So we get up and have breakfast, noticing that there seems to be a pattern of on and off rain; no biggie though! Paul first takes us to the site of Tahai, which is the one we can see part of from our porch. Paul actually came to Easter first when he was 16-- honestly, his stories are just as amazing as some of the island stories; he has definitely led a fascinating life. He's from Wyoming around Jackson Hole and was classmates with the daughter of Dr William Mulloy who came to Easter Island to restore the Tahai site. Paul actually wrote to the expedition in NY trying to join and got a rejection letter back (probably because it would be cheaper to hire local labor than to bring someone down from the states). He wrote them back and said he would pay for his own transportation etc and they agreed to let him join. Walking around a site he helped rebuild in the 60s was amazing. He remembered when they found different pieces and had unique stories about some of the restoration.
It was raining while we were at this site, but he was able to talk us through some of the general aspects of the moai and the ahu as well. Basic definition is that the moai are the statues themselves and the ahu are the platform on which they rest. The Rapa Nui people believed in a life force called mana. Basically everyone is born with some strength of mana and it can build by two people with good mana marrying and then their child has the combined mana of the parents. Subsequent children have less mana and if a first child with strong mana marries another first child with strong mana, their first child will have even more and so on. The moai were built to hold the mana after their passing. They would carve the moai with different characteristics and decorate the statue with tatoos. Once the moai was carved, they added the eyes to bring the mana to life and animate the moai so it could walk to its ahu. There aren't any moai with original eyes anymore but they were made of white coral; now there are just the sockets where they slid them into. There seems to be a lot of debate about how the moai got from the mountain to the ahus which are on the coasts, but the current general consensus seems to be that they walked, using ropes and pivoting them from one point to another, navigating them across the island. The ahu itself is.always near water and has a backside area that was used for cremation. Also, the ahu is more square/ rounded on one end and more pointed on the other, resembling the shape of a boat. The moai are made of a grey stone called tuff (there are a few statues that are made of the red rock which is basically what is used in a bbq, but these are different from the moai).
After Tahai, Paul drove us part of the way up Rano Kau which we would be hiking later in the day. You can really see the whole island from up here since 1. It is not a very big island 2. Rano Kau is in the southwestern corner. He was able to point out where some of the major sites are as well as where all but 11 of the moai were carved (980+ total) and the roads they followed to bring them to the different ahu. He gave us a quick talk on what we would see when we hiked later, but I'll save that for the actual hike description;)
We then descended and went a short way to Ahu Vinapu, where we saw another Ahu. We learned a bit about the different stonework as it evolved. There are two forms evident on the island, what they naturally improved via evolution as well as new techniques introduced by contact. This site in particular you could see the disparity, and you could also see where Cook's expedition did some damage. The discussion of preservation came up as well since there used to be a wide stone-paved area here in front of the ahu that was destroyed when people started taking the stones for personal projects on the island (using them for houses etc). Also there were little round pebbles on the back near the cremation site that they aren't sure what they mean but believe they're some sort of token; local kids and tourists were taking them and some still do as not all of the guides make it clear that these may be important. Definitely seems to be a kind of imposed preservation and not one that is all local-based, which you can also see in some sites where archaeologists restored things as properly as possible and then the locals have come in and added or changed things thinking they are as qualified (up for debate of course and there is cultural bias at play either way). Here we were also able to see topknots which are made out of the red stone and have a groove carved in them so they can sit on top of the moai's head. Also Paul explained that the wall that's part of the ahu was built so if they fell over, they would split at the neck releasing the mana.
Paul was able to take us back by Tahai now that it wasn't raining so we were able to see the boat ramp and the moai in better detail. We also walked down to the water's edge and could see where the freshwater that the island absorbs from the rain leaked back out and met the salt water. Apparently you can survive on this blend of water since it brings the salt content low enough, so if you're ever on a deserted island, look for a blurry merging right around the edges!
