Thursday 25th April
We awoke around 7.30 am and had some coffee and showered and dressed. Maeva was a bit late arriving due to us having missed some messages during the night. She arrived at about 9.30 in a small jeep which we will have use of for the next three days.
We started off on our tour and our first stop was a group of 7 Moais on a platform in a large field. The weather was beautiful, and this was a spectacular opening scene for us. The silent stares of the moais were so impressive. They said that they would keep their secrets and that they stood the test of time as their human creators passed on. One interesting fact is that the ‘best’ Moai is in fact in the British Museum in London as it was stolen from the island and given as a gift to Queen Victoria. Note to self, write to King Charles lll and ask him to have it returned to its rightful place on Rapa Nui. The following link gives information about the TWO Moais stolen from Rapa Nui.
This is the Wikipedia entry for Moais which gives much information on the subject
From here we went to the crater of the volcano in the southwest corner of the island. It was here that the kings were chosen in the old tribal days before colonization. An annual competition was held where the contenders had to scramble down a cliff, swim to an island, collect a bird's egg which they would put inside their hat and swim back to the island with the egg intact. The first one to achieve this became the king. He also got to marry a young lady who had been secreted in a dark cave at the other end of the island so that’s her skin becomes white!! Neither the new king or the young lady seemed to have any choice about their partner!! This ceremony seems to be recalled in a commemoration held yearly in February.
The Birdman Cult -Tangata Manu
The crater is very deep and filled with water. It is possible to descend into it but we decided it was too arduous. The area has many large boulders some of which have hieroglyphics on them, there are also some sort of cave shelters. Much of all this is shrouded in mystery as there are no written records. I will be researching more about the island and its history, what little is really known about it, in due course. The early settlers and their civilization are not well known as there are no written records and many if the original inhabitants were wiped out when the island was colonized by first the Peruvians and then the Spanish.
From here we drove back via a circuitous route to the town where we had lunch of ‘green ceviche’ which is ceviche with apples and fruit, that was delicious.
A nap in the afternoon was followed by our taking our jeep on a drive around the island. We did not navigate very well but did find the large array of 15 Moais at Tangoriki. As it was getting dark and the roads are not that great with animals wandering across the road, we set off hastily back to Hanga Roa and found a good road which took us quickly back to the restaurant Te Moana where we were to meet Mike and Krista. They were there but the restaurant was full as there vwas a show that evening, so we walked to a restaurant called Pea down by the small cove. Here, despite them being very short staffed we managed to eat empanadas in double quick time before driving to a local dance show at a venue in Hanga Roa. The show was very loud, colorful and energetic and enjoyable. This link is to an 8+ minute video I took which might be more than some need!!
Back to Tip Tipi Hoe for sleep after a long day.
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