The shore excursion on Easter Island we signed up for today was called, “Mysterious Moai and Handcraft Marketplace.” Weather was beautiful, and the tender boat ride to the island was even nicer than yesterday.
Transportation again today was the 20-person minibus, and there were four total buses for our tour group. We drove through the town of Hanga Roa and the countryside, seeing rolling hills and many horses, but very little agriculture. The fields were covered by many large, volcanic rocks.
At our first stop, our guide gave us a lengthy talk on Easter Island history. He stated that Polynesian (Rapa Nui) people first inhabited the island around 300 AD and, over the centuries that followed, they built a society in isolation from the rest of the world. Of most interest are the Moai stone statues (close to 900 of them) that they built and installed all around the island. The period when the Moai were carved is thought to have been between 1250 A.D. and 1500 A.D.
Rapa Nui National Park encloses almost 90% of the island, and it includes Moai varying in height from 6 to 65 feet. The volcanic rocks that were quarried for sculpting the statues are a distinctive color of soft "volcanic tuff" found only at one quarry on the southeast side of the island. Some of the Moai also have a cap (or topknot) on the top of their heads carved from red “scoria.” This may have suggested higher status.
Once completed in the quarry, they were moved great distances and erected, almost always close to the coast, facing inward, away from the ocean. Many hundreds of unfinished Moai have been found still remaining in the quarries, some of which were very tall. The guide said that Moai statues were constructed to honor ancestors and were thought to bestow ‘mana’ on living leaders to protect and bring prosperity to their clan and village.
Transportation of the statues from the stone quarry to specific village sites around the island has always been considered remarkably creative and a physical feat. There are a lot of theories about how it was done, but nothing definitive has been agreed upon to this point, even though studies and reconstruction efforts (with international assistance) have been ongoing for more than 60 years.
The guide further said that most experts now agree that island population eventually grew to numbers too large to be supported by their single island’s ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush forests were totally destroyed, having been cleared for agriculture and for moving the Moai. Social order then broke down and, eventually, all of the Moai were torn down, apparently by the islanders themselves during a desperate period of warfare in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. All the statues we see standing around the island now are the result of international archaeological efforts.
Transportation of the statues from the stone quarry to specific village sites around the island has always been considered remarkably creative and a physical feat. There are a lot of theories about how it was done, but nothing definitive has been agreed upon to this point, even though studies and reconstruction efforts (with international assistance) have been ongoing for more than 60 years.
The guide further said that most experts now agree that island population eventually grew to numbers too large to be supported by their single island’s ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush forests were totally destroyed, having been cleared for agriculture and for moving the Moai. Social order then broke down and, eventually, all of the Moai were torn down, apparently by the islanders themselves during a desperate period of warfare in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. All the statues we see standing around the island now are the result of international archaeological efforts.
A frustrating part about visiting when we did was that the sun was shining directly from the rear of the statues into our eyes; beautiful, fully lighted photographs were not possible. We also weren’t allowed to get close to the statues. We don’t think the ancient Rapa Nui people had this in mind when they erected the Moai here in this location. Jim had to capture them from the side.
From there, we took a short ride to the site of Ahu Tahai, located on the west coast of the island. This is the site we can see in the distance from our ship. The site itself contains three principal ahu that we could visit: Ko Te Riku (with restored eyes), Tahai, and Vai Ure. Our guide told us that these three ahu were built at different times, perhaps as much as 10 centuries apart.
Photo conditions were much more favorable here. First is Ko Te Riku (with restored eyes)
The other two sites (in one photo):
One thing we did see was the very long runway (11,000 feet) at the airport, which some call “the most remote airport in the world.” The closest airports of any size are more than five hours flying time (to Santiago, and to Papeete, for instance), and planes would need enough fuel on board to turn back and return, if they weren’t able to land at Easter Island. Large, heavy airplanes are needed in order to reach this place. We were told that the runway was built many years ago for the NASA space program, as an emergency landing site for return of the Space Shuttle in an unplanned, emergency de-orbit.
Return to our ship via tender was uneventful today, thankfully.
To catch up on evening entertainment. During this segment of the World Cruise, there are now two shows every night: either an early evening (8:15pm) cabaret-style show in the Starlite Club or showband/dancing party in the Crystal Cove (sometimes early, sometimes late). But there’s always a more formal show in the Galaxy Lounge at 9:15pm, either a guest “headliner” or a production show by the Crystal Singers, Dancers, and Showband.
We saw the Imagine show a second time. This is the one in complete darkness with LED lights that are computer controlled on the clothing worn by performers (Crystal Singers and Dancers). The first time was about three weeks ago, when we sat close to the stage. This time we sat further back in the audience, and the effect was much better. Either way, it’s a great show. Neil Lockwood had a fourth show, and we skipped it this time, as we decided we needed the sleep more (as we said before, there were four time-zone changes in four days). Next there was Rick Faugno (Las Vegas singer and tap-dancer), and the Curtain Call production number. We’ve seen Curtain Call many times, but it’s always a good show and the Abba numbers at the end of the show are always fun and sends everybody out of the theatre humming and feeling happy. We even went to the 10:15pm Crystal White Extravaganza tonight (after Curtain Call). There was the juggling wine steward Emrah Cihangir and the Latin Dance Performers, but then it degenerated into dancing opportunities for single ladies with the Ambassador Dance Hosts. At that point, we went to bed. I guess it’s fun for those ladies, but not as much for the rest of us.
We now have three sea days as we cruise eastbound 1,700 nautical miles to Robinson Crusoe Island, where we’re scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, April 4th.
Jim & Ginny
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