ODO: 338,547
The water has stopped. Water, specifically hot water on demand, is the one thing this campground has going for it. There have been unusually heavy rains lately, that have washed too much sediment into the reservoir. Heavy equipment has already been dispatched, we are not the only ones going without right now. The water could return today, or a couple days from now, no one is sure. So we wait. And while we wait, we book an adorable hotel on Easter Island. They will not let you on the plane to the Island without an official hotel reservation. Not that we would ever do such a thing…Late afternoon the water returns, and many many dishes are washed.
Berne saw a fancy camera strap on the internet and had to have it. It has a padded shoulder, and adjustable strap, and little stopper, to keep the camera from sliding around. Unfortunately for him, it costs $100. Luckily for him, we manage to have all the parts to make an almost identical strap ourselves for free! It takes KoKo longer to set up the sewing machine than it does to put all of these parts together. She only has to sew webbing to an existing strap that came off one our duffle bags. Today is also packing day! We are heading back into Santiago to get ready to fly out tomorrow. It’s recommended to bring your own snacks to Rapa Nui, so we stock up on our way to the campground/truck storage. We also have a dinner date. A friend of a friend, Danny, an older motocross racer, who likes to host overlanders, and throw mid week parties. Of course we go. Dinner is a big meat grill that doesn’t start until late, and ends even later. We crawl into bed around 2:00am very full.
Travel day! Five hours of sleep is not enough, but choices were made. We successfully Uber all the way to airport departures, first win of the day! The Santiago airport is empty, and security is non-existent. They let us keep our full size sunscreen and bug spray, win number two! Our plane, a gigantic Boeing 787 (think three columns of seats) is also mostly empty and we get the entire row to ourselves, win number three! The seats on this plane recline an insane amount, and the windows have automatic dimming. The flight is quick and uneventful, just how you want a five and a half hour flight to be.
The weather at the Hanga Roa airport is much nicer than Santiago, clear and warm. Hotel Hota Matua staff finds us at arrivals with leis, and take us back to the hotel to drop off our bags. Bags dropped, we walk into town to see the ocean. We also happen upon our first Moai! Not knowing anything about this place yet, we are very excited. There are no sandy beaches, just nice dogs, and small town vibes. There are around 10,000 people who live here, and they all know each other. Berne finds us some of the best pizza we’ve had in a long time before we walk back for an early bedtime. We book a multi-day tour that starts bright and early tomorrow!
Breakfast has delicious raspberry juice. Who knew? We wait anxiously for our guide, not knowing what to expect. An empty white van arrives piloted by a friendly local, Joaquin, our guide for the day.
Stop 1: Anakena, the beach
The weather is hot, and this spot looks like a tiny tropical paradise. There is a white sand beach, palm trees, and in the middle, a platform with most of seven Moai. Most still have their top knot (hair). We learn that Moai were built as tools of societal control. They (mostly) face the village, always watching, always watching….we take all the pictures, and at our guides recommendation try the loaded hot dog: guac, mayo, sour kraut, ketchup, mustard and pico de giao…it’s a lot.
Stop 2: Ahí Te Pito Kura, the chicken coop
It’s still hot, and much more exposed. We are introduced to many large stone chicken coops, this is how people kept their chickens from getting stolen at night. There is also a small magnetic rock (meteorite!!). The magnetic rock is now cordoned off because tourists had lots of…interesting ideas about it’s powers, and would do questionable things on it.
Stop 3: Ahu Tongariki, the fifteen
Fifteen Moai, standing proudly on a platform in front of the ocean. This is KoKo’s favorite spot immediately. There is a fallen Moai in the field on its back, accidentally dropped on it’s way to the platform. There is also a solo Moai near the entrance that was sent to Japan for restoration in the 90’s.
Stop 4: Rano Raraku, the Quarry
This is where they carved the Moai, straight out of the volcano. They are carved on their back, and slid into a hole in the ground so work on the back can start. There are Moai in various states of finish everywhere. This is the closest we’ve gotten so far and they are enormous.
Stop 5: Akahunja, the Village
A collection of house foundations and outdoor kitchens, overseen by several fallen Moai are located here. After everything we’ve seen today, this spot does not capture our imaginations.
Stop 6: Lone Moai
Not all Moai are tools of “The Man”. This one marks the spring equinox, symbolized by its four hands
After all this adventure, we head downtown for a little bit of food tour, where we immediately run into one of our tour mates. After a drink and some dessert to go, we head to the hotel for a very early bedtime.
