Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Day 2

We began the day with breakfast before meeting the group in the lobby.

Our guide, Martin, outlined our day's activity. It is looking like a very busy itinerary.

We left the hotel at 9:30 AM and headed to Rana A Raraku volcano where the Moari quarry is located. We learned how the Moari were carved and transported.

Next we went to Tonariki where there are 15 Moari who have been restored.

We saw these Moari on our World Cruise in 2019 from the ship as it was too rough to tender and there is no pier on Rapa Nui. The Moari face the interior of the Island so we only saw their backs from the ship.

The Moari were originally painted white with eyes made of white coral and obsidian centers. Their top-notch (hats) are constructed of red stone.

The Japanese government had asked to exhibit a Moari. Permission was granted but the Moari was damaged during transport. As compensation, the Japanese paid to have the Moari at Tonariki restored.

A decision has been made to not restore all the Moari as having them not restored tells the story of Rapa Nui and its struggles among clans by which they pulled down the Moari of rival clans.

We then went to Hana Te E Vai Hu to view the historic islanders' sleeping huts and method of farming. I opted not to enter the sleeping huts after being warned by Bob that the straw roof created a very moldy environment.

We had lunch in a delightful restaurant overlooking the ocean.

Our next stop was at Vinapu where we observed a much more advanced platform constructed of basalt stone. The Moari at Vinapu all remain toppled.

We finally made it to Hana Pau Anakena which was to be our beach stop. I was so excited for the opportunity to get in the water but, alas, it started raining as we got out of the van. We were soaking wet so the thought of jumping in the water lost its appeal. Instead, we looked through some vendor's shops.

Next we walked to view the Moari at this location. These are the most advanced Moari on the island which was clear from their definition.

We had an hour at Hana Pau Anakena before heading back to the hotel for an hour and a half break before leaving for dinner. I used the time to finish up my posts for our Adriatic and Mediterranean trip-sorry for anyone who was following that trip and thinking we got stranded somewhere...lol.

It is interesting to note that there are horses all over the island. These horses originated from when the island was a sheep farm. They now belong to the residents of Rapa Nui. The horses are supposed to be kept on the owner's property but, in reality, the horses are running wild all throughout the national parks. We saw a ton of newborns. I believe the
shear number of horses will prove to be a huge problem in the future.

The other animals that we saw were cows, chickens (we were woken every morning by a beautiful but very noisy rooster), dogs and cats.

We had dinner at another open air restaurant. We both had tuna which was fantastic. Our dinner companions were Andrew and Margaret who are physicians from Philadelphia. They came to the states from Poland. Dinner conversation was compelling.

We were happy to get back to the hotel as the Seahawks were playing the Rams. A trip to the Superbowl is at stake. Bob was trying to figure out a way to stream the game. I tried to find it on the television. We had luck with Chilean ESPN 5. The only problem was that it was in Spanish. I quickly threw on my Seahawks scarf and cheered the Hawks to victory.

Bob may have a hard time sleeping from the excitement of the game. He called Rob after the game and then we hit the hay.Leggi altro