Today we got to sleep in till 8, a luxury, and we were off to learn about the moai and the Rapa Nui people and the island that bears their name. First we started back at the Rano Kau crater and this time visited the Orongo village. This was a holy village that was only inhabited for less than a week each year for the birdman competition. The competition decided which of the 16 clans would rule that year. It involved groomed athletes that would do this grueling competition of physical activities. First they would climb from the village to the sea side of the caldera and further climb down that to the sea. Then they would swim on their reed surf boards to the largest island and snatch an egg from a sea bird and bring back the egg whole. It took between two to three hours. They started this competition to replace the carving of the moai after a brutal civil war that lead to ultra violence and cannibalism.
We then visited an unearthed and recreated village and saw how they lived. Their houses were boat houses, looking completely like a large upside-down canoe. Their gardens were fascinating, they built 1.5 meter walls around all their plants to protect them from wind and because they were made out of lava rock, moisture. Then we visited the quarry Rano a Raraku where almost all of the moai were made. It was a crazy landscape of giant heads sticking up out of the ground at odd angles. The moai would be made for an important person and erected in their village to watch over them forever. The more moai you had, the stronger your clan. Then a visit to Ahu Tongariki, the most famous spot on Rapa Nui. Here the Japanese restored the moai and platform, leaving 15 standing moai. It was impressive, all those stone faces staring in. Originally all the moai had eyes made of white coral and pupils of obsidian. After that we went for a nice dinner at a ridiculously small table of a pile of fries with meat and sauce, a Chilean specialty. Think poutine. A fun day where we learned a lot and got to see some amazing artifacts.
