By Carolyn
Our guide, Jose Ika, picked us up at 8:45 and we drove to the edge of a eucalyptus plantation to start our walk to Easter Island’s highest point. Jose is a native Rapa Nui and he regaled us with tales of Polynesian settlement, mythology, archeology, history and culture. He is mostly self taught, and speaks Spanish, English and Japanese in addition to his native language. He met his Japanese wife when they were both 18. She had visited Easter Island several times and always signed up for his Japanese language tours. Because all the Rapa Nui are basically cousins, they are forbidden from marrying another islander. So, it worked out well to fall in love with a foreigner. They have two children and have lived all over the world, but it’s clear that Jose is happiest being a guide in his home country.
It was (thankfully) very overcast and windy as we worked our way uphill through the forest and pastures. Easter Island evolved from a series of three primary volcanoes at the corners of a triangle with lots of smaller volcanoes filling in between. All are completely dormant now after sliding off the hot spot. The craters have historically been wetlands and most today are still filled with reeds or trees.
All the trees, essentially all the plant life on Easter Island, has been introduced. Easter Island is the most remote inhabited place on the planet, some 1,500 miles from the nearest inhabited neighbor, Pitcairn Island. Polynesian explorers would have brought manioc and sweet potatoes and coconuts. There was once a native nut palm and tomomiro tree, but they are now extinct due to over harvesting and rats that arrived with the Polynesians. The cultural battles in the late 18th century and the introduction of large scale sheep farming left most of the island bare and susceptible to erosion. Twentieth century restoration efforts include the planting of many species of trees which has served to increase condensation and rainfall. Kew Botanical garden is working to reintroduce the tomomiro tree.
We made it to the top just as the clouds turned into rain, but it didn’t last long and we had great views of the town of Hanga Roa as we walked down the other side.
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| On top of Terevaka, the highest point on Easter Island. 1,500 feet |
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| The town of Hanga Roa |
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| Flame Tree - erythrina flabelliformis |
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| Ahu A Kivi |
After a siesta during the hottest part of the day, Becky had arranged a pelagic tour for the two birdwatchers. We met Sebastian and the boat captain and motored around the southwestern tip of the island to a set of rocky rookeries, home to frigate birds, various petrals, masked boobies and a lone brown booby.
The seas were “sporty”, and I was reminded again that I’m prone to motion sickness. Just as we were about to leave, Sebastian spotted a dead booby on the rock. Well, he just had to have it...loco, as the captain said! He managed to leap off the heaving boat, climb up and over the cliff, and descend the vicious surface to photograph and retrieve the carcass. Repeat in reverse and voila! Back on the boat with a dead bird. It’s something biologists live for I guess, because now he’ll have a stomach to dissect looking for micro plastics!
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| Can you spot the biologist? |
