Friday, February 4, 2011 – Saturday, February 5, 2011
(I realize that this entry got a bit long so you might want to read it in parts)
Wow, I’ve been so busy over the last two days I’ve had no time to write. I left off at Mihinoa before the Tapati opening. After dinner with a few girls from the hostel, we walked to town (in near darkness with no flashlights) to the Tapati stage. Even though we were late, the festivities hadn’t yet begun. We walked around surveying the scene before taking places to watch the ceremony. I could barely see anything with all the people standing in front of me and constantly watched the TV screens. There was an opening video followed by the approach of five men on canoes. A few women sang and a bunch of people danced. An hour had passed and they were still on the first part of the evening program. Since I couldn’t see very well from my standing location, I decided to call it a night. Luckily I was able to find a taxi back to the hostel. A quick shower and I was in bed in preparation for an early wake-up to call the horseback riding place (I concluded during dinner that I should just go for it, as I’d still be in budget even if I had to pay for two people).
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| Tapati opening ceremony |
Friday, February 4, 2011
So I woke up yesterday morning at 8:30 and found the man who runs Camping Mihinoa and asked him to call Pantu for tour three taking in the North Coast of the island and Maunga Terevaka (islands highest point at 507m above sea level). The guy at the hostel must have thought I was crazy for going on my own due to the ridiculously high price tag, but I knew I’d regret not going. The book has the following about the North Coast: “Walking [or horseback riding] around Easter Island’s North Coast is the ultimate walk, and given the total lack of roads vehicles and infrastructure, little has changed in this part of the island for several hundred years. The scenery is majestic, as is the array of destroyed platforms, caves and petroglyphs. The sheer wilderness out here is breathtaking.”
Pantu told me he would pick me up at 9:30. As we drove to the hotel where the horses are groomed, I asked him if he thought I was crazy. He said, “Not crazy. Special.” It turned out that he wasn’t my guide for the day; I had two guides, a young guy, Andreas, and girl, Josie. We started out at the north end of town near Hanga Kio’e (which is further south than Ahu Te Peu where I thought we started, just meant more riding) and took four hours to reach Anakena.
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| Ready to ride |
Hanga Kio’e: “The name of this site translates literally as ‘Mouse Bay’, having been named after an island legend in which a grieving wife mourned the death of her husband by carrying a mouse around in her mouth, before burying his remains underneath a nearby ahu… The platforms here are generally considered to be from the very latest period of ahu construction, sometime around 1600 AD… The moai displays similar characteristics in size (4 meters) and design to the seven moai at Ahu Akivi, and while nowhere near as large as some of the moai still in the quarry, remember that this status has travelled some 25 km from the source in Rano Raraku to its final destination here on the West Coast.”
I wanted to stop when we passed by Ahu Te Peu but was told we had plenty of stops along the way. According to my various maps of Easter Island’s North Coast there are the following sites, Te Hereke and Hanga O’Pea, Ahu Maitaki Te Moa, Ahu Vaimata, Hanga Oteo and Ahu Papa Tekena. Of course, I didn’t write down the names of the places (and there were no signs give the remote location) so I’m not exactly sure where we stopped. I can only describe what I saw.
The first place we explored was a village, complete with banana boat houses, a place for giving birth, a fallen moai, a cave and an ahu. The place used for giving birth contained a red colored stone with a basin carved inside and the typical foundation stones of the houses. While there are currently stones filling in the middle of the foundation, it would have been a more comfortable ground in the past. The moai, lying on its face in the direction of the platform, never got installed on the moai and must have been left when the tribal wars started. A small cave, which we climbed into, existed for protection; I could barely fit through the narrow entrance. They gave me time to walk around the ahu, where I noted a couple thrown moai.
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| Birth-giving place (for lack of a better word) |
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| Fallen moai |
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| Cave |
We rode for another ten minutes before pausing to observe a stone with numerous petroglyphs. 15 minutes later, we stopped at a cave (bigger than the first) with numerous paintings of Make Make. At that point in time I was grateful for my guides. We’d passed a couple walking along the coastline and I realized how hard it would be to find these sites without knowing where to look. None of the tourist information provides accurate details of the sites along the North Coast, and it would be easy to miss the highlights.
