SV Beach House

03 – 2010 – Easter Island

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: After Chilean earthquakes, tsunamis and delayed airplane flights (which was certainly understandable), we finally arrived at our hotel “Iorana” (Welcome in Polynesia) at Easter Island on March 8th. Easter Island

: This is from left. Bill Strassberg, Gram Schweikert, Johanna Strassberg and Cindy. We first met the crew of sailboat “Visions of Johanna” online at the Pacific Puddle Jump forum for sailors crossing the Pacific. We were happy that they arrived at Easter Island on their boat one day before we arrived from Tahiti by plane. Easter Island

: This is the main town of Hanga Roa (Hanga means “harbor” in Rapa Polynesian). You can see sailboat “Visions of Johanna” on the lower left near a Mega Yacht. About 5000 people live on the island of “Rapa Nui” (Big Rock) aka: Easter Island. Easter Island

: We went on a small group tour of the island (full day) and had a very fluent and knowledgeable guide. Along the way, we met Richard and Louise from Chicago who are quite the world travelers. Easter Island

: We hit it off very well with Richard and Louise who invited us to come over to their hotel for dinner. The Altiplanico is currently the highest end hotel on the island and is quite lovely. The food was incredible as well as the company. Easter Island

: On the tour, we first saw the fallen Moai. Moai are the name of the huge stone statues of Rapa Nui (before they receive their white coral eyes!). After that ceremony in ancient times, they were known by another name which escapes me. Moai (Mo – eye) is the pronounciation and will have to suffice. All the Moai of the island were knocked down during the 1600-1850 period by local tribal wars. Some say the Catholic missionaries may have knocked some down upon their arrival, but this is controversial as is much of what is truly known about “Rapa Nui”. Easter Island

: There are hundreds of natural and man made caves on the island where many people apparently lived and some hid from European slave traders. The island was first discovered by Western man in 1522 on Easter Sunday by the Dutch explorer, Roogaveen. His men ended up killing some locals over some misunderstanding and in future European visits, it is believed many of the people hid in caves to avoid being discovered. This is why Capt. Cook upon his visit in the 1700’s thought that from Roogaveen’s description, the island’s population was decimated. It may have been from ongoing tribal wars as well. Easter Island

: Moai usually face inland. They were created to embody their ancestors and were placed to stand over the villages to protect them. This one fell in transport and apparently, once fallen, they lose their “mana” (spiritual power) and were not re-erected. They believe this one fell in transport because it faced the sea. Easter Island

: This is one of the two most impressive areas of Easter Island. The island has three volcanic cones (this is the second highest). It is close to the sea and was rich in the rock that created the Moai. You can see Moai standing at the base of the volcano. There are approximately 950 KNOWN Moai on Easter Island. The island is approximately 17 miles long and 8 miles wide. It is considered one of the most isolated populated islands ANYWHERE on Earth. Easter Island

: You can see more Moai and what looks like a rock shed on the mid right of this photo. It is an area where one of the largest Moai (never completed) still rests in the rock Easter Island

: There are many trails which visitors must stay on to prevent damage to the Moai. The wild horses running through the area seemed potentially more damaging to us. Welcome to this UNESCO World Heritage site and some of their arbitrary rules. Easter Island

: This is the Moai located in what looked like a stone house in the previous photos. It would have been one of the largest ever made, but alas, in relief it rests here for all time. Easter Island

: Another grand Moai, never completed a 100 yards or so from the previous photo. Easter Island

: It wasn’t clear why at first Moai were facing the sea while placed here at the outside of the quarry, but none of the others at the shore faced the sea. Easter Island

: Here you can see the horses running wild inside the volcano crater. Apparently, the locals who protect the sites don’t see how the damage they do far exceeds that of non malicious humans. All the horses are actually branded and privately owned, but they have complete run of the island. Sort of like “sacred cows”. Why? We couldn’t find out. Easter Island

: None of the Moai on the island still have their coral eyes except one in Hanga Roa (restored and near the end of these photos). This is a fairly steep hike in places and eventually, we got to enter the caldera to see the inside quarry. Easter Island

