Easter Island is part of the UK. Where is Easter Island located? Easter Island: photo. The most beautiful places for Easter

Since they are already trying to understand why this Moai decided to drown, I answer. Employees of both dive centers in the area said that they tried to take a particular specimen on a ship. But something went wrong and the ship capsized.
This version is quite true, because:
- it is really made of stone and is very similar to those that remained on land
- lies at a depth of 28 meters. For the fun of divers, ships and other things are sunk in the region of 15-18, so that they can dive and not AOWD
- a lot of idols were taken out. It is quite real that once again a ton of stone was poorly fixed. There are no legends like “The spirit of the stone did not allow to leave the island”. Just bad luck again. Dozens of other Moai have been removed and are in museums around the world. The most skillfully made with the presence of an ass (almost the only one with this part of the body) is exhibited in the London Museum (I don’t remember which one)

Moai underwater is unusual. But the most surreal and egg-piercing view is the mountain-volcano, where these Moai were gouged out of stone. Seeing multi-ton stone muzzles scattered at different angles is cool.

The island is nothing. The photographs above show typical vegetation. Only trees are missing, they are still represented on this piece of land in some low-lying places. There are no minerals. The sea doesn't shine either.
Why did people decide to settle there about thirteen centuries ago? In fact, the question is different, why did the people who settled there set sail and flood into the open ocean? There were no global cataclysms in this area, so that one could talk about the isthmus to the mainland or the presence of other islands a thousand years ago. Just for some unknown reason, one authoritative person said, "Let's trample there" and pointed at ninety degrees to the coast of his homeland. And others said "Come on!" What made the authority raise some people from their homes and swim to nowhere, scientists still do not know. But it is perfectly clear why these people decided to settle on the island of "damn nothing." It's very simple - when you sail in boats across the Pacific Ocean for a couple of thousand kilometers (at that time there were no steam engines even in Europe), you will be happy with anything.

So, the second wave of immigrants came, who seemed to have sailed without women. What they hoped for is not clear. But they were lucky - the women were at the first wave. And the first migrants shared them in a friendly way. Everyone healed happily and called themselves Rapa Nui.
But the resources are scarce, so scarce that even the handful of people who grazed on this island were not enough. In addition, those who arrived last were slightly advanced. And a paradox happened: those who came in large numbers became tyrants, and those who remained turned into almost disenfranchised migrant workers.

I don't know how guest workers won honor and respect. But the cool ones decided everything in an adult way. Google suggests that at the best of times, about ten thousand people lived on the island. I don't know how many clans there were, but they certainly were. And the more advanced settlers came up with nothing better as proof of toughness than riveting idols out of stone. Rano Raraku volcano was adapted for raw materials. If you want honor and respect for your clan, gouge out a stone muzzle weighing several tons and cock it into your territory. Whoever has more stone muzzles is cooler. Each idol symbolizes the connection with the ancestors and endows the clan with mana. When there were wars, the enemies tried to deceive as many Moai of the enemy as possible, thereby demoralizing him.
The second unanswered question is how the Moai were dragged from the volcano. Although the island is small, but to drag such cargo, you need very good reasons and some kind of technology. The first was more than enough, but the second problem. I'm not sure that the Rapanui even used horses. With a very high probability dragged by hand. Here, by the way, there were less developed guest workers. Someone believes that stone muzzles weighing several tons were rolled on logs, someone believes that they rolled from side to side. But somehow they got even to the opposite coast. Although, as the photographs show, a lot and even more likely most of them remained on the hill.
The largest Moai, which was nevertheless dragged to its destination, is five meters high and weighs 75 tons. The largest, which they did not have time to complete, is about twenty meters high and 270 tons.