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| Petroglyphs |
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| Make Make paintings |
20 minutes on, we saw an early period moai (very short with different facial features) lying on its back. A platform nearby was shaped like a boat. Some historians say the platform, not meant for moai, was built after the arrival of the first Europeans. After this site, it was another hour before we reached Anakena, passing by a couple ahu in the distance. While the ride along the coast was stunningly beautiful, my bum and knees needed a break from the horse when we arrived at Anakena at 2pm. The water at Anakena was a brilliant turquoise, much prettier in the sunlight than the rain (from my full day tour). The beach looked gorgeous as we approached.
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| Early period moai |
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| View of Anakena |
In desperate need of the loo, I made a quick pit stop before sitting down at one of the beach restaurants for an empanada lunch. I was supposed to only have 45 minutes to relax, but my shrimp and queso empanada weren’t served until that time. That’s when I concluded that I was paying a lot of money to have my own horseback riding tour and I’d take as much time for lunch as I needed. I would have happily taken the truck back to town (as Pantu had offered before the day began) but I wanted to reach Maunga Terevaka (one of the reasons I booked this tour in the first place). So, even though I was tired and sore, I got back on the horse for another three hours.
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| Anakena beach with Ahu Nau Nau |
We slowly made our way from Anakena to Maunga Terevaka (the highest point at 507m above sea level). I attempted to look back at the ocean as we rode inland. Gradually, the ocean on the east part of the island came into view. When we finally reached the peak, I could see the perimeter of the entire island (almost). I also noted the dark looking clouds rolling in.
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| Maunga Terevaka |
As we headed back to town with another 1.5 hours of riding, it started raining. First it was a drizzle, but then it really started coming down. Once the real rain began, I took out my umbrella. I know it looks ridiculous holding an umbrella while horseback riding, but I didn’t want to get soaked. (Gave me some flashbacks to when I brought my umbrella to the water rafting trip – of course, without the intention of using it on the raft.) The rain just added to my slightly poor mood. While I was really enjoying seeing the island, seven hours of horseback riding was just too much for me. I struggled on the last bit of the ride, trying to readjust my position to relieve the pressure on my knees and sore butt.
About 20 minutes before we rode up to the hotel, it stopped raining. I was grateful for the sunny weather and counting down the minutes until we arrived. As I rode my horse into the ring, I raised my hands in success. I’d done it! Even if I suffered through some of it, I’d made it the entire way; I was pretty proud of myself. Pantu helped me off the horse since I really wasn’t sure my legs would function (and I kind of pulled my right hamstring when I attempted to get down on my own). I hobbled to the restroom, feeling like an old lady.
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| I made it! 7 hours on a horse |
On the drive back to Mihinoa, I requested that Pantu stop at Fisherman’s wharf so I could pick up an ice cream before heading back. I jumped out of the truck and got myself an ice cream. It took away some of the pain. I got back to the campsite at 6:45pm and sat down with the girls on the lounge chairs. When I finally found Evelyn at 7pm, she informed me that she’d booked me a place at Te Ra’ai and were picking me up at 7:45pm. She also said that Daniella was coming at 6:20am for the sunrise at Tongariki. Everyone I talked to said to leave earlier, so we tracked down Daniella’s boss (the only phone number I had for the travel company) and she called back a couple minutes later agreeing to 6am. Once this was sorted, I quickly jumped in the shower and got ready for my night. I have to admit, I was exhausted, but it was my last chance to go and I didn’t want to miss out.
I met a nice Canadian family in the van before we picked up Raquel (I wasn’t sure she was coming but thought she might) who had just found out that we were leaving at 6am. When we reached Te Ra’ai, we were offered a welcome drink and then had our faces painted in the traditional Rapa Nui style. Before the show started, the audience was asked to participate in a bit of dancing and ritual chanting, men on one side, and women on the other. Then the show began and we were treated to various performances from dancing to singing to rituals. Unlike other cultural performances, English descriptions were given for each piece, making it easier to understand what was occurring. All the performers were incredible and put tons of energy into their movements. My jaw dropped when I saw the women shake their hips – I don’t know how they do it.
