Around The World In 80 Waves

Easter Island was discovered by Europeans in 1772, but had been inhabited by the local Rapa Nui people for more than a thousand years.

It is most famous for its 887 statues called Moai created by the early Rapa Nui people, all of which face out towards the horizon from the island which is nearly 1300 miles from the nearest land.

My flight from Chile, to which the islands belong, is landing here to drop off and pick people up on the way to Tahiti where I will be spending the next week.

It is an overnight flight so sadly like every other ancient monument I have missed so far along my route this means I am not going to get the chance to see any of them.

I am genuinely disappointed by that, because they are fascinating. I first learned of the giant heads in the 2000AD comic story Hewligans’s Haircut back in the late eighties.

I can’t imagine I am going to get another chance to be somewhere so remote again so will have to make do with these pictures I found online. Gutted!

I should also point out that the island is widely regarded as a warning of the cultural and environmental dangers of exploitation to the modern world, because the Rapa Nui people completely cleared the island of trees to produce and move the monuments into place, which nearly resulted in their own extermination.

Given the carbon footprint of my own trip it is probably best I don’t say a great deal more at this time!