Cool, by the way, were called long-eared, and guest workers short-eared.
And the latter did not like this state of affairs. They carry Maui, and honor and respect for those who made them carry. The revolution is over. And although the long-ears were development, the short-ears clearly knew life. Whatever one may say, it was necessary to develop not dragging some kind of garbage across the entire island, but at least upgrade stone axes. In general, long-eared all or almost all were decided.
This ended Maui's production. They continued to worship those that had already been installed in holy places, but they stopped carrying new ones. The official version seems to say that short-eared minds have not matured to such a crown of human genius as to gouge a several-ton muzzle and rattle it for five kilometers. Personally, I think that they just turned on their brains to the fullest and came to the conclusion that in this world, even in their little world, there are much more interesting, and most importantly, much more useful activities.

The short-eared people stopped chiseling the rock for the sake of raising their self-esteem. The old idols, of course, have not gone away, but then a tsunami will roll, then the volcano will slightly gouge. Stone by stone, but gradually the Moai were destroyed, taking mana with them. And besides, all the clans cannot remain at the same level of steepness. If new Moai are not made, then where to get additional honor?

And at some point, the worship of the Moai begins to intertwine with the worship of the bird-man, something like a demigod or something. Old beliefs and gods are not canceled, but gradually go to rituals and the acquisition of power without material evidence like a block of ten tons. Now the bird-man has become the chief of the island. He is the viceroy of the god, and he is revered as a god. To become one, it is necessary to complete the task first on the designated day and hour. To do this, next to the damn nothing of Easter Island is a fucking nothing in the form of the island of Motu Nui. On it, apart from stones, there are only nests of sea gulls. So, in order to become a god, you need to go down a very steep rocky slope of the volcano, swim a kilometer to Motu Nui, climb its steep slope, find a sea gull egg and return with it along an already trodden path to offer it to the head priest. Of course, it can't be broken. Where they put it in order to keep it on the way back, history is silent. Or maybe it was not necessary to drag, maybe the gentlemen were taken at their word.

Now another confirmation of my theory that the short-ears weren't so dumb after all. At least some of them. So, some pretzel did the trick. But the main thing is not he, but the one whom he represents. Not every shit becomes the main thing, right? Now the one whom the hero-egg seeker represented, well done, he is now a god. He is shaved in all places. including eyebrows. Give a new name. Renovate the dwelling in the cave after the previous god. In this cave, the hero's representative will spend the coming year legislating and resolving conflicts. He cannot cook his own food - the priest does it for him. He cannot cut his hair or nails, this is also the responsibility of the priest. He can't help but talk to anyone, no one has the right to look at him. That is, God lives as a hermit. His only means of communication with the people subject to him is the high priest, who transmits the decrees of the bird-man. Not stupid, right? At the same time, the priest does not strain every year for the sake of his title, well, except for jumping, waving the local censer and bringing food to the “master” (something I doubt that at least one priest himself strained for the sake of cooking). What this pretzel from the cave actually said, in a year even the pretzel itself will not remember. If he remembers, then at the time of his communication with other people, he will no longer be a god. And that means running into the high priest is fraught with the loss of their own eggs, and not bird ones. Yes, and cooking is also a good space for action. If the bird-man confuses the shores, then mix in the right drug and deal with the end. The gods called to themselves, he was so cool, what else can I say. In the meantime, there are no eggs, I'll be in charge here. Well, or right now, fuck on Motu Nui, if you like, but don't come back without eggs. No birds with eggs? Your problems.
Although in fact the main power was with the military leaders, I suppose.

It is the most remote inhabited island in the world. The distance to the continental coast of Chile is 3703 km, to Pitcairn Island, the nearest inhabited place, is 1819 km. The island was discovered by the Dutch traveler Jacob Roggeveen on Easter Sunday 1722.

The capital of the island and its only city is Hanga Roa. In total, 5034 people live on the island ().

