Easter Island Part 1

The only pier on Easter Island

 

The Moai down the hill from our cabana

Almost all of the people of Easter Island live in the only town because there is little water or electricity outside town. 

All moai were knocked over in the 1700's by warring families

The catholic church with mixed symbols. Some are the old RapaNui religion and some are Christian. Better to hold both and be covered!

Hiking on Easter Island was difficult. Rocks were everywhere.

The Spanish placed crosses on the hill in the 1700's but the people needed the wood more so they removed and used the crosses. Eventually, crosses were replaced.

The island is scattered with caves (lava tubes) which were used to store family treasures.

Don't touch the moai!

Some things just can't be helped.

 
There are many young horses this year. We were told that some people leave water out for the horses to drink but mostly they drink whatever rain water they can find on the rocks. 

 

We stayed in the middle cabana. 

Freeze dried foods were worth the trouble to carry into Chile. Meals were very expensive since almost all food is imported. We did eat many empanadas since they were the least expensive food option. I don't think I ever want to see another empanada!

This is the position of most moais. He was lucky and didn't break his neck......

 

But, he lost the top knot from the top of his head. The original people of Rapa Nui had long, stretched earlobes and red hair worn on top of their heads. Look for the long ears on the moai.

 

January is dry season but we had record rains while we were there. Several times our host came to tell us that we weren't having a hurricane.