Easter Island - A Gem in the Middle of Nowhere!

We didn't know what to expect on Easter Island, which is primarily and almost exclusively known for its enigmatic statues.  The guidebooks and Trip Advisor didn't have much to say about the island, other than the statues, and even suggested you could visit the island in one day.  Luckily, we had planned to spend 3 1/2 days exploring the island and its surprising sites. 

Easter Island, although part of Chile, is a 5-hour flight and 2,200 miles from the mainland.  Tahiti is the next closest civilization, another 5 hour flight west.  You have to really want to get here - it isn't an accidental destination!   It's not on the way to anywhere... unless you happen to be traveling on an "around the world" ticket and trying to get from South America to Asia.  Which, luckily for us, we were!  Easter Island and Tahiti were definitely not on our radar screen when we made our initial destination list.  How fortunate for us that the OneWorld network made this the most interesting way to cross the Pacific!

With our big stone friend and little dog friends!

We were welcomed to Easter Island with flower leis, sunshine, crashing waves, and 900 stoic stone figures.  At 63 sq. miles, and with only a few roads, it is possible to drive everywhere on the island in a single day.   Wild horses and their colts roam everywhere and outnumber the 5,000 human inhabitants.  Domestic pets appear to breed unchecked and we were compelled to save two starving, abandoned puppies at one of the Moai sites.   We were also adopted by an insistent (and now well-fed) neighborhood cat.   

Sitting on the belly button of the world

With a guide, we set off in our little red rental jeep on the island's bumpy roads to explore the extensive underground volcanic caves, abandoned towns and many Moai sites.  Easter Island has a mysterious past, but historians believe people from Polynesia first inhabited the island around 800 AD.  The indigenous culture traces its origins back to a famous king who led 200 people in two canoes from their sinking island (Hiva) in search of a new home. The famous Moai statues were created to honor their deceased kings and keep the mana (power) of their ancestors alive to protect their tribes.  It is mind-blowing to visit the quarry, where over 400 Moais are permanently frozen in mid-production, and contemplate how the stone age islanders transported these 35-foot tall statues to the coast and erected them.  Unfortunately, lack of resources caused tribal warfare and all of the 500 standing Moai were knocked down centuries ago.  About 30 have been restored to their previous positions.  The ancestor-worshipping beliefs were replaced by the "birdman" cult at some point, but that's another story!  We also visited the "belly button of the world"!

We fell in love with Easter Island’s remoteness and laid-back culture.  Small beachside restaurants cling to the shore and tiny shops line the Main Street of Mauna Roa, the only settlement on the island.  We stayed in Eco Cabanas (with our cat) and peddled mountain bikes into town in search of groceries at the sparsely stocked supermarkets.  We hiked the sloping volcanoes, explored the expansive caves via cell phone flashlight and played in the waves on the beach.  Our flight plan and the mysterious stone statues drew us to Easter Island, but it was all the things the island had to offer that made it an “over the top” experience.