Day 2 on Rapa Nui

Our second day was probably Tyler's favorite because the first thing we did when we got to town was rent a scooter. We then followed the map they gave us that took us on the one and only that goes around most of the island. The first half was beautiful riding along the coast, we stopped off at many Moai, including dozens that had face planted (been pulled down), I think from uprising and revolting slaves who had built them but I can't say for sure without more research.

loving his scooter

The Rano Raraku is a volcano and also the birthplace of many Moai. After climbing into the crater and admiring the little blue lake, we walked around the outside which resembled a graveyard of Moai. Random pieces of them could be seen pushing out of the dirt, in some places only a nose.

The heads were strewn about. If you look closely you can see a large Moai carved into the mountainside. It was somewhat eerie to walk around these giant statues and think of how tall they once stood and how strong.

from the top of the volcano

Find the Moai carved into the volcano near the bottom

A Compass cant find north

 From this sight it was a short drive to Tongariki, it’s the location of the 15 Moai, in all levels of degradation, but still the stand tall, in a line on the beach. They are a fantastic sight, they seem proud. 

We kept driving and at one point turned off on an unmarked road because the scooter in front of us did so. We found ourselves in a secluded cove where locals went and enjoyed their secret. The waters were clear and the sands warm. They stared at us like we weren’t in the right place, and we weren’t, we were looking for Anakena Beach. Tyler touched the clearest, bluest water he’d ever seen and then we left.

 

 We knew when we’d reached Anakena because the beach was crowded and much less beautiful. The Locals had it right. A little off the beach where was an impressive group of Moai in some of the best conditions that we saw. I think the hands of the Moai statues are very interesting, their fingers are long and thin and unlike the rest of the full figured statue.

Statues at Anakena

On the ride back towards town, we stopped at a large cave and as we’d left our scooter about a mile back with our flashlights we were happy to see some tour groups and made our way through the cave on their light sources.

For the first two weeks of February every year, Easter Island, Rapa Nui, celebrates the Tapati. It’s their two weeks of celebration and we happened to have perfect timing. That night we watched a local band play, then a dance group whose style of dance is very similar to Hawaiian, and then we saw an accordion competition. Yep, accordion. One after the next a middle aged man came on stage in his floral shirt and played a song while singing along and was then judged by the group of judges seated behind the crowd. Tyler and I were really tired so after about the 5^th or 6^th competitor we took the scooter back to the house to sleep. Good night all, sweet dreams.