Easter Island - 2025
In the first days of October 2025, we had a four-day visit to Easter Island, which belongs to Chile.
As far as we knew, the people there are honest; from what we read, there are no thieves on the Island. We spoke with a local Rapa Nui man, who shared that if he finds a bag, he takes everything out, takes pictures of the contents, puts them back, and then hands it over to a receptionist or a similar person.
We stayed at the Tupa hotel/resort, where the sliding door at the back didn't even have a lock. In the garden at the back door, we had visitors all the time, mostly hens, chickens, roosters (waking us up early in the morning), and friendly street dogs.
As far as we knew, the people there are honest; from what we read, there are no thieves on the Island. We spoke with a local Rapa Nui man, who shared that if he finds a bag, he takes everything out, takes pictures of the contents, puts them back, and then hands it over to a receptionist or a similar person.
We stayed at the Tupa hotel/resort, where the sliding door at the back didn't even have a lock. In the garden at the back door, we had visitors all the time, mostly hens, chickens, roosters (waking us up early in the morning), and friendly street dogs.
Of course, the Island is famous for its Moai statues, built by the Island's inhabitants starting in the 13th century. They represent the ancestors and heroes in the villages, watching over the welfare of the settlement. Everything good happening was attributed to the ancestors, and everything bad to the gods.
In the parks, you cannot go close to the statues.
In the parks, you cannot go close to the statues.
They look like they have the top of their head cut, but that was done on purpose to set a hat on it. Because those hats were huge and heavy, they fell. In the picture above, only one statue still has it.
They look like they have the top of their head cut, but that was done on purpose to set a hat on it. Because those hats were huge and heavy, they fell. In the picture above, only one statue still has it.
Since Europeans discovered the Moai statues, they have been considered a wonder, and many important explorers and companies have tried to help restore them. The idea was that when a fight between tribes erupted, some tribes raised their voices, while others pushed them down.
One of the first was Thor Heyerdahl, still a legend there.
One of the first was Thor Heyerdahl, still a legend there.
A Japanese company took a statue from the Island (above) and exposed it around the world. When they collected 2 million dollars, they returned the statue and gave the 2 million to the local authorities to restore the statues (which are either standing on a platform or buried at the bottom). Now it is against the law to remove any artifacts from the Island.
There are statues all over the place. The ones above are near the hills where they were carved.
Some are still down, looking like unfinished work.
Their houses resembled a pile of rocks arranged in a parallelepiped form, featuring a small entrance where they would enter on four legs.
Some caves were used for social housing, where more families lived.
Many hills have volcanic craters at the top. Below is Rano Kau, the biggest.
One day, we climbed the highest hill on the Island, Terevaka, 507 m (1664 ft) above sea level. The wind was very strong. A street dog accompanied us to the top, chasing all animals on the trail (mostly harmless horses that run free on the Island).
On the way back from Terevaka I saw farmers working the land with a horse-drawn plow
