The full day tour

Day 205 – Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile

For once, I was happy to be carted around in a bus all day. I was still tired, and I may have nodded off at some point or other in the bus.

That said, they took us tramping down the coast and up volcanoes -even if individually each outing is small, it adds up.

We started with Akahanga, where some stones in the ground show where there used to be boat-shaped houses. There is also the opening of a lava tube.

Akahanga – Toppled Moai

We followed with Ahu Tongariki, where I had been to watch the sunrise the day before. It was almost harder to take pictures by day, because there were tourist as close as possible to the Moai -and thus, difficult to avoid when snapping a shot.

Ahu Tongariki – 15 Moai, the biggest site

After that, Ranau Raraku, the volcano where the Moai were quarried. Around 400 monoliths, partially carved out or fully detached from the mountain, lay about. Many are buried with only the head sticking out of the grass. Some have bullet marks from when the Chilean army passed through.

Rano Raraku – See how there is a kind of hollow between two hills? Digging a trench allowed the workers to slide a finished Moai down the hill before standing it up in a hole, to finish the back. The eyes would be slits, the cavities only carved once the Moai reached its intended Ahu to be fitted with eyes.

We had lunch at Rano Raraku, but we left to make a short pause at Te Pito Kura. The Moai here is the biggest that was once standing. There is also a magnetic stone -we played around with my compass to see how the needle would lose the North close to it.

And we wrapped the day at Anakena Beach, the only beach with lifeguards. As most coasts are either cliffs or basalt stones, sand beaches are a rarity.

Watermelon juice

I forgot my swimsuit, so I consoled myself with a watermelon juice. The place has a few restaurants and souvenirs shops, bathrooms, and lots of palm trees. I resolved to come back.