Even though our
flight arrived 2 hours late, staff thoughtfully set up a light lunch for us on
a table in the bar area. (The meal of a large sandwich with a green side salad
was just what we needed.) They staff showed us to our room, where we outfitted
ourselves with appropriate footwear and clothing for an afternoon excursion.
(We did not think that we would be able to eat lunch or have time for an outing
because of our flight delay, so we greatly appreciate the staff working
overtime for us.)
The afternoon
excursion that the staff chose for us was called “Te Miro O One” (“Down to the
Coast”). This easy partial-day, 2.5-hour outing covers 2.4 miles, but only half
of that distance is travelled on foot. You can also take the van if you prefer
not to make the gentle hike on marked trails/dirt road as you descend a slight
slope of about 330 feet. With our guide Pepe (and guide-in-training Teata [the
spelling of his name may be incorrect]), we walked through fields and farms,
observed the foliage, and saw a huge herd of cows grazing (even though we have
cows in PA where we are from, we don’t often get to see them up close). After
our walk, we were rewarded with coastal views and the archaeological site “Ahu
Akahanga”, which had a platform with a few moai that never reached their final
destination. The crumbling statues at this site created excitement for what we
would see on the days to come; however, if Ahu Akahanga is not one of the first
sites that you visit, it is not a “must-see” in our opinion. At Akahanga, you
can also step inside a small cave and see ruins of a sort of house foundation.
Note that there are no restroom facilities at Akahanga, although a person is
stationed at the admission gate, and a few other people watch over tables that
offer souvenirs for sale. When we reached the van that would drive us back to
the lodge, we found that our driver Victor had set up a lovely “sundowner” with
drinks and snacks for us, which was a great ending to our first excursion.
Back at the
lodge, in the late afternoon, guests gather in the “guide” area (which might
function as a coffee bar when the hotel is at capacity, which it was not when
we visited) in order to learn about the following day’s schedule. Note that we
did not truly have choices in the excursions that we took, or at which time or
on which day we took them. A schedule seemed to have been pre-arranged for us,
although we think that we could probably have made changes if we desired. We
were extremely fortunate to have visited Rapa Nui just after the busy season, for we were the only couple on five out of
six (private) excursions because the lodge was only partially full. Our guides
varied based on the day and the excursion, but we enjoyed them all, including
Lilly, Pepe, Jorge, Teata, and Esteban. (Esteban is a particularly conscientious
and hard-working employee.)
The lodge was
supposed to host a speaker this evening, so we milled about the lobby/bar
waiting for the presentation, but he had to postpone until the following night.
Instead, we enjoyed a great dinner with delicious food and excellent service.
(Special thanks to servers Marianna and Claudio, who provided excellent
hospitality throughout our stay.)
After breakfast
in the Explora restaurant (you can help yourself from a cold buffet, in addition
to ordering hot items from the servers), we met Lilly, our guide for the day,
who walked us out to the van driven by Pedro Pablo. We took an excursion called
“Ahu Te Peu-Hanga Roa” (or “Caves and Cliffs”). The partial-day excursion
lasted about 3.5 hours and covered nearly 4 miles, with less than half of that
on foot and the rest by van. First, we drove to “Ahu Akivi”, the only
archaeological site on the island where the moai face the sea. (Ahu Akivi is
one of the few sites that offers guest amenities such as restrooms and a café,
in addition to an amazing platform.) Then we drove a really short distance (we
could have easily walked) to begin our walk, which is categorized as
“moderate”, but is a bit more difficult in our opinion. We walked through fields
and tall grasses most of the way, often tripping over small stones that we
could not see. Our guide walked quickly and with purpose, and we realized at
the end of our journey that we had not stopped to enjoy the view often enough;
we could not look around while we walked because our eyes were on our feet in
order to avoid the rocks and prevent a twisted ankle. Halfway through, we
stopped to investigate the “Ana Kakenga” cave, a large tubular cavern with lava
tubes (which were not as impressive as we had envisioned), and we ended on a
gorgeous high rocky cliff side, but again, the path seemed dicey so we did not
fully appreciate the beauty of our surroundings as much as we would have liked.
