Easter Island
Backpacking Eight Months On the Road
Bus Through South America
By David Rice
Backpacking Eight Months On the Road
Bus Through South America
By David Rice
| Easter Island Page Thirty Five |
Easter Island
Backpacking by Bus In South America
Eight Months On the Road
Text and Photos By David Rice
Backpacking by Bus In South America
Eight Months On the Road
Text and Photos By David Rice
Easter Island
After arriving in Santiago I took the metro to the house
where I had first stayed on my way south. The lady had a full
house but had another place where she offered me a
private room on a tree-lined street for the same price.
I had earlier made a reservation via the internet for a trip by
the airline Lan Chile to Easter Island. Once I arrived in
Santiago I confirmed my reservation and they booked me
on the following day for a $700 round trip flight, a figure
about twice what a Chilean pays.
The airline flies three times a week to Easter Island,
2,500-miles off the Chilean coast. Easter Island, locally
called Rapa Nui by its 2500 residents, 70% of whom are
native Pascuenses and speak a Polynesian language,
officially speaks Spanish.
Our jet touched down at Hanga Roa airfield and from there
I walked the entire island the first day, about 12 hours of
hiking. The path took me through all the heads, including
some that had been knocked down by a huge wave and
had been replanted with the help of donations from the
Japanese. Volcanic rock was everywhere and although the
Island had been denuded of trees long ago by the ancient
carvers of the stones, there now are Eucalyptus trees
growing.
Most heads faced inland with just a few facing the sea, one
of the many enigmas that still defy researcher's
understanding as they try to make some sense of the Island
archaeologically. The stones tell them that the inhabitants
started carving the colossal figures in the 7th century AD
and continued up until the 15th Century. The rest is a
mystery
I stayed in a private home out on the tip of the island at the
edge of the ocean where I paid $35 a night. I stayed four
nights, plenty of time to see the whole island, including the
volcano, the standing heads, and the quarry where the
ancient people carved the heads.
I was hitchhiking one day when a local gal picked me up. I
asked about all the horses that I had seen roaming free.
"Oh yes," she said, in a matter of fact way, "We eat them"
After arriving in Santiago I took the metro to the house
where I had first stayed on my way south. The lady had a full
house but had another place where she offered me a
private room on a tree-lined street for the same price.
I had earlier made a reservation via the internet for a trip by
the airline Lan Chile to Easter Island. Once I arrived in
Santiago I confirmed my reservation and they booked me
on the following day for a $700 round trip flight, a figure
about twice what a Chilean pays.
The airline flies three times a week to Easter Island,
2,500-miles off the Chilean coast. Easter Island, locally
called Rapa Nui by its 2500 residents, 70% of whom are
native Pascuenses and speak a Polynesian language,
officially speaks Spanish.
Our jet touched down at Hanga Roa airfield and from there
I walked the entire island the first day, about 12 hours of
hiking. The path took me through all the heads, including
some that had been knocked down by a huge wave and
had been replanted with the help of donations from the
Japanese. Volcanic rock was everywhere and although the
Island had been denuded of trees long ago by the ancient
carvers of the stones, there now are Eucalyptus trees
growing.
Most heads faced inland with just a few facing the sea, one
of the many enigmas that still defy researcher's
understanding as they try to make some sense of the Island
archaeologically. The stones tell them that the inhabitants
started carving the colossal figures in the 7th century AD
and continued up until the 15th Century. The rest is a
mystery
I stayed in a private home out on the tip of the island at the
edge of the ocean where I paid $35 a night. I stayed four
nights, plenty of time to see the whole island, including the
volcano, the standing heads, and the quarry where the
ancient people carved the heads.
I was hitchhiking one day when a local gal picked me up. I
asked about all the horses that I had seen roaming free.
"Oh yes," she said, in a matter of fact way, "We eat them"
Easter Island, David Rice Photo
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