For five days, we escaped the Santiago Slump (a self-discovered psychological condition that I will try to get added to the DSM-V, the psychological disorder diagnostic manual). We hopped a five-hour plane ride to Isla de Pascua, or Easter Island, OR Rapa Nui (the REAL name in a Polynesian language still spoken on the island). Easter Island is one of the most remote, inhabited islands on our planet. Oh boy, those were the fastest five days in recent memory. Wow.
Our travel book called Easter Island "a tiny speck of land." Okay, so I guess it's minuscule in the grand scheme of things (12 miles by 15 miles at its widest and longest points), but it sure feels huge on the natural and ancient sight scale. The island is so unique. Travel books and articles tend to gloss over the incredible, INCREDIBLE natural beauty of this place (the island being, essentially, three extinct volcanoes). Thus, tomorrow I will highlight the natural, gorgeous, sometimes eerie splendors of this special place.
But for now, the Moai. I won't go into the history of these dudes too much. Since I'm not a scholarly anthropologist, ethnographist, archeologist, or any other -ist, it's much safer for you to find that information here, if you're interested.
This island is "littered" (and I use that word with very happy affection) with these massive volcanic stone structures that were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. So, like, the island's basically an open-air museum. Most moai aren't still standing on their ahu, their platform structures. But some have been re-erected using ancient methods, in these modern times. We'll start with those.
Here (and above) is Ahu Tongariki. An amazing platform with 15 moai. In 1960, a huge tsunami knocked them down (the ocean shore is directly behind them). In the 90s a Japanese company re-erected them. 15 cheers for Japan! Tongariki was incredible:
These moai are located right outside the city on Easter Island, Hanga Roa. They were some of the first we saw:
To give you an idea of size, here's Matt standing with them.
A stray friend admiring the work with us. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that the moai in the background has eyes. Originally, all had eyes made of coral and shells. I prefer them without the eyeballs.
Ahu Akivi. These ones are the farthest inland. And they're the only ones that face towards the sea!
These guys are on the beautiful white sand beach of Anakena (I'll show you more of that tomorrow):
We loved the warning signs:
Here's the volcanic quarry where the sculptures were initially made (and eventually transported away from). Here, you can see hundreds of incomplete moai carvings. Unfortunately, the quarry cost, gulp, $60 per person, per day to enter. A $50 jump from a month ago. We can't afford that. Thus, my pictures are taken at the fence.
The dead volcano in the background is the other side of the quarry:
Although the standing structures were completely and utterly magnificent, I was equally drawn to and captivated by all the fallen maoi all over the island. Here are these incredible feats of people (it took five or six people one to two years to make each one!), just lying there often face down like they were just garbage on the shoreline! Plus, they are anthropomorphic, so they look sort of like abandoned, dead bodies.
It is thought that many are in the prone position because of clan warfare in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, tsunamis and massive storms have also been named as culprits.
Rainwater pooling in this eye socket.
Lastly, Ahu Tongariki at sunrise:
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post! I'm serious! I'll talk about our travel companions (they included some cool human Seattlites and some cool non-human rapanuis)! Plus, the pictures will leave you visually drooling.
