| Page Views: 8,416 Last Visit to Easter Island: November, 2006 | Mysteries and moai by TheWanderingCamel - last update: Jan 17, 2007 |
So many unanswerable questions ...
... are posed when you visit Easter Island.
So many images haunt your mind when you leave.
Truly one of the world's great mysteries exists here on this tiny speck of land lying thousands of kilometres from anywhere in the vastness of the South Pacific.
Held by many as one of their dream destinations, having the opportunity to spend a few days here was the realization of an almost life-long ambition. How wonderful then that the reality of being there exceeded all expectations ... and only served to increase the sense of wonder and intrigue the island and its extraordinary sculptures had inspired for so many years.
|
|  | The islanders call themselves, and their island home, Rapa Nui. Polynesians, they are believed to have made the journey to the tiny island -just 23 by 11km - some 800 -1200 years ago. Much of their history is lost but just enough of an oral tradition survives to allow a glimpse into some of the puzzles the island poses... but much more is left unanswered and/or speculative.
Ever since their first sightings by outsiders - Dutch navigator Roggeveen named it Easter Island in honour of the day his ship arrived there in 1722, the island's first contact with Europeans - Rapa Nui's great stone heads have posed one of the world's great mysteries. Called moai by the islanders, they are to be found all over the island ... 887 of them in all. Intended to be set up as cult figures, nearly 300 can be found in or near their final position on the altars known as ahu; the rest are to be found either at the quarry where they were carved directly from the rock face or en route to the ahu. |
| | The figure here is one of the greatest puzzles. The only complete full figure statue (there are only a very few, very damaged, similar ones elsewhere on the island ), he kneels on the side of the volcano from which he was carved, his completely different facial features gazing upwards in seeming supplication. Far below him, dots in the distance, 15 moai stand on the Ahu Tongariki, the largest of all the island's ahu. These figures stand tall and straight, their now-empty eye sockets gazing straight ahead - haughty and aristocratic, and very different from the one here.
But this is only one of the island's mysteries. Time spent here will reveal more. Some questions will be answered but others will take their place. Many pre-conceived ideas will be refuted. The island will prove to offer much more than trophy photos of those monolithic heads as layers of cult and culture are revealed. I hope you'll enjoy this page as I build my impression of this unique place. More importantly - I hope some of you at least get the chance to make the journey for yourself one day.
leyle |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| In A Nutshell: | "Totally unique" |
TheWanderingCamel's Easter Island Travel Tips
 Comments for TheWanderingCamel about Easter Island | | | | |
unaS Mon Nov 2, 2009 23:17 UTC
Am considering this trip next year. Thanks for all of the great tips. Have saved most of them. | KiKitC Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:36 UTC
I've always wanted to go to Easter Island. I think I just learned more about it from your tips then searching the net. How incredible. I would love to take a compass near the Te Pito o Te Henau and see what happens. | jumpingnorman Tue Jun 2, 2009 08:36 UTC
That horse on Hanga Roa almost looks like a magical unicorn...very nice Easter Island pages! Hope I'll visit someday and also see the cave paintings and Te Pito o Te Henua - the navel of the world | Sharrie Sun May 31, 2009 15:22 UTC
I wish I had extended it to E.I. when I was in French Polynesia. Didn't plan in advance & had not even time to proceed here. That'd be the easiest gateway for me then! Hopefully, one fine day. Indeed, it's too remote unless one is living in Santiago! |
|
|
email me
add as friend
