Easter Island--my favorite places

Rona Kau crater

Late our second day, we drove up the winding road to Orongo, a 17^th century ceremonial village that is notably different from anything preceding it.  The low, flat houses, probably used only a few weeks a year by royalty or priests or both, are built of flagstone, which we didn’t see anywhere else. 

tiny rock islands off Orongo point

It appears to have been quarried from the rim of the beautiful Rano Kau crater on whose flank the village was built.  You can walk around the silent stone houses on a path that overlooks the Pacific, high above it.  There are 2 tiny rock islands, but that is all for well over 1000 miles.  It’s just the ocean, the volcano, the houses and you when you wander around this lovely place.

Rano Kau is a perfect crater, with a hole blown out of one side giving you a perfect view of the brilliant blue Pacific beyond.  I could have stayed for hours.  Deep in the crater is a marsh,  partly lake and mostly reeds.  Because the steep walls of the volcano protect plant life from the salt winds, the interior has its own ecosystem different from anywhere else on the island.  I thought it was spectacular.

looking back at Tomgariki moai against the Pacific

My other favorite place, which I’ve already mentioned in an earlier blog, is Tongariki, on the eastern end of the island, home to 15 of the giant moai, returned to their stately places after a tsunami toppled them by Japanese patrons.  You drive along the rugged northern coast, up over a rise, and there they are, perfectly placed on their terrace and higher platform, surrounded by bright green grass (and horses) on the inland side and the turquoise and topaz blue Pacific behind them.  They face inland, probably protecting their people from any threats from the ocean.  Only one moai has its topknot, but the rest are lined up in the field, perhaps to be returned to their owners’ heads one day.

Don and a fallen moai on our cliff hike

view from top of volcano

We did 2 hikes, which were also wonderful—one along the northern coast and the other up Maunga Terevaka, the largest and highest (not very high, though) volcano with multiple craters on its flanks, a marshy lake inside one, and rounded, lumpy edges to its craters.  Easy hiking with wonderful views.  From the top you can see the entire island from end to end and side to side.  Part of the island, where we had hoped to hike, is accessible only with a guide—some thought that one might get lost, though that is hard to imagine on this very tiny speck of rock far out in the Pacific.