Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Day Tour

I spent Monday in a rental car, driving around and looking at the sights on Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

The shore is rough, rocky, and stunning, but with the occasional swimming hole and a sandy white beach at the far end. Moai are here and there, some having been re-erected by various teams experimenting with different ways that the original inhabitants might have raised the massive granite figures. Most of the Moai are lying on the ground or partially buried, but those that stand are imposing. They aren't so mysterious—they don't seem to come to life out of the corner of your eye or seem likely to have walked themselves from the quarry. They're solid rock, firmly in place unless an earthquake or tsunami happens along to dislodge them.

My host had given me a map and numbered the sights I should see, so that I could arrive at the quarry, with the dozens of half-buried heads visible above the grass, at the best time for photographing.

Which is exactly when it decided to rain.

Here are some photographs, and here is an entire gallery.




No comments:

Post a Comment