Enchanted at Easter Island
Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Wed 16 Jun 2010 20:48
is a cave to left another cave that has been blocked in with lava rock
bricks and narrow entrances into this big den, this was an ancient shelter.
Over to left are lava rock remains of a long boat like house which they use
to stay. As I look down on the setting the green field going down to 3
different lava rock alters/ platforms. The one to left has 5 statues on it,
a center one as one, and the right has one big one, which is the most
complete we have seen. These statues tower over the ancient town field,
looking down on it, while the blue (so blue here) ocean extends into the
distance heading south to Antarctica. We have come back here to just sit, I
have done some sketches and Tracy has gone off with camera, the boys play
soccer on the field, and the back ground is the sound of the waves washing
on the lava rocks below. The peace and tranquility of the location, the
setting with the statues and then the enormity of just being here, I
constantly keep "pinching" myself to make sure it is real.
Yesterday we got a car 4 x4 small Suzuki and headed off around the northern
trail, seeing new sites, and then going back to Sandy beach at the south end
and then onto the 15 statues again for sunset and just to sit with no crowds
or people. It was nice to be free to just wander, explore and not be pushed
we just sat, Sean and I ran up the beach with the soccer ball to see the
statues at the top end of beach there is a platform with 5 all looking back
on that ancient village.
Like now we have this site to ourselves and some dogs and the odd horse,
there are not many tourists here it is hard to get too, and Easter Island is
the most expensive place we have been since leaving the states 6 months ago,
and things are not more than 3 star anywhere. But that is what we like the
atmosphere, the climate, the tropical way of out doors, but still the dirt
roads and basically this area is still being developed, and they are taking
a very Eco Friendly approach (no resorts).
It is hard to capture the size of these statues I am tiny next to them, but
the thing which impresses me more than Egypt is that these are one piece of
stone, carved out of a rock face, and then they pulled it across the island
20 km and then got it up to vertical not just once on this sight alone 18 km
from the quarry (no roads, no horses) there are 8 statues all 15 to 20 M
high, and in the 15 to 20 t range. They did not break them, they say it took
a team of 90 people to get them moved, and there are plenty on the trails
which did not make it.
This was a big business a lot of statues 300 + are on the move when it all
stopped, this quite staggering. Today with machines it takes them months to
get them vertical again and platforms reconstructed.
I talked about inspiration you gain it from here.
