Easter Island - A 5 day driving tour

We decided to hire a ...

Suzuki Jimny...one careful owner!

4WD

... so that we could avoid tour groups and explore the island at our own pace.

Day One - South West Loop

We drove from Hanga Roa up Rano Kau, Rapa Nui's largest volcanic crater.

Panorama of Rano Kau crater

Two and a half million years ago, the island's most spectacular eruption created this majestic crater. The lake is 1 km in diameter giving you a sense of the crater's size.

Alternatively you can use Paul to give you a sense of the crater's size because he is so small he makes the crater look large

At the crater we found this stone ...

If you look carefully you can see a petroglyph of a birdman

The crater is the last refuge of endemic plant species. It was in the crater that the last Toromiro tree was found (the tree the islanders exploited). The seed from this last tree has been used to save the species.

Toromiro Tree photographed in the Botanic Gardens

From the viewpoint we drove to Orongo, on the right hand side of the crater, - a village used as the starting point for the birdman competition. The village comprises houses and petroglyphs of Make Make (the creator) and Birdmen.

Some of the village remains

Partially reconstructed houses that were once used during the birdman competition

Entrance to a long meeting room

Close up of the houses

Notice the small doorways

Petroglyphs of birdmen were carved during the era of the birdman cult (end of 17th century).

View from the start point of the birdman competition. Notice the petroglyphs on the rock. The competitors had to use reed rafts to reach the largest of the three islets called Motu Nui.

Birdman petroglyph

Views from the village are spectacular...

During the birdman competition the competitors climbed down to the sea from here

Looking inland

Poike volcano in the distance

The birdman competition was the islanders' solution to the power struggles taking place and was a religious revolution. To find out about the competion click on the following link. Birdman Competition - Orongo

Make Make - the creator god

After visiting the village and admiring the view...

View from Orongo village of the three motu (islets)

We headed back down the volcano to visit Ana Kai Tangata, a cave with wall paintings.

Cave paintings

Images of the Sooty Tern

The paintings are of birds  and were painted using natural pigments and animal fat. The birds are Sooty Terns the same species used in the birdman competition.

View from the cave

The cave is believed to be a gathering place either before or after the competition.

The next site we visited was Vinapu on the South West corner of the island.

Vinapu has been excavated but left unrestored so that visitors can see the havoc wrought by the islanders when they toppled the moai.

This is an example of a female moai (one of very few) carved from red scoria. An original drawing shows that she had 2 heads.

Notice the petroglyphs that addorn this artefact

Head of a moai

Body of a moai

Top knot made from red scoria

During the tribal wars all the moai were pulled down so that the villagers no longer had the protection of their ancestors.

And the walls came tumbling down.

Vinapu is interesting because of it is the best example of platform stonework on the island and is often compared to Inca stonework.The similarity with Inca walls led some people to conclude that the Incas were responsible for the platforms.

This stonework from another platform shows rough joints but...

the platform or ahu at vinapu is much finer, notice the little stone and how close the stones fit together in this section of the platform

The biggest threat to the platforms or ahu's is from horses which roam freely around the island just like as in the the New Forest.

On the way back to the campsite we met some more local wildlife.

To be continued...
Oopps nearly forgot the sunset.

Sunset 2nd March 2011