The motif of the town, of course, is moai. The downtown square is Plaza Hotu Matua, after the legendary king who the Rapa Nui say first settled the island. It has its own single moai, re-erected in the 1940s, according to the Easter Island Foundation. It's a bit of a botched job -- the statue faces out to sea instead of inland, and it sits atop its red topknot instead of vice versa.
As we took photos of Hotu Matua, little children from the nearby school played near the moai's base. They didn't pay us much attention -- just two more gringos with cameras.
Giant sculptures dominate the landscape and add some unsolved mystery to Easter Island, Chile.
(Walter Bibikow - Taxi/Getty Images)
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That first night at the hotel, as we flipped through the picture book, the owner had made one recommendation we took to heart: For pictures at sunset, go to Ahu Tahai.
The grouping of three ahus, each with its own standing statues, is on the edge of town, a short walk across an open pasture and past the cemetery. The statues are positioned, obligingly enough, with their backs to the sea and the setting sun. We made it our mission to be there for both of our Easter Island sunsets.
On the first walk to Ahu Tahai, we found a pleasant-looking restaurant with outside tables on its front porch. Now, most of the restaurants of Hanga Roa are pleasant-looking places, with interchangeable Rapa Nui names and interchangeable menus of fish and chicken. What this one had was a location that let us relax in the shade, with big bottles of Chilean beer, while we watched everyone else wander to the statues.
We set up camp, occasionally flagging down folks we had come to recognize. There was the usual tourist chatter -- Where are you from? Where are you going? -- but one dominant theme: We were there for the moai.
And so, as sunset approached, we cut the conversation short and headed to Ahu Tahai. Visitors were sprinkled around the field that surrounded the moai, in groups of three or four, each looking for the perfect photo angle or the perfect place to commune with the old spirits.
And there, as the wind whipped voices away into the empty Pacific, lonely night fell one more time around the ancestors.
Details: Easter Island
GETTING THERE: With rare exceptions, the only way to Easter Island is via a 5 1/2-hour LanChile flight from Tahiti or Santiago, Chile. From the United States, the launching point is Santiago, the lively Europeanized capital 8 1/2 hours by air from Miami. Spending a few days there on the way south breaks up the trip and prevents you from being too exhausted to enjoy Easter Island. On the way back, you can skip the Santiago stayover, but be prepared to spend a minimum of 20 hours in transit. On the plus side, there are minimal time zone changes, so jet lag is less of a problem than you might imagine.
LanChile (866-IFLYLAN, www.lan.com) offers a Washington-Easter Island flight for $1,741 round trip; with a Santiago overnight, the fare jumps to $1,999. Other airlines, including United and American, fly between Dulles or Reagan National and Santiago starting at $1,094 round trip; LanChile flights between Santiago and Easter Island go for $803. The tour packager we used, Go-Today.com (www.go-today.com), is quoting trips that include Santiago and Easter Island beginning at $1,924 per person double, including lodging, transfers and tours on the mainland and the island.
