Rapa Nui keywords

[BUG: add possibility to sort by dt, is there a jQuery plug-in for that?]

island

Triangle-shaped island, with the three corners marked by volcano craters. Only one of the corners is easily accessible to tourists.

airport

The runway is so long relative to the size of the island that it almost cuts one of the corners off the island. The airport receives one LAN flight per day [BUG: check], either coming from Santiago on the way to Tahiti, or the other way around.

Hanga Roa

The only town on the island.

expensive

Rapa Nui is relatively expensive compared to the rest of Chile. E.g. 5000 CLP for camping per person, 10,000 CLP for pasta bolognese in a restaurant. However, in the end we spent approximately the same amount of money than in Peru and Bolivia because slept in tent, walked a lot, and never ate out.

moai

Large human statues carved from volcanic stone ([BUG: pumice, porous scoria?]). The moais are found on many places on the island, mostly badly damaged and pushed face-down. Some have been restored and placed onto an ahu.

ahu

Ceremonial platform that hosts the moai-statues. It is not allowed to go behind the ahu (in most of the places, but there are exceptions), because the crematorium is there. Neither the moais nor the ahus are protected from rain/wind (due to a regulation by UNESCO?).

Orongo

Ceremonial village on the top of a cliff (300m from the sea level), reconstructed in 1976. Home of the civilization after the moai-builders. Center of the Make Make cult which replaced the moai-cult in the 16th century. Houses built of stone slabs have tiny doors and no windows.

birdman competition

Tangata-manu (birdman) competition was an annual ritual where chiefs of different tribes of the island competed in who can swim from Orongo to the Motu Nui islet and first come back with the egg of the seabird Manutara (Sooty Tern, Sterna fuscata). The winner became the new birdman. The last competition was held in 1867.

Rano Kau crater

Crater in one of the corners of the island. The crater lake is covered with totora reed making it look a bit like a swamp. Some of the original Rapa Nui plants still live in the crater being protected from the ocean and the human activity.

(stray) dogs

Dogs are hanging around everywhere in Hanga Roa, begging for food and chasing the wheels of the cars.

black lava rock

On the coast

waves

horses

Most frequently seen mammal

cows

Also frequent

eucalyptus trees

Rapa Nui is otherwise bare, but there are occasional patches of eucalyptus forests.

museum

[BUG: add]

lava tunnels

Tunnels that are formed during the lave flow when the surface of the flow cools down while the inner flow still continues. The biggest one is Ana Te Pahu, that was used by the people for living, storage of food and water, plantation [BUG: confirm].

topknot

"Hat" for the moai. Made of red volcanic stone found in Puna Pau.

Puna Pua

Red volcanic stone quarry, topknot factory. From here the topknots where rolled to the ahus, e.g. as far as Anakena.

church

Catholic church; service in Spanish but songs in Rapa Nui; church full of people: Sun 9am

Rapa Nui men

Like to wear with long hair and flower shirts

Rapa Nui women

Like to wear flowers in their hair

Rano Raraku

Volcano crater and the (main) moai "factory", the highlight of Rapa Nui. Most of the moais are outside of the crater positioned in various ways on the hillside. Some are half-finished. The tourist trail passes the moais closely. Some of the moais are also in the crater by the small crater lake. This site is mostly off-limits for the tourists. The park ranger didn't know why the moais ended up in the crater. Maybe the scientists are still exploring it (there was a group working in the crater).

15 moais

Statues of 15 moais at Tongariki. Popular sunrise destination. The statues were re-erected in 1993 (?). In 1960 (?) (when they were still vertical on the ground) a tsunami hit the coast and washed them 100 meters inland. A local ranger didn't appreciate this site saying that re-erecting the statues was a one man vanity project and the statues were harmed during the works.

Anakena

Sandy beach, expensive tuna sandwiches, and a few moais.

football

The most popular sport on Rapa Nui with at least 4 teams and many spectators.

circular plantations

[BUG: add: Manavai]

mana

[BUG: add]

petroglyphs

Many rock carvings are found in Orongo, Tongariki and Papa Vaka. Images include: tuna fish, whale, fishing hook, shark, boat, turtle. Not covered so unprotected from wind and rain. Who knows how long they will last like this.

gas station

Only one gas station on the island. Offers: diesel (500 CLP) and 93 (600 CLP).

Hanga Roa cemetery

Mostly Crosses, but one birdman statue could be spotted as well.

Spanish

Everybody speaks Spanish, but the local language is also occasionally heard.

surfers

Can be seen in Hanga Roa.

tourists

Few tourists in April, seemed to be off-season.

car rental

For 24h one can rent a 4x4 jeep for 25k–30k CLP. This allows to explore the further parts of the island e.g. Anakena and Tongariki. Other options are: bike, scooter (requires motorcycle license), quad-bike.

Entel

The only cell network available on Rapa Nui.

garbage

It is difficult to dispose garbage on Rapa Nui. E.g. in Orongo there are no garbage cans and one is required to take his/her garbage back to Hanga Roa.