Paul then dropped us for lunch in town (great empanadas at Tia Bertha), then we hiked out of town and did the trail up Rano Kau which would leave us at the crater and then Orongo, the Birdman village. Right at the beginning of the walk outside of town we found a puppy (an actual young puppy) who followed us for a bit and who we dubbed Pascua in honor of the Isla de Pascua. Unfortunately he got too close and I stepped on his paw by accident, so when we passed someone else, he switched loyalty. Not a difficult hike, but it was uphill and we were excited to get above the grove of trees and then reach the craters edge. The plant life on Easter is really interesting. It's definitely not as tropical as you would expect and seems to be very reactive to changes. There is evidence to support that there were once a lot of palm trees on the island but that there was a slash and burn policy in place for a while. As a result there are not a lot of trees on the island, but they have been strategically replanting; eucalyptus was one push given the root structure and nature of these trees. About four years ago someone introduced what they call horse grass, which is now taking over the island. It basically strangles anything under 15 feet and is killing a lot of the plant life as a result. Unfortunately they can't find anything to curb it-- horses and cows won't eat it, fire kills everything else and it springs back quickly etc. It definitely changed the landscape as a lot of the island is a sandy yellow from it.
We reached the volcano's crater and were greeted by a magnificent view. It's something like 600m deep and rests 300 feet above sea level. There's a part on the ocean side that looks as if a bite has been taken out, giving a really cool quality to the view. The water in the bowl is striking and is covered by this tall grass (about 9 feet we were told) that creates a mini biosphere here. You can walk around the edge and if you head toward the western coast, you reach Orongo home of the birdman contest.
This is one of two sites on the island (the other is Raraku) that you need the park pass for, but we had already taken care of this at the airport when we arrived so we were all set. The very basic summary of the birdman contest is that there are a few small islands, referred to as motu just like in tahiti, that are home to a migratory bird (manutara) during a certain time of the year (around the winter solstice). The different families would have a representative young man who, when the birds came in, would climb down, swim to the motu, take one of the bird eggs and come back. This is no easy feat as the motu are not particularly close and the cliff walls are very high. The family of whoever won would be in charge for the next year and the young man would receive a virgin bride. Random side note about the virgins, there was actually a cave that the girls lived in, several of them there at a time. The reason for needing many of them was not so the young man can choose but actually that they had strict rules about degree of relations and that they couldn't marry anyone within five times removed and since they didn't know who would win the contest... Within the Orongo site, you get an awesome view of the motu as well as passing by restored and not restored stone houses. There are terraces overlooking the ocean that were used for social activities as well. Unfortunately there was once a moai here called Moai Hoa Haka Nana la that had awesome petroglyphs on its back but it was taken by the british in 1868 and now lives in the British Museum. There are also petroglyphs out on a point that may or may not have been roped off when we were there, but we somehow got pictures of them anyway;)
We hiked back down the mountain and then stopped at a cave that Paul had pointed out right near the start of the trail. Absolutely amazing and huge! We unfortunately had accumulated a pack of puppies at this point who followed us along the coast to the place we wanted to go to try to catch the sunset, Teke Vave (need to check the name). The sky was looking good until right when the sun should have dipped when a large bank of clouds rolled in which was too bad, but it was relaxing to sit and have a drink outside in a beautiful place nevertheless. Had dinner there as well (grilled local whitefish that I don't know how to spell), then broke out the flashlight for our walk through town and then home. No safety concerns but definitely a little bizarre to have such darkness in certain parts!
Additional fun facts and stories courtesy of Paul:
There was a captain in Chile who was supposed to leave the continental port on Monday, but got drunk and set sail with only oil and alcohol, before they loaded the food. He was out a few days before he realized, so the island didn't have any food replenishment for about a month.
A big miltary plane once melted into the runway because of its heavy weight and the higher temperatures that time of year. The US actually fortified the runway because of the space program; if there was an issue with a shuttle out of canaveral, they needed an emergency plan and this is obviously the only place in this area.
Paul actually met his future wife while on easter at 16. She was the daughter of the cook their expedition hired, and when he came back later, he went looking for her mother. She was there instead and she remembered his blue eyes, since they were the first she had ever seen. The only picture she had of herself from when she was younger was actually of her and the expedition and crew! Random fun fact that she was also miss chile in the late 70s.
Fairly recently, some of the stones on the waters edge started showing white spots. It turns out that the el nino effect has changed the pattern of the humboldt current which is off the coast of the island and now white warm coral is showing up on the stones. Long term this means that in a few hundred years it will be beach all around like french polynesia.
None of the rongo rongo tablets are on island anymore and they have not been deciphered. They need more of them to be able to do so as there is no key. The writing actually goes across from left to right then flips and is upside down on the next line, right side up the one after, etc.
Grocery store gets replenished twice a week
No dock for cargo boats, have to send smaller one out to the large one which anchors offshore
No comments:
Post a Comment