Rapa Nui is largely known for its moai, or stone statues made of compressed volcanic ash, which, according to local residents, contain the supernatural power of the ancestors of the first king of Easter Island - Hotu-Matu'a. In 1888, annexed by Chile. In 1995, Rapa Nui National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Island names

Easter Island has many names:

• Hititeairaghi(rap. Hititeairagi), or Hit-ai-ranks(rap. Hiti-ai-rangi);
• Tekaouhangoaru(rap. Tekaouhangoaru);
• Mata-ki-te-ragi(rap. Mata-ki-te-Ragi - translated from Rapanui "eyes looking at the sky");
• Te-Pito-o-te-henua(rap. Te-Pito-o-te-henua - "navel of the earth");
• Rapa Nui(rap. Rapa Nui - "Great Rapa"), a name mainly used by whalers;
• san carlos island(English) San Carlos Island), so named by González Don Felipe in honor of the King of Spain;
• Teapi(rap. Teapi) - so called the island James cook;
• Waihu(rap. Vaihu), or waihou (rap. Vaihou), there is a variant Vaygu , - this name was also used by James Cook, and later by Forster and La Perouse (a bay in the northeast of the island is named after him);
• Easter Island(English) Easter Island), so named by the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen because he discovered it on Easter Day 1722.

Very often, Easter Island is called Rapa Nui (translated as "Big Rapa"), although it is not of Rapanui, but of Polynesian origin. The island got its name thanks to the Tahitian navigators who used it to distinguish between Easter Island and the island of Rapa Iti (translated as "Little Rapa"), lying 650 km south of Tahiti, and having a topological similarity with it. The very name "Rapa Nui" has caused a lot of controversy among linguists about the correct spelling of this word. Among English-speaking specialists, the word "Rapa Nui" (2 words) is used to name the island, the word "Rapanui" (1 word) - when talking about the people or local culture.

Geography

Easter Island is a unique territory in the southeast Pacific Ocean, which is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world from land. It is located 3703 km from the coast of the nearest mainland in the east (South America) and 1819 km from the nearest inhabited islands in the west (Pitcairn Island). Island coordinates: -27.116667 , -109.35 27°07′ S sh. 109°21′ W d. /  27.116667°S sh. 109.35°W d.(G)(O). The area of ​​the island is 163.6 km². The nearest uninhabited land is the Sala y Gomez archipelago, apart from a few rocks near the island.

The trunk of a toromiro, with a diameter of a human thigh and thinner, was often used in the construction of houses; spears were also made from it. In the XIX-XX centuries, this tree was exterminated (one of the reasons was that the young shoots were destroyed by the sheep brought to the island).

Fauna

Before the Europeans arrived on the island, the fauna of Easter Island was mainly represented by marine animals: seals, turtles, crabs. Until the 19th century, chickens were bred on the island. The species of local fauna that previously inhabited Rapa Nui have become extinct. For example, a species of rat Rattus exulans, which in the past the locals used for food. Instead, rats of the species Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus, which became carriers of various diseases previously unknown to the Rapanui.

Now 25 species of sea birds nest on the island and 6 species of land birds live.

Population

It is estimated that during the cultural heyday of Easter Island in the 16th and 17th centuries, the population of Rapa Nui was between 10,000 and 15,000 people. Due to the ecological catastrophe that broke out as a result of the anthropogenic factor, as well as clashes between residents, the population by the time the first Europeans arrived was reduced to 2-3 thousand people. The number of 3,000 inhabitants was also indicated by James Cook when visiting the island. By 1877, as a result of the export of local residents to Peru for hard labor, epidemics, and extensive sheep breeding, the population decreased even more and amounted to 111 people. By 1888, the year of Chile's annexation of the island, 178 people lived on the island.

Administrative management

About two dozen police officers operate on the territory of the island, mainly responsible for security at the local airport.

The armed forces of Chile (mainly the Navy) are also present. The current currency on the island is the Chilean peso (US dollars are also in circulation on the island). Easter Island is a duty-free zone, so tax revenues to the island's budget are relatively small. To a large extent, it consists of subsidies from the government.

Infrastructure

Other infrastructure facilities (church, post office, bank, pharmacy, small shops, one supermarket, cafes and restaurants) mainly appeared in the 1960s. The island has a satellite phone, Internet and even a small disco for the locals. To call Easter Island, you need to dial the Chile code +56, the Easter Island code +32 and, since August 5, 2006, the number 2. After that, a local number consisting of 6 digits is dialed (and the first three will be 100 or 551 - these are the only valid prefixes on the island).

