|
I like to undertake a couple of big trips each year, usually international, and for the past six months or so people had been asking me, "Bill, what's your next trip?" "Easter Island," I'd reply, and almost always the response would be either "Where?" or "Why?" Now I like to be nice, but I figure if you have to explain something like this there's not much need to get too involved in an apologia. If you have a curious mind and you're up for an adventure, you surely understand. If not, well, can I interest you in a week in Gatlinburg?
Now it turns out that Easter Island, or Rapa
Nui as the cognoscenti call it, is marvelously fascinating place.
Apart from being located about as far from any other landmass as you
can get on this planet, it has a history straight out of mythology,
complete with mystery, horror, and even some magic thrown in. It's a
hardscrabble little rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, almost
devoid of natural resources, arable land, or native plants and
animals. In fact, it has so little to recommend it that in the glory days
of exploration no western power wanted it. It was left to
Chile to look around and realize all the big powers were gobbling up
land and they hadn't claimed anything, so, "Oh look! Easter Island!
We'll take that."
Wikipedia says: "Many archaeologists suggest that the statues were symbols of authority and power, both religious and political. However, they were not only symbols. To the people who erected and used them, they were actual repositories of sacred spirit. Carved stone and wooden objects in ancient Polynesian religions, when properly fashioned and ritually prepared, were believed to be charged by a magical spiritual essence called mana. Archaeologists believe that the statues were a representation of the ancient Polynesians' ancestors. The moai statues face away from the ocean and towards the villages as if to watch over the people." But how did the moai get from the quarry where they were carved all the way down to the seashore? And why did the Rapanui stop carving them? And why the empty eye sockets? If this website doesn't give you enough to satisfy your curiosity, I highly recommend a book I read before the trip: The Statues that Walked. This impeccably researched book indisputably has all the answers. Maybe. Possibly. According to the authors, anyway. And if you want a briefer summary of stories from Rapa Nui, including testimony from islanders who were born before 1850 -- before the ancient Rapa Nui culture was destroyed -- have a look at this fascinating website from st0ries.
Of all the tours I've taken over the years I've found the ones I've enjoyed most are conducted by a company called Road Scholar. This tour is their Easter Island: The Majesty and Mystery of Rapa Nui excursion and as far as I'm concerned it's a jewel of planning and execution. The tour guides were outstanding -- knowledgeable, competent and engaging -- and the itinerary, including accommodations and meals, was impeccable. I think I can speak for all the other Road Scholars on this trip when I say we had a marvelous time and learned a lot. I mean, just look at us below. We may be underdressed while standing in a cold, wet wind atop an extinct volcano, but are we happy adventurers or what?
Now click on the links above and join us as we explore Easter Island. |
So where is this place exactly? See that little red pin out there in
the middle of the Pacific Ocean? That's Easter Island. You can't get
there easily by ship as it's surrounded by rugged volcanic rocks which
means there is no harbor. That's a fact the captains of many a shipwrecked
sailing vessel have come to realize too late over the centuries. The
only practical way to get there these days is by airplane and there's only one
five-hour flight a day from Santiago, Chile. Easter Island is nicely
isolated from the rest of the world, a fact the native inhabitants,
the Rapanui, aren't too concerned about. Of course they are happy to
sell trinkets to the tourists, but don't even think about building
high-rise resorts on their breathtaking shoreline. Go away and leave
us alone; we don't need your money.
And what is Easter Island best known for? Basically one main thing:
enigmatic statues like this one. They're called "moai" and they can
be found almost all over the island. Weird-looking, right? So what
are they supposed to represent? Actually it turns out nobody knows
for sure. There's plenty of speculation surrounding them, though.
