Organic Answers Column – May 3, 2023 – Easter Island
Easter Island Trip
Some of the next few columns will focus on the most interesting trips by the Garrett clan. The first of this series is the trip to Easter Island – which isn’t even the right name.
Easter Island is a volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, barely 15.3 miles by 7.6 miles in size and is home to 887 Moai or Mo’ai (monolithic human statues carved by the Rapa Nui people). The island landscape is barren and devoid of trees, probably from land mismanagement, making the presence of Moai a uniquely visible phenomenon.
For more views of the trip visit the Dirt Doctor topic Easter Island Dirt Doctor Travel.
Easter Island belongs to Chile, though it is 2182 miles away from the coast of Chile. It’s remoteness was one of the major factors that led to the development of a unique civilization on the island.
Although you can go there by ship, only LAN Airlines flies one flight daily to Easter Island from Santiago, Chile. It is a 5 1/2 to 6 hour flight from the Chilean capital of Santiago. Most people need to set aside an entire day to reach Santiago and then another to reach Easter Island.
Only the tourists call it Easter Island. Your flight destination and ticket won’t mention Easter Island but rather Isla de Pascua, the Spanish name. It is known by many other names: natives call it Rapa Nui or the Great Rapa and Te Pito te Henua or the Navel of the World.
The famous stone statues, Moai, are all over the island. Touching a Moai is not only forbidden but will land you in trouble; these days it carries a hefty fine. A Finnish tourist was fined $17,000 US for touching a Moai and breaking its earlobe for a souvenir. The Moai are protected by law because they are deteriorating at a fast pace and tourist activities accelerate the process. We weren’t told that, there no signs or protective barriers and I’m glad I didn’t get caught.
There aren’t many Moai that were erected by the ancient Rapa Nui civilization. Most of them were toppled during the civil war that festered for years. They have been re-erected by explorers and archaeologists, including Thor Heyerdahl, Sergio Rapu, and others. The original method of erection unknown.
Some of the Moai had eyes while some of the earliest statues had empty eye sockets and were blind. The later ones were more finished and had coral eyes in the sockets. The eyes were added after the statues reached the final resting spot. The “top knots” made of red lava were mined at different locations than the basalt bodies.
Red lava area
The underwater Moai is fake. Scuba diving on Easter Island is popular and there are some good diving sites off the island’s rocky coast. Most tourists want to see the Moai on the bottom of the ocean, but this Moai was not carved by the ancient Rapa Nui men but is a prop from the movie, Rapa Nui.
What we know about Easter Island has been shadowed by the unsolved mysteries. Part of the charm lies in the mysteries surrounding the island and the Moai. Why did they carve the statues, how were they moved and why were many of the statues damaged or destroyed. If you are lucky, you might get some answers by visiting with the Rapa Nui people that still live and practice art on Easter Island.
Rano Raraku crater has a freshwater lake where researchers recently
found a newly exposed moai that was once underwater
Final tip:Make plans to book a window seat on the left-hand side of the plane on the way there and back for the best views. You fly right over the island and make a turn southeast across the ocean to finally land from the west at Mataveri International Airport, the only airport there. When you leave, you take off east, so again you get views right across the island from the left-hand window.
