Easter Island has been spectacular and known as the most remote civilization on earth. We experienced this remoteness as we travelled across the island to witness the amazing tribute to kings of the past, the Moai statues.The Moai are huge and one still wonders how the islanders were able to transport them across from the quarry to the coast. The topknots, the red hats you see on top of these statues, alone weigh over 5 tons. The Moai themselves weigh between 50 to 80 tons! They were moved across the island in ways that are still unknown.
We hiked up the volcano that is Rano Kau with the crater lake filled with totora reeds. This was where the Rapa Nui used to get their fresh water which was a hard and arduous climb up and down steep crater walls. We learned about the practice of birdman religion where the tribal chief for the year was determine by which chief's best warrior was the first to bring back the first egg of teh sooty tern. The competition amounted to a life and death triathlon comprised of scaling a 1000 foot cliff, swimming to an island 1.4 KM away, waiting and finding the first egg and bringing it back unbroken.
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