I am sitting on my veranda with my computer, looking across the bay to Easter Island. I feel blessed to be here but sad that I won’t actually get to step on land. I was looking forward to seeing the Orongo Village remains, the Rano Kau Volcano, and hearing more about the religion and politics of the “birdman.” I also was looking forward to seeing and hearing about the previous faith with the Rano Rakuri Quarry at the Ranu Rakuri Volcano, the Ahu Tonguriki, and the enormous Moai. But Easter Island is notoriously difficult to access because of the seas. When we anchored in the bay, it felt like we were sitting on a children’s bouncy castle or as I overheard on the ship – a washing machine. When the sun rose, I could see the waves splashing up high on the banks of the island, but I was still hopeful we would get on the island, see the sights, and buy the T-shirt and miniature statues to prove we were there.
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| Cook Bay (Hanga Roa Bay), Easter Island |
The captain sent the first tender boat off to shore to assess the conditions, and we waited and waited. Then we waited some more; the swells were so high that they had to close the tender doors because so much water was coming into the ship. Eventually, the captain made an announcement – the swells were too high for a safe transfer from the ship to the island. So instead of just leaving, he decided to take us on tour around the island, and the port authority (who had boarded before the first tender left) agreed to tell us all about his island as we went around.
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| Moto Nui, Moto Iti, Moto Kau Kau, and Easter Island |
The Birdman religion replaced the previous ancestor-based religion represented by the Moai. Part of the Birdman religion and politics required an annual contest in which one member from each tribe climbed down off the towering cliff on Easter Island and swam to one of the small islets – Moto Nui, Moto Iti, or Moto Kau Kau. Each tribe member waited for a bird to come and lay an egg, collected the bird egg, and swam back. The chieftain of the tribe member who returned first with an egg intact became the King for a year. The King served in isolation for 6 months and then in public for 6 months. Then the cycle started again.
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| Ahu Tangariki, Easter Island |
This is the closest we got to any of the Moai. According to our port authority narrator, these are not Moai once they are standing in place and have their eyes installed. At that point, they become the living embodiment of the Rapa Nui ancestors. The statues are standing with their backs to us – facing their descendants.
By the time we made it all the way around, the island was engulfed in the rain and was barely visible from the ship. A small boat with an outboard motor came and collected the port authority and took him back to the harbor.
Now nothing of the island is visible as we head off towards Tahiti a couple of hours ahead of schedule.
Maybe someday we will try again to go to Easter Island, but it may not be called that by the time we get back. The Dutch named the island Easter Island because they first saw it on Easter Sunday in 1722. The Spanish named is St. Charles Island in 1770, but that didn’t last. The island is working to get the official name back to the original Rapa Nui.