We had a small climb at the end of our hike at “Ahu Te Peu” to reach the van,
which then transported us a short way to the platform “Ahu Tahai” near Hanga
Roa town. Here, where we viewed the only moai with coral eyes, in addition to
some other standing moai. You might also be able to visit the excellent Padre Sebastian
Englert Anthropological Museum afterwards. (We could not visit because the museum is closed on Mondays,
but we returned a few days later; although it is a small museum, it displays
excellent information about the creation, transportation, and raising of the
moai, as well as historical artifacts.)
Upon arrival back
at the hotel, we stopped at the bar to have a drink. On our walk, our guide
Lilly picked a guava for each of us to sample, but we saved one in our
backpack. Our friendly and talented bartender Andy used the guava to make us a
tasty guava sour –an unexpected treat! The ever-pleasant Andy always seemed to
be present behind the bar, happy to craft a special cocktail for us every day.
After lunch in
the lodge dining room, we embarked on our afternoon excursion called “Ara O Te
Moai: (“Moai Quarry”) with guides Jorge and Teata and driver Pedro Pablo. Our
trip to the quarry lasted about 2.5 hours and covered 2.7 miles (mostly by
van). As we drove towards the quarry, we could see a few fallen moai that were
left in-situ where they dropped. As we approach the site entrance by van, we
could see restrooms, a souvenir shop, and two cafes. Then, we passed through
the Ranu Raraku National Park “gate” and walked on a gently sloping,
well-marked dirt path (called “Ara O Te Moai”, the trail used by the Rapa Nui
people to transport the statues) and up a small incline, passing moai along the
way, most of which are only half exposed, with their bottom halves sunken into
the grass. You can climb farther up the quarry mountain (using narrow stone
stairs) to view the largest statue ever carved (called “El Gigante” or “The
Giant”, a monster measuring 72 feet tall), still lying in place with its face and body looking upward towards the
sky. You can also climb to the top of the quarry to look down at the “caldera”
(“volcanic crater”) inside. When we heard the word “quarry”, we envisioned a
rocky limestone quarry like have at home in PA, thinking that what we would be
viewing would be on the inside of the crater, but this “quarry” just refers to
the workplace where the statues were carved, on a lush green hillside. At this
site, you can see the only moai in a kneeling position (“Moai Tukuturi”), thought to be one of the first statues
carved. From this vantage point, you have an amazing view of the 15 moai of
“Ahu Tongariki” off in the distance. The quarry contains over 400 moai in
various stages, both on the outer rim and clustered inside the crater. More than 150 moai
are unfinished, with some merely faces carved in rock. Our excursion to the
quarry was one of our favorite outings; not-to-be-missed in our opinion!
In the evening
before dinner, we listened to a local man speak about Polynesia. (This was the
presentation that was postponed from the night before.) Christian is a history
teacher at the local school, and he lectures guests in his spare time. The
depth of his knowledge is impressive! A few takeaways that we recall: Easter
Island’s 1200-year old history can be divided into three equal segments, with
each lasting 400 years: from 900 to 1300, Polynesian culture flourished
(remains from the earliest human civilization date back to 900). From 1300 to
1700, the islands experienced a long period of isolation, and finally, from
1700 to present day, Westernization occurred (Dutch explorers arrived in 1722).
We wish that we had taken some notes from his lecture, but we remember only
bits and pieces; for example, US archaeologist JP Mallory worked in the
triangle between Easter Island, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Afterward the talk, we
enjoyed a leisurely dinner in the resort dining room before an early bedtime.
After breakfast
in the dining room, we joined our guide Gustalvo (or perhaps his name was
Gonsalvo) and driver Victor for our morning excursion “Ara O Te Tangata Manu”
(“Trail to the Birdman”), which lasted about 3.5 hours and covered 5.4 miles by
both hiking and van. This was one of the rare excursions that involved other
guests; in addition to our guide and ourselves, two other couples joined us.