Tourism

Anakena - the most famous beach of the island

sights

Profile of the fallen idol against the background of the crater of the Rano Roratka volcano

How they were delivered to the coast is unknown. According to legend, they "walked" on their own. Recently, enthusiastic volunteers have found several ways to transport stone blocks. But what exactly the ancient inhabitants used (or some of their own) has not yet been determined. The Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl in his book "Aku-Aku" gives a description of one of these methods, which was tested in action by local residents. According to the book, information about this method was obtained from one of the few remaining direct descendants of the Moai builders. So, one of the Moai, overturned from the pedestal, was hoisted back by using logs slipped under the statue as levers, by swinging which it was possible to achieve small movements of the statue along the vertical axis. Movements were recorded by lining the upper part of the statue with stones of various sizes and alternating them. Actually, the transportation of the statues could be carried out by means of a wooden sledge. The local resident presents this method as the most probable, but he himself believes that the statues still reached their places on their own.

Many unfinished idols are in the quarries. A detailed study of the island gives the impression of a sudden cessation of work on the statues.

• Rano Raraku- one of the most interesting places for tourists. At the foot of this volcano there are about 300 moai, of various heights and at various stages of readiness. Not far from the bay is ahu Tongariki, the largest ritual site with 15 statues of various sizes installed on it.
• On the shore of the bay Anakena one of the most beautiful beaches of the island with crystal white coral sand. Swimming is allowed in the bay. Picnics are organized for tourists in palm groves. Also not far from the Anakena bay are ahu Ature-Hooks and ahu Naunau. According to ancient Rapanui legend, it was in this bay that Hotu-Matu'a, the first king of Rapa Nui, landed with the first settlers of the island.
• Te-Pito-te-henua(rap. Navel of the Earth) - a ceremonial platform on an island made of round stones. Quite a controversial place on Rapa Nui. Anthropologist Christian Walter claims that Te Pito-te-henua was established in the 1960s to attract gullible tourists to the island.
• On the volcano early kao there is an observation deck. Nearby is the ceremonial site Orongo.
• puna pau- a small volcano near Rano Khao. In the distant past, a red stone was mined here, from which “headdresses” were made for local moai.

History

Settlement and early history of the island

Before the advent of Europeans, two different peoples lived on the island - “long-eared”, who dominated and had a peculiar culture, script, built moai, and “short-eared”, who occupied a subordinate position. During the uprising of the short-ears, which took place presumably in the 16th century, all the long-ears were exterminated, and their culture was lost. In the future, it turned out to be extremely difficult to restore information about the former culture of Easter Island, only fragmentary information remained.

Occupations of the ancient Rapanui

Easter Island is currently a treeless island with infertile volcanic soil. However, by the time of settlement by Polynesians in the 9th-10th centuries, according to palynological studies of cores from the soil, the island was covered with dense forest cover.

In the past, as now, the slopes of the volcanoes were used for orchards and the cultivation of bananas.

According to Rapa Nui legends, how plants ( Triumfeta semitriloba), marikuru ( Sapindus saponaria), makoi ( Thespesia populnea) and sandalwood were brought by the king of Hotu-Matu'a, who sailed to the island from the mysterious homeland of Mara'e Renga (Eng. Mara "e Renga). This really could happen, since the Polynesians, populating new lands, brought with them the seeds of plants that were of great practical importance. The ancient Rapanui people were very well versed in agriculture, plants, and the peculiarities of their cultivation. Therefore, the island could well feed several thousand people.

The settlers cut down the forest both for economic needs (shipbuilding, construction of dwellings, transportation of moai, etc.), and to free up space for crops. As a result of intensive felling over the centuries, the forest was completely exhausted by about 1600. The result was wind erosion of the soil that destroyed the fertile layer, a sharp reduction in fish catch due to the lack of forest for building boats, a drop in food production, mass starvation, cannibalism and population decline several times in a few decades.

