Easter Island Magic: Moai Don’t Lie
This is Part 2 of my Easter Island write-up. You can read Part 1 here.
Day 2
The next morning, I was woken up (I wish I could say at dawn, but really, it must have been at least 10am…) by sunshine and heat piercing through my tent. In need of transportation to visit the rest of the island, I swiftly enrolled two of my fellow campers, Clarance from Singapore and Shingo from Japan, to hire a car with me.
I soon discovered why all the vehicles on offer were 4X4 Jeeps, as I volunteered to drive and quickly found myself trying to dodge massive mud pools and potholes – a pretty interesting experience for my first time driving outside of France!
Our adventurous roamings into the heart of the island and along the East coast took us to the various archeological sites of Ahu Akivi (where the 7 explorers who first visited Rapa Nui are immortalised in stone), Puna Pau and Rano Raraku…
A little later, I couldn’t help getting stupidly emotional at the sight of these fallen moai, lying face down in the grass a few metres from the seashore… Why, it WAS so sad..:
Having surmounted our (my) upset, we pressed on to reach Ahu Tongariki, the island’s most-photographed site with its alignment of 15 moai – a truly impressive and inspiring sight.
As the island’s most mystical place – and by virtue of its location – Ahu Tongariki is Rapa Nui’s official sunrise-watching spot. We vowed therefore to return early in the morning the next day to catch the first sun rays, and made our way back to Hanga Roa to get ready for our special evening treat.
I hadn’t been sure what to expect when the owner of our campsite had suggested we attend a Rapa Nui show that night… However, I grew curious when I realized that he was going with his family as well, and later found out that they watched the show together every week: it might actually be good?!
Well, it was! The hour-and-a-half show put on by the professional Kari-Kari company turned out to be a very colourful, entertaining performance of traditional dance, song and storytelling.
And in case you’re wondering what on earth that must look like, here’s some exclusive footage:
Of course, the performance that night was crowned by my own guest appearance, as I was invited by a long-haired warrior to join him on stage. No, that was not embarrassing AT ALL.
I thought I might have landed myself a husband, but sadly I was sent back to my seat when the song was over… There was an encore for me however, as I was granted backstage access to pose with my new hip-shaking colleagues at the end of the show.
On the drive back to the campsite, the owner’s son casually informed me that he enjoys attending the shows because he’s learning the dances and songs at school. Well, it certainly sounds a lot more fun than geometry!
Easter Island, bore or beauty – what’s your verdict? Have you always dreamt of going to legendary Rapa Nui? Let me know in the comments below!
If you would like to follow the rest of my adventures, consider subscribing to the blog to receive all updates by email, and connecting with Camille in Wonderlands on Facebook, where I regularly post snapshots and musings that haven’t made it onto the site.
Looking forward to part three! I have been obsessed with Easter Island for so long now. I should be there this December.
Thanks for your comment Jennifer! It’s great that you’re going to Easter Island, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for a nice, cheap place to stay I’d recommend the Tipanie Moana hostel & campsite. I rented a fully-equipped tent on the site and it was very good – I’m planning to write about Tipanie Moana and give some more advice on things to do and how to save money on the island in part 3 (which will come as soon as I can transfer my pictures from CD to my laptop!).
Thank you for the wonderful links and resources.