Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

[Written by Elizabeth Leonardis for our old blog, So Civilized]

En route from South America to New Zealand, Alex & I made a few island stops along the way. First stop, Easter Island (known as Rapa Nui in the Polynsian tongue), which is basically in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between the two countries. Technically, Easter Island belongs to Chile, so Spanish is spoken and you maintain the S. American feel while on the island. Hanga Roa is the main town where everyone lives and you can find everything you need for your time on the island.

Moai with a view of Hanga Roa in the background

We had a rocky start to our tropical vacation as the hotel/hostel we had booked to stay in was a dump. Ana Rapu, don’t stay there if you go to Easter Island. They had to fumigate the day we arrived, for an outbreak of fleas, and they didn’t even bother to clean all the dead bugs out of our bathroom. The place was in general a dirty place and I am usually not one to complain about these things, especially if you aren’t paying much for lodging. But Easter Island is expensive and this place was $45/night. The next morning we spent sometime walking around and found something else. When the taxi picked us up to take us to the new place he suggested a different hostel. We were a bit suspect as we didn’t quite understand what he was saying, but in the end we ended up at a lovely hostel run by a very sweet woman named Theresa. Hostel Tahai is the name of the place, and Theresa is the most amazing host. Mangos are falling from the trees and the garden is lush with flowers and trees, tucked back off the road. She makes an amazing breakfast every morning and keeps the place spotless. We were thrilled and so lucky to have been picked up by such a friendly taxi driver.

The lovely garden in Hostel Tahai

Now that we were settled in our new place we took the next few days to explore the island. Although I was timid at first, we rented mopeds to cruise the island, and after a few minutes I was squealing with delight. Mopeds are so much fun and a great way to get around a small island. I would love a little vespa to get me around Vancouver.

Alex & I posing with our mopeds

The mopeds, the best way to travel

With the freedom of our mopeds we were able to navigate the island on our own and stop at all the moai sites. Easter Island is covered in historical moai sites. Moai are human figures that were carved out of the rock by the Polynesian people between 1250-1500. There is much speculation still as to how they carved and transporting these stautes to their ahu (ceremonial platforms) around the island. The tallest moai stands at 10 meters (33 feet) and weighs 75 tons. Conflict within the local tribes, resulted in the toppling of all the moai on the island during the 1700-1800′s. Only recently have many moai been restored and resurrected on their original ahus around the island.

15 moai that were restored very recently in the 1990's

View of the 15 moai from Rano Raraku

Rano Raraku "the nursery"

A moai in the nursery that was never erected

Alex & I at Rano Raraku

Eric & Alex at Anakena Beach with moai in the background

Anakena Beach

Another beautiful spot on the island is the volcano Rano Kau with the historical site Orongo. This is where the annual bird-man (Tangata manu) was awarded to the first man to swim to a nearby island and retreive the first egg laid by the Sooty Tern. Alex & I would run up the hill in the mornings there and there is a huge crater at the top with some of the only native grasses growing inside. It reminded me a bit of the Death Swamps from Lord of the Rings, minus the dead people.

View of the crater Rano Kau

The weather treated us well with predominately sunny days and little rain. Easter Island was a bit too pricey for what you were buying, but I suppose you can charge whatever you want on a tropical island. At least the jugo de mango was still reasonably affordable.

Sipping on jugo de mango

Alex waving goodbye to the island