Easter Island was made for walking – and that’s just what we did.

Strolling around Easter Island sounds exotic, but once you finally reach this remote outpost of humanity, the endeavor takes on a more practical nature. There’s plenty of walking to be done, and most of it is along the coastline – perfect for clearing your head after a long flight, or for meditative contemplation after viewing the moai statues up close in the quarry or on one of the surviving ceremonial platforms.

We kick off with a leisurely walk of around five or seven kilometers along the north coast, which takes roughly two and a half hours. Off we go!..

The scenery is strikingly, brutally rugged:

Various ancient structures dot the island. Apparently, the locals used to keep chickens in these here stone buildings; since there were no trees left for construction, they had to use stone instead ->

Occasionally we came across previously-mentioned ahu – ceremonial platforms – many of which are almost completely ruined. This one’s called Te Pito Kura – containing remains of the largest moai statue ever successfully transported from the quarry. It stands about 10 meters tall, and sources estimate its weight at anywhere from 10 to 80 tons! ->

There are also some mysterious stone spheres here, about which almost nothing is known:

Legend has it that these spheres were brought from other islands during the Polynesian migration across the Pacific, and are magical – possessing supernatural energy called mana. The locals also refer to this spot as the “navel of the world” ->

Onward, across the bleak volcanic landscapes…

A picturesque little cape – should we check it out?…

But our guide stopped us, explaining it’s a sacred site – an ancient crematorium. This is where the bodies of the deceased from the nearby village were cremated ->

Here’s the end-point of our walk: Ovahe beach. Should we take a dip? After taking a closer look at the cliffs, we decided against it. They don’t look too stable. Indeed, the guide confirmed that rockfalls are common here, and added that if we wanted to go, he couldn’t stop us, but he wouldn’t go himself. After that, we lost interest too.

Besides, there’s another small beach about a kilometer and a half away, which we visited when we first arrived; however, the water’s chilly, and the wind doesn’t exactly encourage swimming. So, another look – sure; taking a dip – not today.

Here are some daytime views of the ahu platforms. Truly imposingly impressive! ->

And here’s another ruined platform (I didn’t catch the name or location).

A toppled statue ->

Bleakly brutal:

A brave fisherman:

That’s what a half-day walk and drive looks like here. The scenery may not be the most spectacular, but it’s great for clearing the mind.

Another, more interesting walk is to the crater of the Rano Kau volcano (in the next pic) at the southwestern end of the island, and to the ceremonial village of Orongo, where, hundreds of years ago, competitions dedicated to the birdman cult were held. Both these sites were our destinations for the afternoon, and there were plenty of other interesting sights along the way…

First up: Ahu Vinapu:

Here – yet more historical mystery: a wall that looks exactly like the stonework of the Inca civilization:

How could that be? Was the island settled by people from the Americas? That was a popular theory: Thor Heyerdahl even sailed across the Pacific on the Kon-Tiki raft to prove it. Later, genetic studies confirmed that there was contact between Polynesians and folks from northern South America (at least once) – DNA samples from Rapa Nui’s indigenous people and samples of plants unique to South America support this. And here’s a wall just like those in Cusco (the ancient Inca capital) – 4000 kilometers away!

But I’m not convinced the Incas were skilled seafarers. There’s no other evidence for it, and, more importantly, no signs of their contact with the Maya or other peoples of the continent. It would have made sense starting exploring new territories by following the coastline, as other maritime powers did, before venturing out into the open ocean.

So, it seems more logical to me that the skilled Polynesian sailors reached the west coast of South America, somehow brought some locals back (they didn’t seem to leave their own genes there), and, along with South American DNA, also imported various plants and stone-working skills.

Incidentally, there’s a similar story with the Vikings who reached the shores of North America – evidenced by genetics. These are the kinds of parallels that came to mind when looking at these remarkable walls.

But it’s time to move on, stopping by the ruins of another ahu platform along the way:

Striking volcanic scenery…

We had to duck under some fences with barbed wire:

The views were spectacular:

About four to five kilometers, just under 300 meters of elevation gain, plus photo and video stops – and after almost two hours of walking, we were at the top.

It was here we heard the story of the birdman cult, in whose honor the strongest members of the local tribes held some really unusual competitions. First they had to descend down to the lake and make a small canoe out of local reeds; then paddle a kilometer and a half across the water to the nearest island; there, find the egg of the sacred manutara bird (the sooty tern); then swim back with the egg and climb up an almost vertical cliff to the very top – this cliff! ->

And they had to carry the egg in a headband with a special pocket. The competitors would give the eggs to their tribal chiefs, and somehow a winner was chosen. There are all sorts of legends about these contests, but who knows what’s true and what’s fiction?

So we’ll just look down again at the impassable ravine in the crater – and head to the competition site by the long path that goes almost all the way around the crater.

Unfortunately for us, the ravine in the eastern part of the crater is impassable; if it wasn’t we could have completed a full crater loop.

Oh well. We’ll just walk the available route and check out the crater from different sides:

Down below, surreal visuals:

The walk around the crater is about 3.5 kilometers – nearly a perfect circle:

We made it to the end – and now you’re looking at the view from the opposite side. That island over there  (the biggest one) is the one the ancient athletes had to swim to, then return with the egg and climb up the nearly vertical wall to the spot where this photo was taken ->

Not much remains from those times: only half-ruined stone buildings where, according to legend, the chiefs of the competing tribes watched the events, plus petroglyphs carved in honor of the winners:

As for the petroglyphs, they’re found all over the island, and probably not all have been discovered yet since many are overgrown with grass and bushes or covered with soil. Some are quite hard to reach (three days isn’t enough to see them all). But some aren’t far from the main tourist routes. For example:

Ruins of an old village.

And a few striking stone carvings.

Butterflies, jellyfish, whales, sharks… This kind of art is definitely an acquired taste )…

There’s also the still-undeciphered script called rongorongo, but we didn’t come across it on our way.

And to wrap up the Rapa Nui walks topic, here’s another great spot on the west coast:

On the map there are actually three separate platforms with different arrangements of statues:

One of the most famous moai had its eyes restored. According to our guide, they supposedly found eyes made of pumice near the fallen statues, but they were in poor condition. So they simply recreated them ->

Interestingly (according to the same guide, though I’m not sure I believe it), there’s no pumice on this volcanic island at all! They collect pumice that washes up on shore. Is that true? Pumice could float thousands of kilometers on ocean currents? I doubt it. But busy photo sessions by the ancient statues – those definitely happen! ->

The views from different angles are truly stunning.

Time and the ocean climate have really taken their toll.

And for dessert…

After the Polynesians ran out of trees, they started building houses out of reeds. To keep the wind from blowing them away, they’d put the house on a stone foundation – with holes thereon, into which they’d insert strong “ribs” made from shrubs, and then weave the walls around those with reeds ->

But that’s not the end of my tales from the Rapa Nui side; there’s still plenty to explore!…

The best hi-res photos from Easter Island are here.