When we were planning our round-the-world ticket, we had a lot of fun playing with OneWorld’s interactive RTW trip-planning map. With it, you can map out a route and as you select each destination, it shows you where you can fly next, either directly or with one stop. When we saw we could fly to Easter Island direct from Santiago and then onto Lima, there was no doubt this strange island would be one of our stops.
In case you’re not certain where Easter Island is (we weren’t before this trip), here is a map to help you out.
It’s not near Scotland, or anywhere else for that matter. (Thanks to somecontrast.com from whom I lifted this excellent image.) It’s the most remote inhabited place in the world. Easter Island is part of Chile, but a world away and more Polynesian than anything.
We spent 3 days (April 3-6) on this naturally beautiful island, whose primary attraction is, of course, the enigmatic moai stone statues that dot the coast of the island. There doesn’t seem to be one definitive history on the statues (especially on how they came to be), but between the 17th & 19th centuries, many were toppled or destroyed from tribal fighting, and several others have fallen victim to tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters over the years. There are several standing today, but that is mainly due to restoration efforts over the past century.
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| Ahu (platform) Tahai with Ahu Vai Uri in the background |
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| Ahu Tongariki at the east end of the south coast |
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| The uniquely inland, seaward-facing moai of Ahu Akivi |
If it was oddly thrilling to see these guys guarding the island from the sea (or so it seemed), then it was even more strangely sad to see those who had been left in their toppled state. Several sites have been left untouched, with statues face-down in the dirt and their “hats” scattered about nearby.
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| Large 'hat' of one of the moai at Ahu Vaihu |
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| A sad scene at Ahu Vaihu |
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| Jason inspects a fallen moai near the Rano Raraku quarry |
In our typical style, we did our sight-seeing under our own power, either on rented bicycles or on our increasingly weary feet. We covered two of the three coasts of the triangular island, completely wearing ourselves out each day. Thankfully, we had the perfect location to return to: a little self-catering hostel where we sat on the west-facing patio, sipped our beer and watched the sun set every night. After the sun went down, we would make spaghetti and share a bottle of wine and listen to the vigorous crashing of the waves.
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| Our rented mountain bikes |
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| Resting and enjoying the late afternoon on our patio |
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| View from the patio |
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| One of three spectacular sunsets |
It was enthralling, bizarre, and unexpectedly picturesque. We kept saying to each other ‘Take it in, this is one place we won’t be back to.’ But I’m not too sure about that.
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