One of the problems of the island has always been the lack of fresh water. There are no full-flowing rivers on Rapa Nui, and water after rains easily seeps through the soil and flows towards the ocean. The Rapanui built small wells, mixed fresh water with salt water, and sometimes drank just salt water.

In addition to the tribes and tribal communities, which formed the basis of the social organization of the Rapanui society, there were larger associations that were political in nature. Ten tribes, or mata (rap. mata), were divided into two warring unions. The tribes of the west and northwest of the island were usually called people Tu'u is the name of a volcanic peak near Hanga Roa. They were also called mata nui. The tribes of the eastern part of the island in historical legends are called "people of Hotu-iti".

Ahu Te Pito Cura - the center of the world in the folklore of the inhabitants of Easter Island

The ancient Rapanui were extremely warlike. As soon as the hostility between the tribes began, their warriors painted their bodies black and prepared their weapons for battle at night. After the victory, a feast was held at which the victorious warriors ate the meat of the vanquished. The cannibals themselves on the island were called kai tangata (rap. kai tangata). Cannibalism existed on the island until the Christianization of all its inhabitants.

Europeans on the island

"Rurik" at the anchorage near Easter Island

An active conversion of the Rapanui to Christianity began, although the leaders of the local tribes resisted for a long time. On August 14, 1868, Eugène Ayrault died of tuberculosis. The missionary mission lasted about 5 years and had a positive impact on the inhabitants of the island: the missionaries taught writing (although they already had their own hieroglyphic writing), literacy, fought against theft, murder, polygamy, contributed to the development of agriculture, breeding previously unknown cultures on the island.

In 1868, Dutroux-Bornier, an agent of Brander's trading house, settled on the island with the permission of the missionaries ( Dutroux Bornier), who took up sheep breeding in Rapa Nui. The heyday of its economic activity dates back to the period after the death of the last legitimate ruler, the son of the supreme leader Maurat, twelve-year-old Grigorio, who died in 1866.

Meanwhile, the population of Rapa Nui declined significantly and in 1877 amounted to 111 people.

Cult of "Birdmen" (XVI/XVII-XIX centuries)

Motu Nui Island as seen from Orongo

One of the sights of the Orongo village are numerous petroglyphs depicting "bird-men" and the god Make-make (there are about 480 of them).

rongo rongo

Fragment of a tablet with the text rongo-rongo

Easter Island is the only island in the Pacific Ocean that has developed its own writing system, rongo-rongo. The writing of texts was carried out with pictograms, the writing method was boustrophedon. Pictograms are one centimeter in size and are represented by various graphic symbols, images of people, body parts, animals, astronomical symbols, houses, boats, and so on.

Rongorongo writing has not yet been deciphered, despite the fact that many linguists have dealt with this problem. In 1995, the linguist Stephen Fisher announced the decipherment of rongo-rongo texts, but his interpretation is disputed by other scholars.

The French missionary Eugene Ayrault was the first to report the existence of tablets with ancient writings on Easter Island in 1864.

Currently, there are many scientific hypotheses regarding the origin and meaning of the Rapa Nui script. M. Hornbostel, V. Hevesy, R. Heine-Geldern the Easter Island letter was believed to have come from India via China, and then from Easter Island the letter made its way to Mexico and Panama. R. Campbell claimed that this script came from the Far East via New Zealand. Imbelloni and later T. Heyerdahl tried to prove the South American Indian origin of both the writing of Rapa Nui and the entire culture. Many experts on Easter Island, including Fischer himself, believe that all 25 tablets with rongo-rongo scripts appeared after the natives became acquainted with European writing during the Spanish landing on the island in 1770.

Easter Island and the Lost Continent

Easter Island on the world map

This "Davis Land", which much later became identified with Easter Island, reinforced the conviction of cosmographers of that time that a continent existed in this region, which was, as it were, a counterweight to Asia and Europe. This led to the fact that brave sailors began to search for the lost continent. However, it was never found, with hundreds of Pacific islands discovered instead.

