Craters, caves and more moai

On Sunday, with most places shut, we decided to book another tour with Toŋa. First, we went to see Ahu Vinapú, or the 'perfect platform'. Carved towards the end the moai era, this moai platform is made of huge blocks, perfectly carved to accurately fit one another. Toŋa told us it would have taken 6 to 12 months to carve each one!
Next, we went to the western tip of the island, to a crater called Rano Kau, or Rano wow as it's nicknamed. The crater is amazing, 1.6km wide with a rainwater lake at the bottom, about 11 meters deep.
The place looks magical and, indeed, it held a very special place in Rapa Nui culture. When the war broke out on the island, the moai started being toppled, and chaos spread on the island. The elders agreed it was time to interrupt the violence by starting a birdman contest.
The contestants lived in a sacred village called Orongo, which is on the rim of Rano Kau crater, and was only used during the time of the birdman competition.
Each of the seven clans would select a representative who, from a young age, would be trained to survive a series of trials to become the new ruler of the island, for one year.
The trials involved skills and knowledge tests, however, the most impressive and famous test was the retrieval of a bird's egg.
From the village, you can see three small islets off the coast (the ones we wanted to go snorkling by!). Once the shamans announced the arrival of the migratory bird on the islands, the competitors would have to climb down a 300 metre rocky cliff, swim to the island, surviving the brutal ocean currents, and climb onto the furthest island to steal an egg. They then had to return with the egg, unbroken. Everything was fair game, including pushing each other off, and breaking each other's eggs!
Typically each year, half of the competitors died, but the winner would be elevated to god-like status.
The winner would be fully shaven and would spend the time in isolation, with only one shaman being allowed to interact with them. They would receive 7 princesses, land and honour for their family. And, crazily enough, they would need to compete each year to maintain their title. Apparently one family had a birdman win for 7 consecutive years!
This contest continued for around 300 years. Each year petroglyphs were carved to represent the winning birdman.
We even saw one petroglyph representing a baby, carved into a bowl-shaped stone, used as birthing bed. Legend says that the 7 time birdman winner was born on that very stone, making him the favourite for the competition.
After visiting Orongo, we went to some caves along the coast called Ana Kai Tangata, where the young competitors would start their training for the birdman trial.
After that, we went to see a special moai with four hands, used for astrological reading. Rapa Nui people used stars to navigate the seas and to determine the seasons. A few moai on the islands are placed in special positions and, rather than being funerary statues, they were used in conjuction with poles to cast shadows and align with the sun and stars, allowing the Rapa Nui shaman to use them as a kind of ancient sun dial.
We then grabbed some lunch by the beach, watching people surfing and enjoying the sun. Luckily for us, the rain showers had stopped just for that day, making our tour much more pleasant.
In the afternoon we headed north to visit some volcanic caves. Originally formed as air pockets trapped in the lava, the caves have been carved out further by the rain.
Some areas had collapsed roofs, which were used as Manavai to cultivate plants and protect them from the wind. Toŋa took us deep inside the caves, walking in pitch darkness, under the dripping rocks.
He told us he used to come there as a kid, slide down an avocado tree and navigate the caves just by feeling the walls. We saw the avocado tree and I don't think we would have even survived the sliding down, let alone the caves!
We also went back to where our horseride up Terevaka started, and we saw a platform of astrological moai called Ahu Akivi, which was the first platform ever restored. Funnily enough, we had completely missed it when we went on the horses! The moai are in an unusual position, as they are facing the ocean, rather than the island. Just like the one with four arms, these were used to read alignments with the stars and the sun.
We finished the tour at Puna Pau, the red quarry where all the top knots were carved. It wasn't the most impressive of the sites, as most of it was covered by vegetation, with just a few top knots scattered about.
Considering it's unlikely we'll ever be back, we were glad we managed to see so much of the island and hear Toŋa's amazing stories.Read more