EASTER ISLAND

Everything is mysterious on exotic Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, as its people call it: where did the first settlers come from and what took them there? How did they erect the 50-ton moais and carry them from the hills to the seashore? What was the manu-tara legend really like? Will it be possible someday to decipher the rongo rongo tablets, a form of written language now forgotten that contains much of the island's history?

Natives call their island Te Pito e Te Henua or the "navel of Earth". To visit Easter Island is to walk on rocks of lava and ash colonised by vegetation and interspersed by dozens of small lagoons and the open craters of the island's three volcanoes. Like a dot in the immensity of the ocean, this portion of land -the most isolated on Earth- was discovered on Easter Day in 1722 by Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveenen. Today, when seen from the air, its solitude and smallness impress the observer and even more so when they realise that the landing strip crosses the whole south-western side of this triangular island. The airport lies near the town of Hanga Roa where most of the population lives. Here, to the sound of Polynesian music, the visitor receives unforgettable welcome on being given a flowered garland. In contrast when the visitor leaves they receive another garland this time of seashells for as the tradition goes this is the way to secure the visitor's return.

To become immersed in the mystery of the moais, you must start in the Rano Raraku volcano on the northern tip of the island. The great stone statue workshop was located there, and even today the statues can be seen in their various degrees of completion. About 80 half-finished statues can be found and around 200 that are almost finished. Numerous theories abound on how these 21 meter-high idols were transported to be set on their altars or ahu. At first glance the moais faces seem very similar but the careful observer soon realises that they different. It is believed that they are the portraits of the great family chiefs, set on their platforms so that they could continue to watch over their tribe.

Many moais were deliberately brought down during the course of local wars, while others were swept over by a tidal wave that struck the island in 1960. Nevertheless, there are still more than 400 scattered around this mysterious place. A famous restoration was undertaken a few years ago -fully respecting the island's traditions- in which a row of moais were put back on their feet, had their hats put on and had their eyes painted in as was done in the past.

Amid its landscape of palm trees, beaches and crystal clear waters through which you see the coral reefs, Rapa Nui has kept intact its stone built ceremonial city of Orongo. Traditionally, every year a ritual was celebrated there to elect the tribe that would rule the island. In the first months of the spring, each tribe sent a delegation to take part in a competition that consisted of climbing down a steep slope, swimming to the small barren island of Mutu Nui, grabbing the first egg of the manu tara bird and coming back to deliver it unbroken to the chief.

Nowadays life in Easter Island is more pleasant and less risky. The main activity its people are engaged in is tourism. The island has several hotels to choose from and some families also offer lodging in their houses. Those islanders not involved in providing accommodation are artisans, fishermen or simply spend their time mingling with the island's visitors telling stories and recounting the island's way of life. As well as archaeological tours, the visitor can enjoy horse rides and barbecues in forests by the beaches with warm waters and abundant fishing. The temperate climate means these activities can be enjoyed all year round, with May being the rainiest month and February the hottest one. There are flights from Santiago three times a week and the journey takes five hours.

EASTER ISLAND - CHILE

Easter Island is a destination that seems to inhabit our subconscious. The image of those great stone moai with their backs to the vast Pacific strikes some chord within us, recalls some ancient, creative urge.

This is the world's most isolated bit of land, a tiny pinprick in the great pacific, a mound of consolidated lava and ash from three submarine volcanoes. The natives call their island Rapa Nui or Te Pito o Te Henua, 'the navel of the earth.'

Linguistic and cultural comparisons indicate that the first humans on Easter Island arrived from the west, most likely from the Marquesas islands or Mangareva, as part of a greater migratory process which spread Polynesian culture throughout the south Pacific. However, the twelve centuries which elapsed between the arrival of the first intrepid 'settlers' near 500 AD and the 'discovery' of the island in 1722 by the Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen are among the world's great mysteries.

