We have been staying in our tent on Camping Mihinoa in Hanga Roa, the only city on the island, where almost all of the 5000 locals also live. Camping is pretty much the only way to save some money in coming here, because everything else is quite expensive due to isolation - the flight, the accommodation, the national park, the food et cetera. Our campsite was great though - run by a local family with great facilities and views of the Pacific.
February is the hottest month on the island and we have been blessed with some great weather, although we also had some rain. Luckily, the rough winds tend to blow away clouds quite quickly. Unfortunately, this also means that you should be even more careful with the dangerous sun. It also means that my hair has turned to straw. Despite it being the height of the high season, it´s nice and quiet here. The first time that we walked into town we couldn´t even locate the main street because it was so quiet! Hanga Roa has retained a small town charm and I like it.
Whenever I told people that we would be staying on the island for a week, many mentioned that they thought that this was quite long, but I disagree. Of course it´s possible to see the major sights in 3 days, but when you have the time, why rush? We liked being able to sleep in, have breakfast, and do whatever we felt like doing without having to keep to a sightseeing schedule. Some roads on the island are absolutely horrendous and even dangerous to drive on. When you´re in a rush, this is a nuisance, but when you have all the time in the world, this becomes an adventure. And when you get tired of sightseeing, there are loads of beaches, restaurants and bars to keep you occupied.
The best way to describe the island is a big, hard, volcanic rock. It has a rugged beauty to it that I like very much. It reminded me of Tongariro National Park in New Zealand, except that there are more trees, plants, flowers and wild horses here. And, of course, the island is scattered with ahu (stone platforms), moai (huge statues) and petroglyphs - the whole island is, in fact, a big open-air archeological museum. Add to that loose volcanic rocks, ancient lava tubes, caves, white sand beaches and blue ocean and you get a sense of the beauty that is Easter Island.
the landscape between Hanga Roa and Ahu Tepeu
Ahu Akivi
Ahu Tongariki
Ahu Tongariki
If you ever make it to Easter Island (and I hope that you do!) I would offer up this little piece of advice: grab a car and GO! Organized tours come in handy from time to time (we´ve been on them plenty of times during this trip), but this is not the way to see Easter Island in its best light, if you ask me. You want the freedom that comes with your own transportation. We rented a scooter ourselves because we couldn´t afford a car, but like I said, some roads are horrible and then a car is really more comfortable. Plus, you´ll stay dry when it rains.
I wouldn´t say that there is one best way to see the island, although I would recommend that you first visit Rano Raraku and then Orongo. Rano Raraku is called ´the nursery´ because this is where the moai were quarried from the slopes of an extinct volcano. There are still a lot of leftover (if you will) moai there, which makes for an amazing sight. It´s nice to combine this with a trip to Puna Pau, because this is where the red hats were quarried that were placed on top the moai. Then I would make my way to Orongo. This ceremonial village near another extinct volcano (there are about 70 volcanoes on the island), called Rano Kau, signifies a move away from ancestral worship in the form of ahu and moai and a move towards a bird man cult that had major religious, political and social repurcussions - it is really too much history to share here, albeit very fascinating. In Orongo you can see ancient houses and petroglyphs and there are amazing views over the nearby islands.
Rano Raraku
Rano Kau
Orongo
Orongo
One thing that I should mention is that February is also the month of the Tapati Rapa Nui - a festival that lasts 2 weeks and is centered around various traditional games and parties. On Sunday afternoon we decided to make our way to Rano Raraku for the popular triathlon. We found a spot near the crater lake among hundreds of locals and tourists and were quite surprised to see what happened next - a group of beautiful boys racing in thongs! First, they had to row across the crater lake in a traditional canoe, then they had to run around the crater lake while carrying a load of bananas, then they had to run again (without the bananas but higher up on the steep crater rim), and then they had to swim across the crater lake. It was BEAUTIFUL, and not just because of the boys, who were, indeed, very beautiful, but I though that it was so great that these young men were keeping ancient traditions alive during an annual festival. The locals were cheering the boys on throughout the race and afterwards girls wanted to pose with them in pictures. Isn´t that wonderful?! You really get a sense of community whenever you spend time among the Rapa Nui. Somehow I don´t see Dutch youngsters celebrating our old traditions this way, let alone in thongs! So, whenever you come to Easter Island, try to do it in February to catch some of the beautiful island spirit.
Tapati Rapa Nui
Tapati Rapa Nui
Yesterday we were a little worn by all the sightseeing, so we decided to spend the afternoon at Anakena Beach. I believe that this is the most beautiful beach on the island with palm trees, white sand and clear water. We spent a couple of hours there playing in the waves like small children and somehow our time here is almost up already.
Tomorrow morning at 8 AM we catch a flight back to Santiago and we´re spending our last day here getting organized, although I hope we can make it to the beach in the afternoon as well. You might not hear from me for a while. As you might remember, we´re meeting our friends in Santiago and we´ll spend 2 weeks with them traveling through Chile and Argentina and I don´t intend to waste any of our time together by spending hours in an internet café blogging. Like my friend Danielle once told me: ¨Life is for living!¨
If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!
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