: It is believed, the statues were carved with a “keel” like a sailboat. Eventually when it came time to move them, they cut through the keel from the sides and placed lumber underneath and with guiding ropes slid them down the mountains. No evidence of trails have been found, but they may be buried. The island was once a lush palm forest and it is believed it was denuded by the locals needing for fire wood and logs to move the Moai. The decreased food source led to lack of food which possibly created conflict among the tribes. Our guide Christian is using a water bottle to demonstrate the believed method the Moai were moved. Easter Island

: Once the Moai were at their desired location, in some cases 7 miles away from the quarry, it is believed they were levered by palm trees and had ever growing rock piles placed under them until they could be raised. Teams of 15-20 people took on average 1 1/2 to 2 years to use stone tools to create each Moai. How long did it take to move them? Anyone’s guess. Easter Island

: You can see Richard sweetly holding Louise in this photo. It gives some perspective to the size of these half buried Moai. By the way, these are nowhere near the largest. Those you will see soon!… Easter Island

: Here you can really get close and see dozens of these incredible statues. Most of them weigh between 10-80,000 lbs and are as high as 30 feet! The ones you see here are mostly buried by hundreds of years of their standing. You are only seeing for the most part, about 1/2 the actual Moai! Easter Island

: Often very busy, we were here just after the 8.8 earthquake in Chile so tourism was down for obvious reasons. Easter Island is a dependent of Chile and LAN, Chile’s national airline is the only commercial carrier to the island. Easter Island

: Here is the most impressive site of restored Moai. We’re viewing them about a mile and a half away from the quarry. Easter Island is about 1500 miles west of the southern part of South America. Literally in the middle of nowhere! Easter Island

: With Ahu Tongariki in the distant view, this is the only known Moai that has carved legs and is in a sitting position. It is on the south side of the volcano quarry.

: One of my favorite views, you can just feel the past along this trail and only wonder why? Easter Island

: Once richly forested, most of the island is now barren of trees. Very few palms are seen. Some early re-forestation efforts were made with non-native species, such as eucalyptus trees. Easter Island

: How the people of Easter Island got here is a mystery. There were a polynesian speaking people that came from the Marquesas. They may have further inhabited the Gambiers to the west as well due to the extraordinary similarity of language. Thor Heyerdahl theorized that these people likely originated in South America. The controversy continues today. Easter Island

: As Easter Island is downwind from South America, it seems plausible that these people came from there. DNA evidence exists of chickens being exactly the same (pre-Columbian) in both Easter Island and Chile. But then why do they speak Polynesian and the local peoples DNA is that of the cultures to their west? Perhaps there were two migrations as Heyerdahl and others suggest. Easter Island

: The trail was to the right, the crater to the left. Certainly worth the hike. Easter Island

: The crater is water filled and hundreds of people most likely lived here. There are dozens of Moai on the far side from where we are standing.

: The crater is about 1/4 mile wide and with my 10.5 degree fish eye lens, I could get it all in one shot. Easter Island

: Beautiful as they are, they are perhaps the most ecologically threatening species to the Moai. There are dozens of horses amid the dozens of Moai in the crater. Easter Island

: Here you can see the plain below where we had hiked up to and entered the caldera. Looking southwest. Easter Island

: A small lava flow is seen from the caldera’s entrance. There are dozens of Moai several miles beyond it in both directions. Easter Island

: This is perhaps the most famous Moai site. in the 1980’s, a giant crane re-erected these huge Moai. Imagine all of them with their “top knots” and white coral eyes looking down upon this village. Easter Island

: This is a local photo of when the rebuilding of this incredible site took place. The ancient builders didn’t have the crane….:) Easter Island

: You can see the famous 15 Moai in the back ground on the “Ahu” (ceremonial platform built for them). This reminded me of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt that Cindy and I visited in 1996. Easter Island

: I’m showing many views and angles of these incredible and very large Moai. The tallest with it’s “top knot” is at least 30 feet high. All of these statues originally had top knots (head dresses) and white coral eyes. The eyes have not been restored and only one of the statues top knots have been placed. Many of the other are sitting on the ground lined up near by. The stone they are made of is far more porous and delicate. More on this later. Easter Island

