Finally – Easter Island and its mysterious stone statues! | Nota Bene: Eugene Kaspersky’s Official Blog

Back in school, I think my favorite books were those hefty tomes all about geography, travel, and the world’s remotest corners. That early fascination really took root in my mind and has stayed with me ever since – as you can see in this blog!

Over time, some of those geographical – on-paper – discoveries started turning into real discoveries: the Galapagos, Tibet, Mount Fuji, Drake Passage, Tasmania (the latter – great trip, but we nearly ended up being stranded there (or on mainland Australia) for… years due to our still being there in late March… 2020!).

However, some places I’d always dreamed of visiting stubbornly remained on my to-do list – seemingly just too far and inaccessible. But then, this year, I finally got to visit two of these out-of-the-way places. Back in winter it was the Nazca Lines; and this fall it was Rapa Nui – better known as Easter Island! Oh yes…

“Where’s that?” some might ask – especially if they didn’t pay much attention in geography class. Honestly though, even those who did would probably struggle to show you Rapa Nui on a world map on their first try. Don’t believe me? Go on then – give it a shot! (spoiler: answer in next pic; no peeking!)…

There’s quite a debate about how Homo sapiens first made it to Rapa Nui (and other Pacific islands for that matter – since the distances involved are no joke!) using only Middle Ages seafaring technology. Thor Heyerdahl even wrote a book about it, and some of his modern followers journeyed there too – they sailed a raft called Kon-Tiki2 from Peru in 2015.

Just how was it done way back when? It truly is mind-boggling: it’s just soooo incredibly middle-of-nowhere. I mean – it’s one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands; its nearest inhabited neighbors are the Pitcairn Islands more than two thousand kilometers away (population, btw: just 35!). And it takes a full five (5!)-hour flight from the continent to get there!…

I think even the poor-in-geography will have seen the famous – famously mysterious – stone statues (“moai“) on the island. And here they are: simply fantastic! ->

They’re dotted all around the island:

Their eyes have been lost to time – apart from one statue’s, which has had them restored to how they originally were – made from pumice and black stone: