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 | Easter Island Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 48 |  |
Of the three major volcanoes that give Easter Island its triangular shape, the highest, Maunga Terevaka, is perhaps the least dramatic even though its slopes and subsidary vents form a very large part of the island's 112 square kilometres.
Terevaka is the youngest of all the volcanoes, a mere 240,000 years old. The crater, known as Rano Aroi, is not very distinct, it's more a series of ridges so that when you think you're about to reach the top, there's another crest in front of you. The volcano's only a little over 500 metres high, the track to the top is a long and fairly gentle slope and it is possible, sometimes, to drive virtually all the way - if you have a four wheel drive vehicle. However, you can't count on the track being passable at all times. After rain - and it rains a lot on Easter Island, the track can be extremely slippery and often breaks away in places.
Given the changeable weather conditions the island experiences, the hike to the top can prove to be rather more strenuous than you would expect. Damp, windy days (such as we experienced) expose you to a very chilly walk in very strong winds, whilst bright sunshine would make it hot and thirsty work. The view from the top is spectacular however.
There is a track indicated from Ahu Akivi to Terevaka but it is not well maintained or clear and takes you across a very empty stretch of country. Better by far is to travel out of Hanga Roa on the main road until you see the sign for Terevaka and turn off there. Alow at least 3 or 4 hours if you intend to walk a fair bit of the way, and don't forget the water and sunscreen if it's hot. Leave a Comment
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 by easyoar
Once in Poike (see separate tip), head for the three volcanic hills that are over to the left hand side. You want to drive along the wheel ruts so that you go just to the right of the one most in land. Almost as soon as you have gone past this, you will see a clump of trees. You need to either drive through these or around them, and then pick up the wheel ruts the other side that take you down to the cliff edge and then turn to follow the side of the cliff (still in the wheel ruts) until you drive through a bush (the wheel ruts go through it). Shortly after if you look carefully you should see some flattened grass. Park up here and walk down to the cliff edge. You should see what appears to be a bit of a land slip providing an initially relatively easy descent. Head down and then around to the left and down. At this point it gets a bit nasty. However you should just about be able to guess where the cave is now, even if you can't quite make it out yet. If the wind is blowing be careful as it is pretty narrow. The entrance is likely to be much smaller and narrower than you expect. Please see next tip for details of what is inside. The attached picture shows the last bit of the descent. The entrance to the cave is a little lower than middle of the picture, and just a bit to the left. The drops speak for themselves.
Note:- If you decide to follow these instructions I cannot take any responsibility for your safety. I highly recommend you take a guide if you decide to visit. Leave a Comment
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 The Hat Quarry at Puna Pau by easyoar
Puna Pau is near Ahu Akivi. It is an old volcanic crater make of skoria - a red rock that is very soft and easy to carve. There are a handful of hats (pukao) still inside the crater - it would have been a none trivial task just to push the newly made hat out of the creater as the walls are all quite steep and the hats are pretty large!
There are quite good views from up on the crater rim both into the crater, and out and around Easter Island. This photo tries to show a bit of both of these views. Another volcanic cone can be seen in the background. In the days when Easter Island had fully functioning volcanoes, it must have been a pretty unpleasant place as there are volcanoes almost everywhere you go. There are wild horses in the crater down amongst the discarded hats. Leave a Comment
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 Moai in the British
Museum by easyoar
This statue, 'Hoa-haka-nanaiai' was discovered at Orongo. It had been buried under rising soil levels. In 1868, the British Mar of War H.M.S. Topaz (His/Her Majesties Ship) stopped at Easter Island and removed two Moai. These apparently are both currently in the London (U.K.)., although only this one is on display.
This statue was taken for two reasons. One being that it is relatively small (i.e. much easier to carry), the other being that it has very ornate carvings on the back.
Two hundred people were needed to help move this Moai from Orongo (the ceremonial village) onto the ship. Unfortunately, During the voyage to England, the red and white paint on the Moai was washed off by the water spray from the voyage. Once it arrived in the UK it was given to Queen Victoria, who later gave it to the British Museum.
This statue is supposed to have been made around 1000 AD and is extremely well preserved. It is likely that this moai was carved during the dark ages of Easter Island. This was when the naives had cut down all the trees and were effectively stranded on the island. At this point in time, they stopped building Moai, as they no longer had the ability to move them without wood, and started the Birdman-cult. This theory is specified as there is a birdman carved on the back of the Moai. It is possible however that this was carved on to it later.
I have to admit that whilst the statue is in extremely good condition (preservation wise) which is nice to see as the statues you see on Easter Island are more worn by the high winds they get there. It is a bit of a shame to see one standing so out of context inside the British Museum. I was greatly looking forward to seeing it, but felt little satisfaction once I had.
Address:
Great Russell Street, WC1, London, U.K.
Directions:
Holborn tube Leave a Comment
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 Wild Guavas - very tasty! by easyoarLeave a Comment
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 The white virgins cave by easyoar
(Note:- If you are a little squamish you may choose not to read on)
Once you have found the cave and have scrambled inside, turn on your torch and look at the left hand wall. It has several petroglyphs engraved on it. These include birdmen, plants and women's genitalia (more on the reason for this later). If you go further into the cave it gets a little bigger before a very narrow passage continues off (apparently for quite some distance). This very claustrophobic and dark cave was the home of the 'white virgins'. In the time of the birdman (see another tip), the winning athlete who collected the first egg was awarded a 'white virgin' as a prize. Women whose skin was very light were considered highly desirable on Easter Island in these times, and in order to whiten their skin, the selected virgin was placed in the cave for any time between 6 months and five years (this must have been horrific). The virgin was apparently selected not by her facial beauty or figure, but on the shape of her genitalia - and apparently not even the whole of it, but the most upward part. The petroglyphs on the wall near the entrance show what the correct shape should be in an ideal virgin. Leave a Comment
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 Sculptures on the back of
the 'British' Moai by easyoar
This is the 'Hoa-haka-nanaiai' statue, and it is extremely famous for the quality of the carvings on its back. There is a very obvious birdman carved on the back of its head, although you will need to enlarge the photo to see this. There are also two further bird men on the shoulders of this Moai (again visible in this photo), as well as two paddles on the sides of the head. It is hard to be sure whether these paddles are oars used for rowing boats with, or clubs used for fighting.
Address:
Great Russell Street, WC1, London, U.K.
Directions:
Holborn tube Leave a Comment
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 Hawk on Easter Island by easyoar
The most elegant of these is definitely the hawk you see here (flies wouldn't make a good photo!). There are a lot of the hawks around the island, and they are relatively tame, so you can get close enough to photograph them with a telephoto lens a lot of the time.
This hawk was taken by Anakena, but we saw them all over the island. Leave a Comment
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 Birdman petryglyph circled in
photo by CulturalCompetenceLeave a Comment
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 by easyoarLeave a Comment
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