After the hour long show, we took pictures with the performers before being directed outside for the unveiling of dinner. Te Ra’ai is the only restaurant on the island which uses the umu, a traditional Polynesian method of cooking in an underground oven. It’s a similar method to that used by the Rapanui who built the moai hundreds of years ago. The dirt was carefully removed from the top of the cloth and underneath the cloth; the food was wrapped in banana leaves. The whole process took almost 30 minutes, at which point it was 10:15 and I was ready to eat. We were given unlimited water, watermelon juice and wine to drink and heaps of chicken, fish, pork, meat and vegetables to eat. The food was good, but not very hot. Overall a wonderful evening and I’m glad I got to share it with Raquel. At 11pm I was driven back to Mihinoa and crashed in my bed, with a very sore back and bum.
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| Umu... our dinner being uncovered |
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| Raquel and me having dinner at Te Ra'ai |
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Cannot believe how much I packed in today. I didn’t stop going until 6:30 tonight, 13 hours after waking up. The first item on the agenda was sunrise at Tongariki. At 6am, Daniella picked me up at Mihinoa. I’d woken up at 5:30am giving myself plenty of time to get ready but it was so dark that it took me a few extra minutes, plus, I was trying to find my spare camera battery. We picked up Raquel, who was waiting outside her hotel, and slowly drove to Tongariki.
It was still extremely dark by the time we reached the platform. Daniella offered us coffee or tea and took out some biscuits. With a blanket in hand, we set off from the parking lot to situate ourselves on the grassy area in front of the ahu. As the moai were slowly illuminated by the rising sun, I walked around taking pictures from a few different angles. Eventually, I sat down to watch and at 8am, a few minutes before the sun came over the horizon, my camera battery died. Raquel let me take some photos on hers, but I haven’t seen them yet.
We didn’t head back to town until 8:30am, and after saying goodbye to Raquel and getting dropped at Mihinoa (after Daniella took me to one of the tour offices to inquire about tours – it was closed), my first order of business was to find a morning tour to Orongo. Evelyn was tremendously helpful and eventually found a company running the tour, which would pick me up at 10am. In the hour I had to spare, I searched for my camera battery, finding it somewhere in my backpack; I’d had it the whole time, urr.
When my driver picked me up, it turned out I had a private tour. Estaban, a licensed guide originally from the mainland, runs his own company giving tours with no more than six people. He agreed to do the tour for just me at no extra cost (given I was along); perfect! The points of interest on this half day tour are Ana Kai Tangata cave, Volcano Rano Kau, Orongo and Vinapu. Aside from the full day and other half day tour, this circuit was the third that most tourists do. At the end, I realized why these three tours are so popular – they take in the best sites on the island and are easiest to get to.
Our first stop was Cueva Ana Kai Tangata. Estaban took some time to explain the significance of the cave before we walked down to see it. He pointed out the fading wall paintings and showed me a drawing that had been done by one of the European explorers. He carried around a very handy folder with various pictures of the island which helped illustrate the stories.
“Since Ana means cave, Tangata means man, and Kai in modern Rapa Nui means to eat, this site is often mis-translated as the Cannibal Cav. In fact it seems that Kai in ancient Rapa Nui had connotations of gathering or assembling, and therefore that this cave was actually the place in which certain people gathered. Although they are no very faded, a glance up at the far wall of this cave shows the remains of several original bird paintings, and when Routledge visited here in 1914, aside from many more birds, there was also a bird superimposed over the image of a European ship, showing that the paintings are fairly recent. The figures are painted using natural earth pigments together with animal fat, making them last must longer…”
“The birds are clearly representations of the manutara (Sooty Terns), the species on which the whole birdman competition focused. It is thought that this cave was the gathering point either before or after the race for the hopu manu, the competitors who swam out to Motu Nui.”
From the cave, we drove up the hill to Volcano Rano Kau. I was in awe; I had no idea about the beauty of the crater. A pool of water filled the bottom of the crater with lots of green vegetation growing in the water and along the walls of the crater. When the sun broke through the clouds and reflected off the water, it was truly stunning. Near the crater was a rock with some petroglyphs of the birdman.
