Chile: An Easter Treat

From the coast of Argentina, it was a 12 hour bus trip back to the Andes. I spent two weeks hiking in El Bolson, then Bariloche, Argentina, before crossing the border into Chile. Chile is a skinny country that stretches from the desert in the North to the End of the World in the South. I was there earlier in the trip when I trekked through Torres del Paine National Park (click here to see my earlier post). They also speak Spanish, and the Andes create a natural border between them and Argentina. Chile's quality of life is similar to Argentina's, but to me it seemed a little bit better. The cities were much cleaner, there were sidewalks, and the National Parks are run very professionally. But to be fair, I haven't seen very much of Chile, so I would need to explore more to make a fair comparison.

I celebrated Easter in the capital city of Chile, Santiago. We met up with two friends from our trip to Antarctica, and rented an apartment together. We cooked a big Easter dinner on Easter Sunday and each called home to our families. Then on Easter Monday, we got a real Easter treat...we boarded a plane and flew to Easter Island!

Easter Island is tiny spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is the furthest place you can be in the world from somewhere else that's inhabited by people. It's literally in the middle of nowhere! Easter Island was formed over time by three volcanic eruptions and was settled by a group of Polynesians. A few explorers happened upon the island in their travels, the most famous being Captain James Cook in 1774. Easter Island became a part of Chile in 1888.



The native name for the island is Rapa Nui, which is also the name of the language and the people who live there. It is famous for their big rock statues carved to look like humans, called 'Moai.' Researchers have studied the culture of the Rapa Nui people and the moai for many years and they believe that the moai were carvings made to honour village leaders or important people in the village when they died. Their bodies were buried under the platforms, called "Ahu" which the moai stand on.




No one is certain the history of the moai but it is believed that the islanders themselves (the Rapa Nui people) pushed the moai over. It's easy to imagine how shocking it must have been for them to have explorers arrive and they suddenly learned they weren't the only people on the Earth! My favourite group of moai are the Tongariki group, which are 15 in a row on an ahu. These ones are enormous and it is a magical experience to watch the sun rise behind them.

My other faovurite place on the island is Rano Raraku, which is the quarry. A quarry is a big pit where rocks are carved out of the ground. The moai were made from hard volcanic rock. Partially carved figures, mainly heads, still scatter the hillside.





The moai are the main tourist attraction of the island, but it's also beautiful to hike around. The ancient volcanic eruption made it a very hilly place and there is one sandy beach that was created during a tsunami. The weather is tropical: hot and humid, and it's spectacular to watch the waves crashing on the cliffs. I absolutely loved the week that I spent here and felt very lucky to have come!