Today we made our arrival off the coast of Easter Island known by the locals at Rapa Nui at about 8:30am to an overcast sky with light rain. Just before noon the sky began to clear. We went ashore by the ship’s tenders at Hanga Piko pier near the island’s largest town of Hanga Roa. Easter Island today has approximately 3,500 inhabitants, most related directly to the earliest Polynesians who settled here during the period 400-700 AD. There are three extinct volcanoes (Terevaka, Poike, and Rano Kau) on this small South Pacific island. Over the years, the inhabitants cut some 890 giant stone statues called Moai during a 300 year period. The Moai are tall reaching up to 15 feet and weighing nearly 14 tons.
Here are some of the Moai’s and a photo of Curt on the hillside quarry where the statues were carved before being relocated.
For the next two days we will be at sea again. On Sunday, February 6th we arrive at Pitcairn Island where the mutineers from the Bounty ended their voyage.