: With the bay as the backdrop. The Ahu platform before us. Thinking about how and why these amazing, heavy and large statues were built, moved and placed was well…..amazing. Easter Island

: This Moai in the foreground was originally raised at its current site in the large village here and not part of the Ahu platform 15 in the back ground. All of the Moai were knocked down at some point in time. Many intentionally destroyed by placing large rocks under where the heads would fall to insure their destruction. Casualties of wars and politics….long ago. Easter Island

: The Ahu is in the foreground (no walking allowed). Being among the giants didn’t require being any closer to enjoy. Easter Island

: Note the one statue second from the right with it’s “top knot” (ceremonial head dress). They all originally had them from a different quarry than Rana Raraku. This quarry will be shown later in the photos and is at least 10 miles from this spot. Easter Island

: We saw lots of people becoming part of the scenery with this shot, so since we’d come this far, we couldn’t resist. Easter Island

: Easter Island

: From every angle, the giants took on a different look and feel. I’m sure their ancient builders felt that way as well. Easter Island

: I’m standing in what would have been the heart of the village where these giants “watched over” their children. Competition apparently kept the locals making larger and larger Moai to acquire more mana and impress other clans. Easter Island

: Using my 10.5 mm Fisheye lens, I could get right up to the Ahu and get all 15 giants in the photo. They covered an area of about 300 feet. Easter Island

: In the background is the Rana Raraku quarry where the Moai were created. In the foreground, the top knots not placed. These are a very porous and far more delicate stone. The Moai rebuilders thought these stones might break if replaced, so conceding to caution, just lined them up near the Ahu where the Moai were resurrected. Easter Island

: In 1960, the worlds largest recorded modern earthquake hit Chile at 9.5 on the Richter scale. Fish were found at the base of the Rana Raraku crater the next day where a tsunami estimated at 15-20 feet washed all the way up to the base of the volcano. The recent 8.8 earthquake created a 3 foot tsunami here and did minor damage to some of the coastal archeological sites. Easter Island

: This is Ahu Te Pito Kura, site of the largest known Moai to have been moved from the quarry. It was estimated at 80 tons and 30 feet high. Easter Island

: This is the toppled giant with its head missing. The top knot sits near by. A casualty of the warring clans, its head was intentionally destroyed to damage the “mana” of its descendants. Easter Island

: The navel of the world. The people of Rapa Nui felt that there was no other land anywhere else on earth. That it had all sunk. This was near the site where the first island chief landed and the locals believed it was the center or “navel” of the world. It is highly magnetic and severe magnetic disturbances have been noted by military aircraft in the area due to the great amount of iron and other magnetic material of the islands volcanic past. Easter Island

: The actual stones from ancient times, around 800 AD when the first islanders known as the “long ears” (or perhaps “tall ones”) first arrived. Easter Island

: The original landing site of the first migration. One of only two sandy beaches on the island. Site of Chief Hotu Matu’s arrival. He had six or seven sons and had them divide up the islands land. These became the competing clans over many generations. Easter Island

: Louise and Cindy walk along this beautiful beach. About 2-400 years after Hotu Matua’s landing, a second migration known as the “short ears” (or perhaps “short ones”) landed on Rapa Nui. They were allowed to stay but essentially as slaves. They were the builders of many if not all of the Moai ordered by the long ears. In exchange for their labor, they were given food. Eventually it is believed that the short ears rose up against their oppressors and began the wars which toppled the Moai and decimated the population. Easter Island

: This restored site is unique as the only place we saw Moai on a sandy beach. They face the village to protect the population. Easter Island

: This was the first Moai ever restored (1957) and done by none other than the legendary Thor Heyerdahl himself (at Anakena Beach). Loved the light rays on this shot. Heyerdahl’s theories make a lot of sense to me, but the locals think he was completely wrong about the islands population coming from South America. To me, it made no sense that the craft of the day could go UPWIND 8000 miles from Asia to populate this far flung Southeastern corner of the great Polynesian triangle. Especially when South America is relatively close and DOWNWIND from modern day Chile’s western shore. Heyerdahl supported the idea that there were indeed two major migrations. He believed the genetic similarity of the American Indians and Asian populations which were similar arrived via the Bering Straits and eventually populated the far Eastern Pacific. This (to him) would explain modern DNA evidence. Easter Island

