Moai statues, mystery, and wonder, wild coast, wha a day!!!

Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Mon 14 Jun 2010 03:04
We bounced out of town with the 4 of us occupying the back seat of a
minibus, heading out on the south coast road on our one and only tour here
which everyone had told us we must do, including guide books. Today we were
exploring the south side of the island and round the south point and it
would be a full day. As we bounced along the green land rolled out, horses
feed and trottered freely in the hills along side (they have a lot of wild
and domesticated horses here, it is not unusual to see people turning up to
the store to get milk groceries on horse back tying up at the front), we
crossed to the other side of island, the sea expanded the horizon in front
of us, and the wild was already from the South west at 12 to 15 knots with
whitecaps, the sail boat we had seen the day before had left the evening
before and we did not see them at all today, and we covered the whole island
so they must have sailed off. You feel a sense of isolation here, while
still having a lovely island, and culture and atmosphere, with it's own
rhythm, with the closest land being 1200+ miles away and that been only
Pittcan Island (just a spec in the ocean of Bounty fame), all supplies are
by plane and supply ship (2 flights a week).
We stopped initially on a ancient village site mid way up the coast, with
fences/ walls made out of volcanic rock, and then bricks marking the houses
also volcanic, and then below we saw the platform and our initial statues
all pushed over, but never the less still huge and the major structure of
the village. The statues were mounted on a massive platform or stage, and
each statue represents an important person in the village after they died,
but this island some 300 years ago had a civil war as the population of
island had grown to 20000 (today it is 4300) and resources came short
supply) so different villages attacked other villages and in the process
they pushed over the statues.
We moved on to a second site which has been reconstructed in 1995, this site
is the one you see on many photos with 15 statues on a restored platform
with their backs to the ocean. Again the statues look down on the village,
this site was also destroyed in the 1960 Tsunami from Chile, which scattered
the statues through the flat area of the ancient village. But to spend time
(see photos) and see these huge statues of stone some 21 meters high, and 17
tones, all looking down at you, it is a wonder. My goose bumps rose and I
just sat and stared reminding me of the first time I watched a sunset of the
Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, this has been a site a place I have read so much
of over the years, and seen photos and images in my mind, and now I was
sitting in sun, on a slab just taking it all in. ( I am sure I will say the
same thing over a couple of times over the next few days). The blue ocean
with its white caps in the back ground, and surf rolling in over the black
lava rocks, behind these 15 huge figures, looking down on the now green flat
area which an ancient village once stood. Behind is one volcano, and to my
left rises a second (there are 3 on this island), yet the faces look down
protecting the village and over powering the whole area.
After this we went to the Moai quarry up behind us in the second volcano,
this site was even more surprising as there were 100s of statues in
different states, a lot half buried. What they did was the carved the
figures out of the stone face, we saw 3 to 4 half finished some 21 meters
tall, (huge when you are against them these a just massive pieces of rock
with shape. Once carved which takes 7 months approx they are slide down the
hill into a hole where they become vertical, and they can stand up the
figure and finish the details on the head. That is why we found lost half
finished when the war broke out the building of the statues stopped, so this
area has lots, there are 850" statues on the island, with about, 150 in the
final place, rest are in the quarry, or stuck on the paths getting from
quarry to their final resting place.
We then went on to a white sand beach again with 5 statues, but the beach is
one of 2 on the island in amounts palm trees with turquoise water very calm,
and green hills surrounding, (this is a place they should anchor sail boats
only issue it is at the other end of the island from the town. We played and
Sean and I swam on the sea it was cooled but nice and very clear.
After a full day of hiking and looking, we came back to our favorite park in
front of the surfers in the town at 6 pm and the boys ran about with the
other local boys playing soccer, while Tracy and I could sit and watch the
fading sun shine through the waves making them a bright blue as the surfers
caught the waves.
It was a great day, and as the sun set the statues watched over the surfers,
and we went in search of an open restaurant on a Sunday, again a local
soccer match was playing and the atmosphere of the island is absorbing.
We are all going to bed talking, and wondering about the magnitude of what
we saw today on an isolated island with only people, no horses in those days
to help pull these stones along, we will explore more tomorrow.



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