Super Pouty!

(Ah, the perils of foreign wifi! I've been trying to post this for over a day now...)

Good news - my laptop has had its temperamental fit and has now decided to work again! It wasn't so much its breaking that was stressful (it is old as far as technology is concerned... 2009!) but thoughts of how to fix it or replace it.

So while I can, here's a quick update.

While I am technically still in Chile, Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua / Easter Island) is clearly another country and culture that just happens to speak Spanish. It reminds me very much of Hawaii and Maori culture in New Zealand.

My guide book is a year or so old, but it states that there are around 5000 people on Rapa Nui (virtually all in the one town in the south-east: Hanga Roa)– so you won’t be surprised at how plain the Main Street and the “port” are (check out the Picture Gallery here).

At least it means you can walk just about anywhere in Hanga Roa, rain permitting. Today I managed to get sunburnt and soaking wet! That's the tropics for you... I have two days of tours booked to fill my time, as there are plenty of sights to easily fill a week here. For an island under 25km long, that’s quite impressive!

So, here are some things you may not know about Rapa Nui (I use the native name in deference to a people who have survived conquest, slavery, or generally being forgotten by the various countries who have “owned” this island).

The name “Easter Island” was given by the Dutch who were the first Europeans to discover it.
Moai represent a form of ancestor worship practiced for 600 years on the island (1000-1600AD). The older ones are square and not as intricately carved as the more recent ones.
For 50 years the island was leased for a sheep ranch (70,000 of them) to a company called “The Easter Island Exploitation Company” (clearly they had no PR Department!). Walls were built around Hanga Roa to keep the people in!
There are only two sandy beaches on the whole island – supplies are flown in and very expensive as a result (yes, $5 coffees are bankrupting me!).
The Rapanui live tax-exempt and have the cheapest petrol because of subsidies from the Chilean government. Pinochet was actually good to them!
Only the Rapanui are allowed to own land (although they can lease it) so there is very little development here.
The moai with red tops on them are not wearing hats – it’s a top knot as the men did not cut their hair.
There are 3000 “wild” horses (they are owned and branded) that roam freely around the island. I encountered two in town today!
The deforestation was actually caused by rats! Introduced by the first Polynesians, there were millions of them living on the palm seeds. Once the trees were chopped down to clear farming space, it was realised they weren’t growing back at the same rate (it’s a myth that the Rapanui were complicit or ignorant in destroying their habitat).
Massive local wars between villages for scarce resources after the first Europeans arrived decimated the population (along with thousands kidnapped for the Peruvian slave trade). From 12,000 to only 111 in 1877. The descendants of these people are “Rapanui”.
By the 1800s, all of the moai were toppled face down as a result of the native wars. The strategy was to both attack the ancestors protecting the villages of the enemy, and the villagers themselves.