: Backside of Moai. A funny story here was that they have what I called the “Moai Police”. If you got too close, they would blow whistles at you to move away. I was on a clearly marked trail with horse poop in the previous shot but “got the whistle” anyway…..Go figure!… Easter Island

: As the sun was high, I took advantage of my very wide angle lens to get the curved effect with the sun in the back ground. Not a “golden light” moment….hey, it worked. Easter Island

: Easter Island

: Back at the main harbor of Hanga Roa after a full day of touring, we went to check out the town, the internet cafe and the dive shop. Easter Island

: Here in Hanga Roa, the fisherman rule. Despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site, the marine environment is not protected. The Chilean’s have neither the will nor the money to enforce any “no take zones”. As such, with the huge commercial “long liners” and “net boats” the area looks like an un-stocked aquarium. The water was a lovely 77 degrees with great visibility for the 4 dives we did here, just NO FISH. The tourism dollar is all that seems to matter and that is all about the Moai, not the marine environment. The dive shop told us that as little as 15 years ago, huge schools of fish and lots of sharks were in the area. Now they’re ALL GONE. Easter Island

: There are two dive operators here. Orca and Mike (pronounced Mee-kay). Michel and his brother Henri (who dove with Cousteau for 25 years) run the Orca center. We did two dives with them at outlying “motus” that you’ll see in later photos. Easter Island

: Cindy ALWAYS smiles when she gets to go diving. This is George of the Mike Dive Center whom we did two dives with. Easter Island

: Though a very small minority, this sign IN ENGLISH gets the point across how at least a few of the locals feel about being a “Chilean Dependent”. Frankly, Chile gains much more from the relationship as tourism is pretty strong here due to the unique Moai of Rapa Nui. The locals know it and some of them resent it. Easter Island

: This is the flag of Rapa Nui and a supposed depiction of the canoe that Hotu Matua arrived in around 400-800 AD. Easter Island

: After the Moai Wars, another “cult” apparently became popular in the 1700’s or so. This was the “bird man cult”. The deep crater of Orongo Volcano is located right on the edge (south east) of the island with three large “motus” or small islands right below it. The wall face is about 500 feet high and vertical. Easter Island

: With the wide angle lens, you get the whole experience in one shot. You can see the ocean on the far right. It is here where once/year, the tribes sent their best climber/swimmer down the face of Orongo, into the sea to the middle of the three motu’s “Motu iti”. The hardy soul who retrieved the first terns egg and returned was treated as a local god. The tribe he represented was then in charge of all the clans for the year. Many of the competitors likely didn’t survive this game as the climb up and down the cliff alone would kill most. Easter Island

: You can see the danger of climbing down this cliff face. It’s vertical on the side you can’t see. Easter Island

: Motu Nui (large), Motu Iti (small) and Motu Kau Kau (the pinnacle) are seen here. The bird man winner swam to motu iti. We dove it and motu kau kau. Both lovely, clear and beautiful…..However, very few fish. Easter Island

: We enjoyed sharing our second day of touring with Bill, Jo and Gram. Another day, we rented a car to get another look at some of the sites. Easter Island

: Bill and Jo’s granddaughter came for a visit and forgot to take her Dolly home with her. So to make up for it, Jo has Dolly’s picture taken to show her everywhere she gets to go so she won’t miss her so much. Dolly will get to go home soon with lots of adventurers to tell about. Easter Island

: Cindy has a dolly too. Her name is Oceana and was hand-made & given to Cindy by friend Linda van Zeyl. I named her Oceana as that’s where she lives and gets to go. “Oceana” made this journey to Easter Island in Linda’s honor. Easter Island

: The reeds from this marsh were used by the locals for a variety of daily uses including (it is believed) oiling the wood for the Moai to have been moved great distances. Easter Island