European sailors visiting the island found that the natives could not explain the construction and transport of the great moai megaliths, the largest of which exceeds sixty feet in height. Nor could they decipher the rongo rongo tablets whose hieroglyphic script appears to be a forgotten form of written language. Somewhere in the past - a past which seems to have seesawed from ancestor worship, monument building and population growth, to deforestation and food shortages, feuding and in some cases even cannibalism - the old knowledge had been lost. It is the mystery of these disappeared artisans, and the awesome presence of their works, which continues to draw scientists and seekers from across the globe.

Today, Rapa Nui National Park protects most of the island's archaeological sites, and the native todomiro forests that once graced the island are being replanted. Opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding abound on the island, while a rich marine ecosystem of corals and colorful tropical fish makes Easter Island a prime destination for scuba diving and snorkeling.

EASTER ISLAND
What´s to see in Easter Island. Excursions.

Easter Island has a variety of important excursions you need to take to enjoy this incredible place:

RANO KAO, ORONGO & VINAPU
The excursion starts in the town of Hanga Roa towards Ahu Vinapu, a temple whose moais (enormous images of rock) are curiously similar to stone works created by the Incas evidence, according to some researchers, that the first inhabitants on the island were of South America descent.

The excursion continues vertically, up the Rano Kau volcano to the city of Orongo, the center or the Bird Man cult. Note that the houses in Orongo, made of soft stone, have been meticulously restored, but the cliff side has been left untouched: it is adorned with hundreds of petroglyphs such as Tangata Manu, the Bird Man, the Manu Tara, the sacred bird itself, and Makemake, the god who, it was believed, created the world. Pause to enjoy a spectacular view of islets Motu Nui, Motu-Iti and Motu Kao-Kao. Return to the hotel.

AHU TAHAI, AKIVI AND PUNA PAU
The trip begins in the town of Hanga Roa, heading to Ahu Tahai, a temple restored in the late 1966 by a North American archaeologist This ceremonial compound, which is the oldest on the island, is made up of three different ahus: Ahu Ko Te Riku, a large solitary moai, complete with topknot, around 690 B.C.; Ahu Vai Uri, a cluster of five moais; and Ahu Tahai, another single moai, this one without a topnot, in the center. The tour continues with a stop in Hanga Roa at the Sebastián Englert Anthropological Museum to better understand the history of the island (exceptional exhibits include the only intact eye of a moai ever found). The tour starts at Ahu Akivi, seeing seven spectacular moais (also restored by Mulloy) that date back to 1460 B.C., and finishes at Puna a Pau Hill, a red stone quarry that was most likely the source for the moai's topknots and ornamental hairpieces. Return to the hotel.

MIRANO RARAKU VOLCANO, AHU TONGARIKI AND ANAKENA BEACH
This excursions starts the town of Hanga Roa towards the southern shore at Ahu Vaihu, where eight large moais lie in ruins. The second step is Ahu Akahanga, which is one long stone platform and four fallen moais, the site, according to the legend, of the tomb of the island's first king, Hotu Matua. The ride proceeds to Ahu Tongariki, the largest ahu ever built. Destroyed by a tsunami in 1960, this Ahu was later re-assembled and now all 15 moai stand together. The tour resumes with a drive past La Perouse bay to the Ahu Te Pito Kura, which is said to symbolize the Navel of the World.(The name literally means navel of light, referring to the stone from which the moai was carved.) En route to Anakena beach, visit the partially rebuilt Ahu Nau Nau and the lone moai of Ahu Ature Huki. Enjoy a leisurely picnic on the beach where, it is believed, Hotu Matua first came ashore. Return along Vaitea Road in the evening.

THE MOAIS: EASTER ISLAND, CHILE

The most visible and characteristic of Easter Island's myriad archaeological artifacts, these immense basalt sculptures were toppled from their ahu platforms by feuding islanders during the 'decadent period' of Rapa Nui culture, beginning in the 17th century. For years, researchers have puzzled over how the islanders managed to transport these sculptures from the quarry to their coastal resting places; one unfinished moai measures over 22m, and weighs 250-300 tons.

Thanks to Senatur