Easter Island - Day 3 (Why are your doors so small?)

For a second day of travel we started early with a tour of the small, but fascinating Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum. Named after a priest who dedicated his life to the island in the middle of the 20th Century, the museum is made up of signs (written in Spanish and English) that detail the history of the island. While light on artifacts, the one they do have are impressive such as a mace used by ancient warriors, ancient spears made of obsidian glass, and petroglyphs from various sites around the island.  The most valuable pieces are sadly not on display as the museum does not have the ability to protect them against the climate. These are ancient fresco like paintings taken by the Smithsonian in the 19th Century, but graciously returned a few years ago.  The website linked above says the museum costs 1000 pesos to enter, but the museum is "free." It is actually part of your $60 park fee you pay when you enter the island, so make sure you check it out.

A short drive to the center of the island brings you to the lesser visited site of Ahu Akivi. This site is unique because these are the only moai on the island that "face the sea." While they are several miles inland unlike their counterparts, it's hard to see these face the sea anymore than any of the others on the island since the sea completely encircles you.  Our guide, Chris, believes the moai were put in place when the island was covered in trees, so even though they can see the sea now it is unlikely they could when then were made.  Drive from their to the quarry of Rango Rau. This site was used to carve the giant top dressings made of red stone. See if you can figure out how they got those many ton stones out of that quarry without metal to help or machines to lift.

Driving back to the other side of the island you come to one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever pass.   The cave of Ana Kai Tangata is made from volcanic rock, and looks like somewhere fit for a god.  The location was used to film a movie called Rapa Nui (1994), but as our guide pointed out it did so poorly he was not even sure the people on the island who were extras in the movie had seen it.  Inside the cave are painted walls that natives painted centuries ago.  You can see the birds the painters must have been observing as they looked up into the sky.  Turn and face the sea and you will see one of the most striking views on the whole island. The eruption that occurs when the waves hits the rocks of the shore is amazing. 

The final site to check out is the village of Orongo.   Built on the top of a giant volcanic crater, this village was the site the contestants in the birdman rituals discussed in an earlier post would live in until the competition began to crown a new king. Look out the tiny huts these men were forced to live within, and you will be amazed at the sheer cliff face they were forced to scale down to the water only to face a mile swim to the smaller island where they must find an egg.  As you can see from the size of the door, I more than likely would not have made it on Rapa Nui, but we will add this to the collection of doors I don't fit into in the ancient world.  On your walk around the village you will come to the crater lake of Rano Kau.  This is truly one of the more breathtaking sites in the world.  One picture can't do it justice. Formed in the center of a dormant volcano, the side walls of the crater are crumbling and the entire lake may soon wash into the sea.

This has truly been an amazing experience for Wendy and I, and we hope all of you get a chance to visit this island soon. Remember to relax when you are here, it is a beautiful tropical island, and can be explored well in three days, but take advantage of the chance to learn about one of the most mysterious cultures in world history.