was watching over them – they were seriously lucky they were not hurt. This is the second time during this trip where near disaster has landed literally at my feet. Air, Water…Not looking forward to what is next!

Went to watch some Moai be silhouetted at sunset. Lovely. I returned to the spot after it was dark because I was told these statues were lit up at night. Wrong. Lots of tourist centre info regarding the isalnd is not so correct. Not a loss, I got to watch the amazing sky. The island is like a planeterium, not much dark to disturb stargazing so the constellations and milky way were fab. Had thee most amazing tuna I have ever tasted! The fisherman pull right up to the restaurants and unload the fresh tuna from the trunk of the taxi (yes this was actually witnessed) Can not get much fresher…

Headed in the 15 minute walk to check out the main and only town, Hanga Roa. Explored the extent of the town, beachside, some more ruins and the airport. Turned off onto a hiking path, ended up in a forest waiting out a rain shower and met up with a couple. They were in a sailing school and had started off in Guayaquil Equador in a 45 foot boat and had navigated from there to Galapagos, Easter island, and would be going onto Robinson Crusoe then Santiago. It had taken them something like 35 days to get from Galapagos to here! Ugh – sounds like absolute hell to me, stuck on a boat with a bunch of people and nothing to see for that long but I guess if you want to learn how to sail it is the way to do it. Unfortunetly they said while the other people were cool, the captain was a prick. One guy could not longer take it and had booked a flight instead to Santiago but there was a 2 week standby list just to get a flight! Not easy to get off Easter Island.

Anyway, I inquired where exactly the path led and found myself on the way to the volcano. what luck…At the top of the crater, you could see clear through the other side which had a collapsed wall, to the ocean. Inside the crater was a sort of lake. On the seaside of the volcano was the Orangi ceremonial centre. This was where the practices of the birdman cult were carried out. There are two islands off this cliff and each year, when the traditional bird migrates, each tribe would choose a man to represent them in the birdman competition. This consisted of scambling down the rockface, swimming out to the island through the sharks, finding the first egg of the year, and transporting it back unbroken to the main site. Whoever won would become representitive for year. There were all sorts of ceremonial dwellings and rock carvings in this area.

Scampered back down. Headed into town and had a fresh fish feast before going home for the evening.

After all sorts of years wondering about Easter Island, I was finally seated on a Lan Chile 767 ready to travel there. Too exciting. The aircraft was class. Had 30 movies to choose from in my seatback so the time flew. After 5 hours and several thousand miles, we approached one of the most remotest places on earth in the middle of the pacific, Rapa Nui the original name or Isla de Pascua in spanish. The water was a cobalt blue speckled with dark patches which were coral reefs. ( I know I keep using all these crazy colors to define water but I am trying to differentiate – they really all have a unique tint) We touched down on the 12000 foot runway built courtesy of NASA. Easter Island is an alternate landing site for the space shuttle in the event their is inclimate weather elsewhere so the runway is massive. We arrived about noon and descended down the airstairs. No jetways in most of the world. It was humid and sticky, tropical indeed. Entered the airport, no customs or immigration so I grabbed my bags and headed outside. I choose to stay with a family at Mahina Taku Taku Georgia and Lucia was waiting for me with a lovely smelling flower leia. We grabbed a taxi and headed to her home in Tahai just north of the main town.

I settled in, had some fabulous fresh fruit home grown, met some family and had a nap. In the afternoon, I headed to the museum. Absolutely fascinating collection of information. Some of the stone remnants as well as history, tools, geological developments etc. They had replicas of some tablets that have been found on the island. These contained writing in a form not seen in the rest of the world, type of heiroglyphs where the tablet had to be turned to be read on each line. No other polynesian cultures are known to have had a written language.

Walked to the Tahai Moai or statues. Awesome. The entire island is considered to be an open air museum. You pay one fee and have entrance to everything. I was so beat, I headed back to get an early night. Lucia’s house reminds me of Sally’s. There is a constant never ending stream of people that are in and out all hours of the day and night so there was always something going on. I met some friends of the family that evening and chitchatted getting accustomed to the accent. Lucias family spoke Rapa Nui’, the native tongue, but they were kind enough to address me in spanish since my polynesian is not very good!

Well – I will put Santiago on the list of cities to return to. Looked like a beautiful place but I just did not have time to explore. I had loads of errands to run like restocking supplies before I headed off from the “continent”. Also, I had to make a hospital visit. After visits to 2 pharamacies, 3 doctors and 3 hospitals – I finally got myself sorted. I have been told countless times by my mother not to stick Q-tips in my ears and alas in Brasil denying the advice, the reason caught up with me. I managed to shove some wax into my ear to the point I could not hear a bloody thing. It was highly annoying and given my acute fear of doctors and hospitals I hoped it would magically go away and kept pouring in boiling water as a remedy. I finally decided in Patagonia I had had enough and the drama began. My spanish is marginal, enough to get a bed and a good meal. My vocabulary does not include “I will pass out if you come within 10 feet of me with anything resembling a needle”. Anyway, finally in Santiago I found an ear specialist capable of helping and it was a blessing in disguise. I had been toying with the idea of diving while in tahiti despite a previous diving injury to the ear. He took one look and asked me if I experienced pain while flying at altitude. I said no – but he cautioned me not to go anywhere diving if I wanted to remain problem free so that quickly ended my underwater ambitions.

Got myself together to rise at 0400 for the airport shuttle. Did not sleep much – combination of being excited for Easter Island and the blaring discotecque that was apparently located right underneath my room. I thought it was an outdoor concert until it continued past midnight and the bass started pulsating my pillow. When everyone cleared out, they decided to beep their horns for the duration of the parking garage exit. Quite a party for a weeknight!