Boarding a Dreamliner to fly to a minuscule freckle in the vast Pacific Ocean is odd. But one fact about Easter Island (a place shrouded in so much mystery) is that it has the longest runway in the world; built by the Americans in case of an emergency landing of the space shuttle.
Known by its inhabitants as Rapa Nui, the island is a five hour flight from Santiago (Chile) and 1,234 miles from the nearest landmass. It’s as far away as is possible to get from anywhere else on earth.
As my plane circled the island to land, I got a real sense of how small it was and also of its remoteness, with nothing visible on the horizon but sea.
Honestly, how anyone ever found it thousands of years ago is beyond me. But find it they did.
It is believed that the first settlers were Polynesian sailors. But, during many years of being cut-off from the outside world, the islanders developed their own unique culture. Part of which, of course, was the Moai, the stone statues which are scattered across the island and are a legacy of the ancient civilisation that once existed on the island.
Easter Island is not a place to discover on your own. To really understand the mystery that surrounds the island and its unique culture, a local guide is a must. I was lucky to be staying at the explora Hotel, where the guides are nearly all Rapa Nui born and are so passionate about their ancestral history.
There are around 900 Moai in total and, as my guide explained, it is believed, but no-one knows for sure, that they represented the spirits of important ancestors (Kings and Chieftains) of the 15 clans that once inhabited the island.
Driving around it’s hard not to be a little giddy at where and when one of the Moai may appear.
Many are solitary figures.
Others, like the fifteen at Tongariki, stand shoulder to shoulder on ahu’s.
The Moai face inland watching over the villagers who believed the eyes of the Moai would give them special powers and energy. There is just one Moai on the island that actually has eyes.
Not far from Tongariki is Rano Raraku, an impressive quarry in a volcanic crater where over half of the statues on the island can be found. It is believed that master carvers worked there producing Moai so that the villagers could pick one that best represented their ancestors. It has an eerie feeling. It’s a sort of Moai cemetery where carving just seemed to stop almost instantaneously, as though the carvers were wiped out in one go. The place is strewn with statues. Some are upright, some lean drunkenly at weird angles, some have toppled over and broken whilst others are still connected to the rock.
One of the biggest mysteries is how the villagers were able to move the huge statues (some 80 ton and are 30 foot tall) from the quarry to the places where they would eventually stand, the furthest being 19km from the carving site. Many Rapa Nui believe they were rolled on logs. However, our guide had his own theory. The statues walked by themselves. Yes, I too was a little sceptical, until our guide showed us, be a side to side waddle, how villagers may have utilised ropes and the flat bottoms of the Moai to move them. After his fine demonstration I could see how the Rapa Nui would think the statues walked to their final resting place.
But Easter Island is not all about the Moai. The landscape is stunning and actually reminded me in places of the UK, but with a much more tropical climate!
There are lava formations and volcanoes and although I preferred to cover the island on two feet, it’s also great to cycle round. I hiked up to the rim of the Ranu Kau crater and was able to peer in to the volcano which was stunning.
Though much of the coastline is rocky, at Anakena there is a gorgeous white sand beach with turquoise waters. Not only is it fringed with palm trees, but it’s also guarded by resident Moai so you never forget where you are
After a day out and about, myself and my fellow guests at explora pondered the reasons for the Moai and what happened to the master carvers, whilst arranging what truly memorable thing we were going to see the next day and whether it would beat what we’d already discovered. One thing was certain, we were all glad we came.
On my final morning I got up early to watch the sunrise over the Tongariki fifteen. Everyone there was sat quietly, as though waiting for some spiritual happening. As the sun rose, the sky turned candy colours and the faces of the stone statues came to life. It was certainly the prefect ending to my once in a life time experience.
For any of you thinking of venturing all the way to Chile, I whole heartedly say that you must go that little bit further to Easter Island. It’s a place you will never ever visit otherwise and it is so worth the effort. You can easily combine it with the Atacama (a unique desert full of contrasts from salt flats to kaleidoscopic lunar landscapes and bubbling geysers), Patagonia (where you can hike the peaks of the spectacular Paine Massif in the Torres del Paine National Park) or sample the vintages on offer in Chile's central winelands.
If you are interested in a once in a life time trip to Easter Island or elsewhere in Chile, then please do contact me and let me help you navigate your way through this wonderfully diverse but very large country.
{Images - my own}