March 18, 2010

What a lovely island! Of the 4500 people here, 4000 live in and around Hanga Roa. We spent the first day aboard, and watched launcha after launcha with 10 Japanese tourists at a time go back and forth from the ship "Oceanic," which had large lettering 'Peace Boat' on its side, and was also decaled "fight to end world poverty by 2015.".... We relaxed, and M. got our pressure water working again by replacing the high pressure switch on the Shurflo water pump that had failed. The day after, we ventured in through the surf (not too bad) to stretch our legs and explore. And walk we did....to check out the many tienda's (small shops where you can get fresh fruit, veggies, chicken, meats, eggs, spices, alcoholic bevs, etc...), pay our 'health dues' at the bank (about $80.00 US), and visit the Armada (navy). Our friends on Soggy Paws came ashore after getting checked in, and we found an internet cafe. It's always good to log on and feel connected....even for a little while. We celebrated everyone's arrival aboard Infini...and had the crews from Pursuit IV (Gary & Tara) and Zepherus (Andy & Rhian) join us also. Canadian registered, Zepherus had come from Juan Fernandez Is. (between Chile and here)---having experienced the tsunami effects (due to the recent earthquake in Chile) first hand. They plucked people out of the water floating by, corralled a loose dinghy, and 'donated' their outboard engine so a family of 4 could get back to shore, since they were ordered to leave before the second wave hit. They said there was no warning on the island, and the destruction was horrible. The next day we took a very scenic walk to the P. Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum. It's named for a German Capuchin missionary who studied the way of life and language of Rapa Nui society. He came to live on Easter Is. in 1935 and published many books about the culture. It gave us a good introduction about the different sites we want to see while here. Walking along any road you may encounter horses grazing on any available grass....even if it's between the pavers of the sidewalk! They're beautiful, friendly,and all branded. We took a half day tour the next day; Christian was a young local who spoke good English. Our first stop was Ana Kai Tangata (ana meaning cave)- where we saw petroglyphs of frigate birds on the walls...very scenic and dramatic, being right on the ocean. Next was the Orongo Ceremonial Village, with 54 stone houses built into the side of the cliff, and more petroglyphs. This village was only used once a year for their 'birdman' competition---which determined what family was going to rule the island for the next year. It involved a marathon to get to the offshore islet and come back with a specific bird egg intact...and took place in the 'winter,' which means cold weather and lots of wind, as well as sharks! The Rano Kau Crater was an easy walk next...the spectacular view awesome. This extinct crater is now the main location for the conservation of the island's native flora. The totora reeds covering the lake in floating bogs make it a dreamlike, unreal place. Ahu Vinapu (ahu: burial site, platform, ceremonial altar; 350 around the island) was our last stop, apparently showing the finest level of the old architecture. The Moai (monolithic statues) were interesting. If I remember correctly, it was explained to us that about 900 moai were originally constructed over the span of hundreds of years, but only 400 actually were placed upright by a series of ropes and levers. In war time, opponents wanted to pull down their enemies moai, as it was thought that the moai contained the spirit of the person or family it represented, so taking the shell eyes out and pulling it face down gave mani (life force) to the tribe who was more powerful. At this time only a relative handful of moai (was it 40?) stand upright and intact, and it's thrilling to stand next to these giant (some are over 40 ton!) depictions and memorials to man's spirit life. I'll have to take some time to download those pictures soon....but there's still so much to see!