: The people of Polynesia basically didn’t carve stone, they carved wood. The ancient Marquesians eventually admitted to the Europeans that they had no idea who made the stone carvings there and just “assumed” it was their ancestors, but had no oral tradition about it. The more modern Marquesians didn’t carve stone either. So when archeologists discovered this group of stones near Orongo, they were quite amazed and stricken at how similar they looked to those done in South America by the Inca’s. Easter Island

: These seams are so tight, you couldn’t put a credit card in them. Yet, this is the only example of this type of stone work found anywhere on Easter Island. It’s a mystery……Maybe Thor was on to something? Easter Island

: This is believed to be the only representation of a female Moai. Cindy and Jo are grabbing some breast if the design as described is correct. Interestingly, this is very close to the Incan style carved stones. Easter Island

: There were lots of cave legends and this was most likely a living and fishing area at the base of the Orongo crater. Easter Island

: Though we heard there were many petroglyph sites, this was the only one we saw. This in the cave on the previous photo. Easter Island

: This is Puna Pau, the “top knot quarry”. All the top knots were mined and made here. Some transported 10 or more miles. A redish and very porous volcanic stone, much lighter than the Moai themselves. Easter Island

: Here are the top knots in various stages of development. This quarry is near the highest part of the island at about 1500 feet. Easter Island

: Easter Island

: This is Ahu Akivi located near the west center of the island. It is the only location where Moai moved long distances (outside the quarry) were intentionally set to face the sea directly overlooking Hanga Roa and facing the sunset at the fall equinox. The islanders had quite an advanced sense of the stars. The seven Moai here were apparently to represent the 7 clans of the island. Easter Island

: If you can enlarge this on your computer, it tells the local legend. Easter Island

: The seven brothers facing the sea and overlooking Hanga Roa a few miles to the west Easter Island

: Easter Island

: The stones of the Ahu frame this fish eye shot nicely Easter Island

: Situated looking west to the setting sun of the fall equinox. Easter Island

: This is the introduction shot to the Banana Cave. I include it just because I really like the fish eye effect. Easter Island

: This is the largest cave on the island and was used as a water cistern, living area, hiding place and food storage area. Easter Island

: Known as the “Banana Cave” for its banana trees, we could walk down inside and get a feel for what a local Rapa Nuian must have felt like 1000 years ago. Easter Island

: With 10.5 mm fish eye, you get the whole feel in one photo. Imagine the locals hiding out from the scary Europeans here 500 years ago. Easter Island

: This Ahu (ceremonial area) was very important as in Hanga Roa. It has two Ahu platforms with Moai (including the only restored Moai with its coral eyes), a sophisticated boat launching ramp and a very large village area. Easter Island

: Here at Ahu Tahai, the Moai in the foreground has its coral eyes restored and is in the center left of the diagram on the previous photo looking left to right toward the sea. Easter Island

: With Hanga Roa in the background (and Visions of Johanna just off screen to the right), this is an impressive edifice near the center of the main town. Easter Island

: With Visions in the anchorage; the large Ahu spread before you. Easter Island

: This Moai, now “alive” with it’s restored white coral eyes, is just north of Hanga Roa. Why more of the Moai don’t have restored eyes seems related to local superstition. This Moai is adjacent to the islands museum which may explain it’s more restored character including top knot. Easter Island

: Here we have Lousie, Richard, Jo, Bill, Cindy and Gram. Yours truly behind the camera. Easter Island

: I’ve always wanted to go and now I’ve been! We had a great time and hope to keep in touch with Richard and Louise by email and see lots more of Jo, Bill and Gram in the cruising season ahead. We took this shot from our dinner with Richard and Louise at Hotel Altiplanico……Keep in touch, the 2010 cruising season for us is about to begin with planned stops in Moorea, Huahine, Raitea, Tahaa, Maupiti, Mopelia, Aitutaki, Palmerston, Beveridge Reef, Niue, Samoa’s, Tonga, maybe Fiji, the Minerva Reefs and ending in New Zealand for the 2010-2011 Cyclone Season. Love and Hugs…hope you enjoyed our Nat Geo tour….Scott and Cindy Easter Island