Someone is keeping an eye on me
Rapa Nui or Easter Island?
It seems appropriate that I landed on Easter Island on a Chilean national holiday, one that celebrates the valor (rather than the success) of the Chilean navy, since it was that navy the claimed Easter Island in the mid 1880s. Surprisingly, the first European to visit arrived on Easter, 1722–and he was Dutch. Among my other predecessors was Captain Cook, who stopped here on his way to destiny in the Sandwich Islands. The human history of the island seems pretty grim–even before the Europeans, with settlement from Polynesia somewhere between the 4th and 12th century, overpopulation and environmental degredation preceeding the European discovery. As it is, the nearly 6000 Rapa Nui are part of Chile, attached to Valparaiso, nearly 2500 miles (and two time zones) away. To put that in perspective, that’s the distance from Sao Paulo to Santiago, but the great mystery to me is not the statues (more on the in a minute–and for the next two days), but why no European state claimed the island before Chile.
I got in around midday, with enough time to wander nearby, where there are both ceremonial platforms (ahu) and the carved statues (moai) within strolling distance. The island seems lush, with palm trees (many of the species are replaced, but a few were saved) despite the volcanic soil. I’ve got tours the next two days, and I’m expecting to be taken to the quiescent volcano. The island is apparently the top of a 9000+ foot mountain that has erupted.
The number of visitors is limited to around 220 newcomers per day, with one flight from Santiago, and apparently another that goes from Tahiti to Easter Island to Santiago a few days a week. The hotels are owned by local people; although Chile has welcomed foreign direct investment (and, in the case of the vineyard yesterday, foreign ownership/operations), there apparently is none on the island. Hence, there’s no 5 star Hiltons or Marriots.
Besides the sightseeing and the food, there’s fishing and snorkeling and scuba shops here, but watching the sun kiss the Pacific at dinner, this side of the island catches the waves. I’ll probably get to see the whole island on my full day tour tomorrow.
I did get to watch the sunset through the clouds at a restaurant on a westward facing point. I had a local fish, called piki. Must be for picky eaters.