On the morning of our departure, I arrived promptly at 9:45 a.m. and Simone (also staying at Te'ora) arrived shortly thereafter. We were informed that Tuhi's husband was "out sick" and the tour wouldn't be operating. Could we reschedule for the following day? I could not as my departure for Miami via Santiago would take place that afternoon. We considered other options and after about 15 minutes, a new face appeared and it was Tuhi's. In truth, her husband still needed to work on a project at home (at her request) so she would take his place. I complained, "But how can I compare your style and expertise as a guide to that of your husband?" We laughed. "Oh well!" Simone and I were the only ones on the tour. Talk about private. We were both thrilled. It was as though touring Easter Island with our "sister." (I later learned that such a private tour normally runs US$200 per person!).
Tuhi and me, all smiles. She picked guava from along the roadside for us to eat. I tried it but wasn't too impressed. Too many seeds contained therein and I spit most of it out.
The road heading east from the village is paved, for a short while. The road after we turned north was dirt and rough. I was sitting in back and wondered if I'd become car sick. I opened the window wider for a good breeze, not caring about the dust. The countryside is quite flat and rather bleak with just a few hills scattered here and there.We arrived at Ahu Akivi with its seven moai. The site was restored in 1960 and what makes this particularly unique is the fact that the moai are facing the ocean. It is suggested that these moai are facing the direction of the village and their descendants. The ahu or platform is aligned with the rising sun on the spring and autumnal equinoxes. There are at least 15 other platforms classified as solar-pointing devices. Knowing when seasons would change is important
for farming.
From here we ventured further into the countryside and stopped in a field strewn with chunks of lava rock. Walking a short distance we came across a huge lava tube that was later used as an inhabited cave: Ana Te Pahu. The tube stretches for over 1 kilometer! At first one comes across the "Banana Cave" where a number of trees had been (recently) planted. Further inside there were rocks positioned as though walls for forming rooms. The tube went on and on and with "torches" (flashlights) we explored further and came across an area where fresh water from rain would have accumulated and could be used for various needs. We climbed up and out of the tube then proceeded back to our little SUV.
More rough road was covered but the view out over the countryside as we climbed a small hill was lovely. There were plowed fields on a nearby farm, the outskirts of the village of Hanga Roa, the the ocean in the background.
As we approached our next stop, Puna Pau, it was quite evident that soil erosion is a problem in some parts of the island (photo, below left). Coming across what appeared to be chunks of red lava rock, Tuhi told us that this area contained the quarry where all the topknots or pukao were carved. We were looking at several buried topknots as well as others not buried. They littered the hillside.The stone contains a high amount of iron ore (hence the color) and is a softer volcanic rock, thus being easier to carve. The topknots were a relatively later addition to the moai with about 100 of the former in existence versus over 1000 of the latter. I learned that none of the original moai were ever given topknots, so the quarry was only being used from the 15th or 16th century onwards. Puna Pau means "Exhausted Spring" in old Rapa Nui so either the crater contained water at one time or it passed nearby.
The large topknot with the opening on the side was meant as a sort of shelter from sudden rain showers. It probably weighs close to 12 tons and was intended for the largest moai being carved at the time that remains at Rano Raraku (see south coast tour).Tuhi also explained the meaning of topknots to us. Actually, they don't represent "hats" but rather the way a man's long hair was worn: tied up in a "bun" hence the knot. In early Rapa Nui society high-ranking men were forbidden to cut their hair. Wearing the hair on top of the head tied up in a knot was the fashion. I observed several young men in the village also wearing their hair this way. Perhaps it also is because they perform in the local Polynesian dances held for tourists (which I did not attend).
More rough road was covered before we reached the relief of the main paved road near the airport. We drove alongside of the the main runway, around the eastern end of it, past a fuel depot and on to our next stop. (I expressed my concern out loud as I saw the fuel depot so close to the end of the runway. I wondered what would happen if the landing airliner couldn't stop? Apparently I was the only one concerned.)
Speaking of the Mataveri airport I can't resist sharing a few tidbits. A grass landing strip was created in 1950 and the first plane landed in January, 1951. It was an amphibious Catalina that flew from Chile and took 19 hours to reach the island. The first commercial flight was a Lan Chile DC-6 and the flight time was reduced to a mere 9 hours from Santiago. The switch to jets took place in 1970 when Lan Chile began using the Boeing 707 and flight time dropped to 4.5 hours. During the mid to late 1990s, Concorde was a regular visitor when Air France and British Airways charter flights operated special around-the-world service. NASA provided assistance and money for an upgrade to the runway in 1985. It was lengthened to 9, 524 feet so the Space Shuttle could land there in an emergency after departure from Vandenberg AFB in California. After the Challenger disaster no launches were ever scheduled for Vandenberg.
Situated on the southwest corner of the island are the remains of three different platforms at Vinapu. One has essentially disappeared. The other two are Ahu Tahira and Ahu Vinapu. The former displays six overthrown moai, face down with four topknots lying in front of them. The primary interest here is in the actual construction of the platform where the precision stonework has been compared to the Incas (Cuzco, Peru). This strongly suggests contact between Polynesians and the South American mainland. Given this impressive platform structure, island legend suggests that the giant moai still at Rano Raraku was destined for this site. At nearly 70 feet in height without topknot this would have been something to behold!
From Vinapu we drove along the southern side of the airport to the top of the island's largest (1 km diameter across) volcanic crater, Rano Kau which erupted 2.5 million years ago. It is also a Naional Park where an entrance fee is collected, however, if one has retained the ticket from entrance to Rano Raraku there is no additional charge. It was windy at the top but the views were magnificent. The three of us had our lunch at the top and Tuhi took a short nap. Oh, alright, so did I.
The lake inside the crater is covered with mats of freshwater reeds (Scirpus californicus if you're interested) floating on top of 30 feet of water and lots of sediment at the bottom (we did not venture down to the lake; 20 minutes down but 40 minutes back up). Tuhi told us that the reeds have existed here for over 30,000 years, long before any human contact. The same reeds can be found on floating islands of Lake Titicaca in Peru. The cauldron gives the interior a sort of micro-climate.
We ventured further along to Orongo, the ceremonial village where the Birdman Competion took place. From this vantage one can view the Kari Kari which is the "bite" out of the side of the crater facing the ocean. During the competition, young men run along the ridge, then down the side to the ocean and swim out to the largest of the three motu, which means islet. There are three and the big one is where the Sooty Tern lays its egg which is part of the competition. I'll leave it to you to do further reading via the link above. You can also view the movie Rapa Nui via Netflix that came out around 1993. It's a bit hokey (and not suitable for children) but does show the competition. Apparently the last competition was held in 1866 when Roman Catholic missionaries put an end to it (no further comment from me).
Given the views, this is probably the best real estate on Easter Island!
There are many many petroglyphs (a local rock expert counted over 1,700) with various symbols including bird men. Depending on the lighting conditions it can be difficult to make them out.
The last stop was actually on the north side of the village of Hanga Roa and past the picturesque cemetery. There are three ahu, or platforms: Ahu Vai Uri, Ahu Tahai and Ahu Ko Te Riku. The last one is what most visitors want to see because this moai has eyes as well as a red topknot.
The entire site was restored between 1968 and 1970. The eyes of the one moai are not original. White coral was discovered in 1978 at Anakena and it was decided to replicate a set of eyes in one of the moai. This certainly changes the appearance of the statue!
We returned to our point of origin and said our good-byes to Tuhi before heading back to Te'ora. What is normally scheduled to be a half-day of sight-seeing had turned into a full one. We were fortunate indeed.