The van dropped the seven of us off and we began to hike up a sloping dirt
trail to the top of the collapsed volcano “Rano Kau”. This outing is
categorized as a “moderate” excursion, but it may be difficult for some guests;
although you begin the hike on a well-maintained dirt road, as you climb in
elevation, you hike along a “trampled” path and sometimes just through tall
grasses. When we reached the top of the caldera, we could see the Pacific Ocean
over the rocky outcroppings from one crumbling side. The crater measures a mile
across and contains a lake inside that is covered by grass and greenery. We
then hiked along the edge of the crater to a viewpoint on the opposite side
where our van was waiting with refreshments. We drove a short distance to the
ancient ceremonial village of “Orongo”. This archaeological site offers a small
indoor museum, restrooms, and a small coffee bar; then you can explore
outdoors. The property offers excellent water views from high atop the cliffs. The 48 oval
stone houses of this ceremonial village were constructed in the late 1600s and were
used by locals until 1866. The houses were occupied only during the “Birdman” ceremony
honoring the god “Make-Make”. The high point of the annual event was a
competition in which prominent villagers designated servants to paddle small
rafts to “Motu Nui”, the largest of three islets just off the coast. The first
servant to find an egg of the sooty tern (a bird that nested on the islets),
would swim back with the prize tucked in a special headdress. His master would
become the “tangata manu” (“birdman”)
for the next year. The “tangata manu” was honored by being confined to a cave
until the following year's ceremony. Dozens of petroglyphs depicting birdlike
creatures cover nearby boulders along the rim of the volcano. On the return van trip to the hotel, we
stopped at “Ahu Tahira”, a platform constructed similarly to those of the Incas
in Peru because of its perfectly overlapping stones. This birdman outing was
another of our favorite excursions; note that you can still visit Orongo
village by van, even if you do not complete the hike.
This was our last
full day on Easter Island, and staff offered a special surprise at lunchtime.
Instead of dining at the lodge, they set up an incredible al fresco lunch by
the rocky coastline, including a large tent that held the food and some tables
and chairs, and pairs of chairs and umbrellas facing the coastline where
couples could enjoy their meal side-by-side with a view of the water. The chef
was on hand to grill whole local fish over an open fire, and the festive
atmosphere set the tone for a lovely meal.
We grudgingly
left our dazzling lunch spot for our afternoon excursion with Jorge and Pedro
Pablo, but we were rewarded with what we felt was perhaps the single most
striking sights on the island: “Mahatua Ovahe” (the “Fifteen Moai”). Our
afternoon excursion lasted about 3 hours, and we traveled about 3.5 miles,
almost solely by van. We had observed “Ahu Tongariki” (“the fifteen”) from afar
yesterday when we visited the quarry, so it was an excellent complement to see
it up close and to walk around the entire platform to view it from all sides. At
200 feet, this site contains the largest ahu (platform) on the island, with 15
intact moai perched on top. Ahu Tongariki was painstakingly restored after
being destroyed by a tidal wave in 1960. The moai here, some whitened with a
layer of sea salt, have holes in their extended earlobes that might once have
been filled with chunks of obsidian rock. The moai face an expansive ceremonial
area where you can find petroglyphs of turtles and fish, and the entrance is “guarded”
by a single moai that sometimes travels the world on exhibition. If you visit
from December 21 to March 21, you can see a perfect morning sunrise behind the
moai at Ahu Tongariki. Next, we drove along the coast, enjoying sea views,
fishing coves, and some smaller archaeological sites. We stopped at a site
called “Te Pitoote Hanua” ("Navel
of the World"), where a perfectly polished round rock contains high iron
content, causing it to make compasses behave strangely. Last, we drove to
Anakena Beach, where Easter Island's earliest settlers are believed to have
landed. Legend has it that the caves in the cliffs overlooking the beach are
where the island's first ruler, “Hotu Matu'a”, lived while constructing his
home. It is easy to understand why he might have selected this spot: on an
island ringed by rough volcanic rock, Playa Anakena has a wide white sandy
beach five moai standing on nearby “Ahu Nau Nau”. The beach area contains amenities like restrooms, showers,
souvenir stands, and small open-air snack shops. We enjoyed a snack and a drink
at one of the beachside shacks before we returned to the resort for drinks,
dinner, and bed.
