Day 26: Easter Island

Today proved to be the biggest adventure on Easter Island thus far as we attempted to undertake a full day guided tour in what became a total torrential downpour.

Our guide (a German man inexplicably named Frida) met us at Chez Joseph and we drove off in one of Joseph's nicer Jeeps. It had been raining all night and all morning but we decided to give it a shot anyway and put to use all the ponchos Frank brought on this trip (4).

Our first stop was the area of Rano Raraku, which was the "quarry" from which most of the moai were created.

This is the extinct volcano/quarry from a distance - the rocks on the right side of the picture are some of the many stone heads that were left strewn about the sides of the mountain.




Here is Frank modeling the sturdier of our two types of ponchos.




This is the increasingly muddy pathway along the side of the mountain. The heads vary in size and detail and are fascinating to look at especially in the way they are left in all different positions (some face down) around the mountain (and the island in general).




While the location was fascinating, the pouring rain was topped only by the incredibly strong gusts of wind that threatened to sweep me and Archana off the side of the mountain. Here we are trying very hard to listen to our guide when really we are just thinking that we would rather be in our hotel rooms reading.




This moai is called "El Gigante" (the giant) because it was the largest one ever carved, although it was never completely carved out or erected.





At this point in the tour, when we didn't think we could be made any more miserable, the wind began throwing tiny, sharp gravel at our faces and we determined it was time to leave the quarry.

Our guide then took us to an area called Tongariki, or "the fifteen" - a cove area where 15 moai have been set up on an ahu (ceremonial platform).




They are an extremely impressive sight but it is disappointing that the set up is only a guess as to how it used to look because a tsunami in 1960 scattered the moai around the area.




Only one has had the "pukao" (top knot) replaced - others are lying scattered nearby in the grass - because it was determined that the statues might not be able to support the weight.




Given the howling winds and constant downpour, the soaking wet group retreated to a restaurant for lunch and unanimously agreed to finish the second half of the tour tomorrow, when it will hopefully be drier.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Scrabble and drinking Escudos in our hotel room, where we improvised using the furniture available.




The rain did not let up so we were lent a car by the hotel to go pick up our clean laundry and do a bunch of other errands before dinner. We then had our best meal so far - at a restaurant called Te Moana on the main street.

Fingers crossed for a drier day tomorrow!

ILM