My story of the MOAI and other Easter Island, Chile General Tips

Favorite Thing: Our visit to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was part of an around the world trip. A more or less affordable way to visit this most remote inhabited island in the world. We were attracted by an article in a travel magazine and a TV documentary. Off course we saw pictures of some standing moai and thought that might be all.

We were so curious to ‘discover’ Rapa Nui and to see the giant stone statues with our own eyes. The reality was so different from the pictures, it was almost unbelievable. We saw 38 re-erected moai standing on 8 altars (ahu) all over the island. But we never realised there were much more moai. Most impressive is the ‘moai factory’ on the slopes of the Rano Raraku, where almost 400 moai in all stages of carving can be found.

Some facts about the moai, which we heard, read or saw with our own eyes.
If you have more or supplementary information about the moai of Rapa Nui please let me know.

- total number of moai on Easter Island: 887
- number of moai successfully transported to an ahu: 288
- number of moai in the Rano Raraku quarry: 397
- carving and erecting moai started around the year 700, but the most were made between 1000 and 1650
- due to fighting’s between rival tribes the moai were destroyed; the last one was thrown down in 1864
- from 1950 on moai were restored and re-erected
- the smallest moai is just 1,13 m; the largest moai once erect is 9,80 m

For those who are interested to read more about the moai and the mysteries of Rapa Nui I can recommend a couple of websites:
- http://www.world-mysteries.com/easter_island.htm (with a lot of links)
- http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/easter1.htm
- http://www.islandheritage.org/
- http://www.visitrapanui.cl/

Hope you will enjoy your trip to Rapa Nui.


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Of course we did read a lot about Easter Island and found excellent information on the internet (also VT), but we HIGHLY recommend to take at least one guided tour on the island. Otherwise it is almost impossible to understand the mysteries of the moai and the very special culture of Rapa Nui.
We still regret we didn't take other (half) day tours !!

We did a whole day tour with AO Tour, with Patricio Ballerino. This guy is really one of the best guides we ever had during our travels. Patricio has always small groups, because he has to transport his 'guests' in his mini bus. He speaks English very well.
He was more a host than a tour guide. Always willing to explain things, never in a hurry. Besides he is a great guy.

Website: www.aotour.cl
E-mail: patricio@aotour.cl


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Easter Island is a great destination for photographers. What about the moai and ahu, the scenery with the wild coastline, the volcano's and the people of Rapa Nui.

Some tips to think about:
- Off course you want to have a picture together with a moai; best place to make these
kind of pictures is the 'moai factory' of Ranu Raraku. Here you can come as close as you
want to the moai.
Please don't do it on other ahu, because these are sacred places for the people of Rapa Nui
and you shouldn't walk on these altars.

- Everywhere on the island you will see horses; wild and also people riding on them.
When you want to make a picture of Rapa Nui people riding their horses please ask
permission to make a pic (some of them will ask you some money !!).

- The best place to make a picture from a fantastic sunset is Tahai, just north of Hanga Roa.


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Off course you want to prepare your visit to Easter Island before you are leaving from home. The more you know the more you will understand of the mysteries of the island. And you will be able to have the right questions on a guided tour.

Reading a guidebook (and off course the tips on Virtual Tourist) is the best way. But I can highly recommend 'The complete Guide to EASTER ISLAND'. This book, edited by the Easter Island Foundation, has much more depth than the usual travel books (like Lonely Planet and others).

This guide is a mixture between latest scientific and tourist information. There are sections on history, legends, conservation, antiquities. Besides the chapter on the Rapanui language, there are a lot of interesting maps, also if you will decide to explore Rapa Nui on your own.
On the website you will find more books about Easter Island.

You can order this book for USD 25 (excluding costst of shipping) from:
The Easter Island Foundation
www.islandheritage.org
rapanuibooks@att.nett

If you just want to look for more information on the internet, surf on these two websites:
www.visitrapanui.cl
www.rapanuiweb.com


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Rapa Nui has just one bank 'Banco del Estado de Chile', which is located on Tu'u Maheke Street (close to the Information Centre) and is open from 8.00 am - 1.00 pm on weekdays.

It is possible to change cash and travellers checks, but rates are poor and the commission on checks is high. We could get our (Chilean) money from the ATM at the bank, using our 'Cirrus' debit bank card. It accepts also 'MasterCard', but NOT 'Plus'.
The ATM operates 24 hours per day.


Leave a Comment