“The enclosed stone… contains several very good examples of birdman petroglyphs… Note the bird head, complete with prominent beak and large circular eye, attached to a human body in a fetal position.”
Orongo, an old village, was slightly further up the hill. After checking in with the tourist desk, we walked towards the ocean and the village. Sadly, it started raining and I’d left my umbrella in the car. My arms turned white as the sunscreen got wet. However, rain can bring rainbows, and since the sun was still shining through some of the clouds, a beautiful full rainbow appeared just off the island. Part of the rainbow ended near the three islets off the coast of Easter Island: Motu Kao Kao (needle shaped, thin island), Motu Iti (small islet) and Motu Nui (big islet).
The rain slowed as we walked towards the old houses, 54 which have been reconstructed, one only half complete to show the inside. The houses were a different style to the others on the island mostly due to the weather conditions and were thought to be used seasonally. Above one of the houses, are a few rocks filled with various petroglyphs. It started raining again, and another rainbow formed in the distance perfectly angled near the petroglyphs. A stunning scene. As we walked back to the car, I enjoyed the amazing views of the Pacific and Rano Kau.
During the moai period, Orongo was used seasonally for various ceremonies, particular initiations and coming-of-age ceremonies for young boys and girls. Its dramatic location actually made living up here permanently to be impractical: despite the nearby source of freshwater in the crater, the lack of access to the ocean for fishing meant that Orongo couldn’t inhabited year-round, hence the very few platforms and moai in this corner of the island.
However Orongo’s real significance came into being towards the end of the 17th century, when the organized and structured society on Easter Island had collapsed into a warrior-led anarchy, ad inter-tribal warfare dominated the island. Resources on the island had become depleted, and tribes were ransacking each other’s territories, with the once-sacred moai no longer being carved, but rather being progressively thrown over and destroyed in acts of vandalism and revenge.
Order needed to be restored, and a new religious belief system instilled that would appease the gods and have them look favorably again on Rapa Nui. Instead of being directed by the chiefs and priests of each tribe, previously instrumental in organizing and controlling the society through moai carving and worship, the warrior class, or matato’a, had now taken charge. Their solution for power management of the island was a religious revolution, in the form of a competition that gave each tribe the opportunity for leadership, and a competition that no longer rewarded status and rank, but rather physical prowess: the Birdman Competition. [not going to type up the details]
A moai known as Hoa Hakananai’a (literally ‘stolen’ or ‘hidden friend’), was found half-buried inside a house with its back facing the sea. The HMS Topaze in 1868 removed the moai and took it to London where it stands in the British Museum. “Made of basalt, it is a spectacular moai, not so much in its size (2.5m) but in the carvings of birdmen and fertility symbols that adorn its back.
The final house is one of Orongo’s highlights, and the location here is simply breathtaking…. In front of you awaits Easter Island’s premier petroglyph site. On every rock in front of this crescent-shaped dwelling you will start to see numerous representations of birdmen, as well as komari (female fertility symbols) and images of Make Make, the island’s creator god.”
Twenty minutes later, we reached our final stop Vinapu, with two ahu, famous for the Ahu Tahira because of the neatly fitting structure of the stones. The stones are perfectly aligned and gaps filled with others (more info on the significance below). The moai have not been raised and a few lie half buried behind the ahu. The second ahu (Vinapu) has a female looking moai, made from different stone, standing in front. Some old drawings (which Estaban showed me from his folder) originally indicated this moai had two heads. It looked very out of place to me, not resembling any other moai I’d seen.
“With so much interest paid to the moai on top of the platforms, little attention is normally given to the ahu themselves, and yet Vinapu is a magnificent example of just how developed the platform masonry on Easter Island became.”
“Seen from the front, Ahu Tahira displays 6 overthrown moai, face down, with 4 of their topknots lying in front of them. Note that the torsos of the final 3 have been used to form a cave-like shelter, with rubble filling in the gaps in the ‘roof’ and large stones positioned to form an entranceway. This recycling of platforms and moai was not uncommon during the very late period of Easter Island history, and shows that all of the original reverence and respect towards these platforms had completely disappeared by this stage.”