Day two starts with more raspberry juice, and some cloudy skies. Perfect weather for visiting caves. Our guide for today is Juaquin again! They don’t normally do this, but he specifically asked for our group today. We also get two additional couples added to our van.
Stop 1: Puna Pau: The Top knot quarry
This is not part of our official tour, but an extra stop our guide wants to show us. He leads us up a big hill to see the view, past several discarded top knots. It’s not a hat, it’s hair!
We get a flat tire leaving (or maybe we got it when we slammed into a giant pot hole on the way in), and it’s a good thing Berne is here because they don’t have all the tools to change the tire. Since this is Berne’s strongest mode, he hops in and gets our tour back on track in less than an hour. The rest of us spent the time chatting and playing with the local dogs.
Stop 2: Ahu Akivi, the solstice
There are seven Moai in a platform facing towards two other Moai sites, forming a triangle that has something to do with the solstice that we have forgotten.
Stop 3: Ana Te Pahu, the caves
We take a small “off road” walking adventure to do some spelunking. The caves on the island are where fresh water is found, and allow for some interesting micro climates where things like avocados can grow. We explore several lava tubes that we escape by climbing through a hole, and see some petroglyphs of a dolphin.
Stop 4: Yummy empanada stop, and the dog with big ears
Stop 5: Orango, the birdman cult village
High on the side of Rano Kau volcano crater are remnants of the birdman cult village. Well preserved stone bedrooms cover the hillside. They chose their leader through a contest. A champion was chosen from each tribe to climb down the cliff, swim to the nearby island, steal a seabird’s egg, swim back and climb back up the 300ft cliff. The wining tribe would rule for a year.
Stop 6: Ahu Vinapu, Peru and the female Moai
Our final stop, there are several faces in the ground. There is also a suspicious platform that has stone work that matches the stone work from ancient Peruvian cultures. This is also the location of one of the few female only Moai. She’s badly worn, and if not for our tour guide we would have never known. As we return to the van, it starts to rain.
Delivered back to the hotel, we walk into town and rent a Jimny for the remainder of our trip. And grab some sushi. Once again we are fully spent, but instead of heading to the hotel, we head over for sunset at the sunset Moai, Ahu Tahai. The clouds thwart us, so early to bed it is!
5:00am departure so we can see the sunrise in Ahu Tongariki, the fifteen. We have no expectations, just excitement we get to enjoy these Moai again. It’s pitch black when we arrive, thankfully we brought a headlamp so we can navigate the uneven ground. Soon, the sky starts to lighten, and our minds are blown. Reds, pinks, blues and purples of all shades paint the sky. We discover our new camera takes a mean sunrise photo. All at once, it feels like everyone has gone back to the van. This is also when the sun finally crests the large hill and shines down on the fifteen Moai. It’s a moment that feels special, and sacred. This place is hard to leave. KoKo stays until the tour guide tells her we need to go….twice. Witnessing this private magic is easily one of the top experiences of our trip.
It’s only 8:30am, and we’ve had a big day so far. We load up Jimny and head to a very windy breakfast. There is a trail of fallen Moai leading from the Quarry to the coast, and we join our tour mate, George, for some exploring. The trail runs about two miles though some flat fields, past several Moai that had been dropped en route to their platforms. Some are older than others, but all are just…here. You can get much too close to them. Cows and horses also get much too close to them. After the hike, we drive the coast, stopping to visit all the toppled Moai along the way. We stop a lot. We also visit Ahu Tongariki, the fifteen again. KoKo can’t get enough of this place. When the rain starts, we take that as our cue to head back for lunch and some souvenir shopping. This is our earliest arrival back to the hotel! After a little relax, we visit the only bar we can find for a couple of drinks as the weather rolls in. As we head to bed, the rain is pounding the island, and our lights are flickering.
It came too fast. Our last day on this island. We load our bags into Jimny and head out for one last adventure day. In downtown we look for turtles in the bay. Yesterday’s storm is still with us, so the water is too choppy to see anything. Back up to the beach at Anakena, we put our feet in the water. It’s too chilly for a swim. Next, we head back to Ahu Tongariki, the fifteen, to get one last look and say our goodbyes. The coast road takes us back into town in time to return Jimny and pick up some to-go meals for the plane. Another easy, and uneventful flight deposits us back into a very chilly Santiago. We pick a taxi from the taxi gauntlet, and are back to our tiny house in no time.
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