Rapa Nui National Park, Easter Island

 

The ship anchored off Hanga Roa, the main town. Our first impression: the island is very tropical. 

The buildings and streets in town are surrounded by gardens and lush vegetation. Our tour group set off early in small busses to visit three monuments. 

I confess to have had little knowledge of the history of the island and the monuments. The one fact that stuck in my mind is that the statues, or Moais, marking burial sites, were constructed by the island’s native inhabitants between 1000 and 1600 AD or so, much later than I had supposed. 

Our impression of an island paradise was also adjusted. The once heavily forested island is still green, but has lots of open land. Presumably whole forests of trees were sacrificed for the construction and transportation of the Moais over the centuries. 

At the end of our tour, Eve and I found a small restaurant (with WiFi!) where we ran into Angelika and Wolfgang (Munich) and sat for a couple of hours enjoying a beer, an Empanada, and the internet.  

Sufficiently sated, we walked through the town and along the waterfront. The locals were preparing for the evening’s Tapati Festival parade. 

I bought a souvenir with the last of my Chilean pesos. We headed back to the ship for a shower and dinner. 

After dinner, we watched “Rapa Nui”, coproduced by Kevin Coster.  Filmed on the island in 1994, it tells the story of a battle between two competing tribes of Easter Islanders. The film was somewhat brutal, but we were fascinated to recognize some of the island landscape. 

A long and satisfying event filled day.