“The back wall of this platform that makes this site unmissable because the structure is similar to that of the Incas as the stones are perfectly aligned and a gap filled. The author of the book thinks that the Rapanui could have done this with all the platforms but were more focused on the moai.”
“The half-buried moai behind the platform is interesting: at first glance it looks like it might have been thrown off the platform, or perhaps is a moai from a much earlier period that was discarded here when subsequent generations came to remodel this ahu. However it appears never to have had its eye sockets carved, implying that it never stood on the platform at all, possibly having been damaged in some way during transportation, and rejected upon arrival.”
Ahu Vinapu: “Strolling around to this earlier platform, you will still see the remains of at least five moai, as well as several topknots, both in front and behind the ahu. Note the large column-like statue of red stone standing before the ahu: American archaeologist William Mulloy unearthed it in 1956, amazed to find a moai made out of red scoria, the same red stone used to carve the topknots. You will see that it has thin arms and hands, as well as slight breasts and pronounced belly-button, implying that it is possibly a female moai… A sketch by John Linton Palmer in 1868 showed this statue to have once had two heads, in a Y-shape, suggesting that it was used as a funerary pillar to support one end of the stretcher onto which dead bodies were placed to dry.
On our way back to town, I requested that Estaban stop at gas station so I could pick up a snack for lunch. At the campsite, I said farewell to Estaban and thanked him for a wonderful morning. He really did an excellent job. I would highly recommend him, not only because of his knowledge, but the small group and folder with photos and drawings (none of my other guides had this). At hostel, just as I start eating my yogurt, I was told to get into the van for the transfer to Mahana Hopu, the crater at Rano Ranaka where the Tapati triathlon was taking place. So, quickly polishing off my yogurt and bringing the rest of my snacks with me, I hopped into the crowded van.
A bit about Tau’a Rapa Nui, the Easter Island triathlon. “Based very loosely on the Birdman race that took place at Orongo, the competitors start at the far side of the lake, and paddle across its 650 meter diameter on canoes made out of reeds. Reaching this near side, they pick up 2 heads of bananas and run 1 circuit and then half a circuit sin bananas where they swim across on top of a pora, a kind of reed surf board.”
As I stared out the window of the van, retracing part of the path I’d made at 6:30am this morning, I was stunned at how much I’d done by 1pm. Even though I’d seen it a couple days ago, approaching Rano Ranaka was spectacular. I just couldn’t get enough of all the moai popping out of the ground. All the people in the van with me were Spanish speakers who I hadn’t met, so I set off on my own to find a place at Mahana Hopu to enjoy the competition.
The first competition was the men’s triathlon. The description of the triathlon is above, but I must add that the bananas weigh 20kgs. Luckily there was a woman interpreter at the events who was announcing in English. The men were only wearing the small thongs with cover their privates and running in bare feet along the rough ground. More power to them. Seven men started the race, but only five finished. I think the last two were so far behind that it would have been a waste of time for them to swim back across the lake.
After the men, the young men competed in the same race, except this time they carried only 10kgs of bananas on their shoulders. All five completed the race. I can’t really say much else about the races because I didn’t know anyone but the crowd wasn’t as enthusiastic as I would have anticipated. The final race was the ladies swimming across the lake (the final part of the men’s triathlon) in which six women competed.
Once the race was over, I didn’t hang around to watch the ceremony (if there was one) since the rest of the activities had taken so long. Not that anyone was in a rush, but there was a lot of dead time between the races. Most of the people in my van got back within ten minutes of me and we headed back to Hanga Roa. I asked to be dropped on the road into town so that I could go eat a proper meal. I know there were other good restaurants, but a tuna Panini at Mi Kafe sounded perfect and easy. I went back to the café at the wharf and relaxed with an iced coffee and tuna Panini. I wrote some postcards as I stared into the Pacific reflecting on my wonderful, but busy time on Easter Island. I’m leaving in the morning; it has been a fascinating stay.
I finally walked back here at 6:30pm and was ready to crash. I packed up my stuff, wrote a bit, watched the final sunset and showered. I’m now ready for bed, both physically and mentally. Tomorrow I fly back to Santiago. Adios Easter Island.
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