With the discovery of Easter Island, it became widely believed that this is the continent eluding man, on which a highly developed civilization existed for thousands of years, which later disappeared into the depths of the ocean, and only high mountain peaks survived from the continent (in fact, these are extinct volcanoes). ). The existence of huge statues on the island, moai, unusual Rapanui tablets only reinforced this opinion.

However, modern study of adjacent waters has shown this to be unlikely.

Easter Island is located 500 km from a range of seamounts known as the East Pacific Rise, on the Nazca lithospheric plate. The island is located on top of a huge mountain formed from volcanic lava. The last volcanic eruption on the island occurred 3 million years ago. Although some scientists suggest that it happened 4.5-5 million years ago.

According to local legends, in the distant past, the island was large. It is quite possible that this was the case during the Pleistocene Ice Age, when the level of the World Ocean was 100 meters lower. According to geological studies, Easter Island was never part of the sunken continent.

Notes

1. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Rapa Nui National Park. . Archived from the original on August 18, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
2. Easter Island Foundation. Frequently Asked Questions. What's the difference between "Rapa Nui" and "Rapanui"? . (unavailable link - history) Retrieved April 13, 2007.
3. About Easter Island. location. . (unavailable link - history) Retrieved April 13, 2007.
4. Easter Island Statue Project. About Easter Island. (unavailable link - history) Retrieved April 13, 2007.
5. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 3rd edition. Article "Easter Island".
6. This table was compiled using data from http://islandheritage.org/vg/vg06.html
7. Easter Island Statue Project. About Easter Island. Flora. . (unavailable link - history) Retrieved April 13, 2007.
8. Easter Island Statue Project. About Easter Island. fauna. . (unavailable link - history) Retrieved April 13, 2007.
9. ethnologue.com.

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) (Pascua, Rapa Nui), a volcanic island in the eastern Pacific Ocean 165.5 square kilometers. Height up to 539 meters. Belongs to Chile. The population is about 2 thousand people. Fishing. Sheep breeding. The remains of the disappeared culture of the Polynesians (stone sculpture, tablets covered with letters). The administrative center is Hanga Roa. Discovered by the Dutch navigator I. Roggeveen in 1772 on the day of Easter.

Easter Island is said to be one of the most secluded places in the world. This tiny island of volcanic origin is no more than 24 kilometers in size, lost in the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles from the nearest human civilization. It is located 3600 km west of the Chilean city of Valparaiso.

Everything connected with the island is shrouded in mystery. Where did its first inhabitants come from? How did they even find this island? How and why were over 600 giant stone statues carved?

The first Europeans to set foot on the island on Easter Sunday 1772 were Dutch sailors, who gave the island its name. They found that representatives of three different races peacefully coexist on the island. There were blacks, redskins and, finally, completely white people. They behaved very kindly and friendly.

The most fascinating and mysterious discovery on Easter Island was still the giant stone statues, called moai by the locals. Many of them reach a height of 4 to 10 meters and weigh up to 20 tons. Some are even larger, their weight exceeds 90 tons. They have very large heads with a heavy protruding chin, long ears and no legs at all. Some have red stone UshapkiF on their heads (it is believed that these are leaders deified after their death).

Easter Island photo

Secrets of Easter Island

Easter Island: where is located

Easter Island is an island in the South Pacific Ocean, the territory of Chile (together with the uninhabited island of Sala y Gomez, it forms the province and commune of Isla de Pascua as part of the Valparaiso region). The local name of the island is Rapa Nui (rap. Rapa Nui). Area - 163.6 km².

Along with the archipelago, Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited island in the world. The distance to the continental coast of Chile is 3514 km, to Pitcairn Island, the nearest inhabited place, is 2075 km.

Easter Island on the world map

How to Get to Easter Island

There are two ways to get to the island, both of which are expensive. The first is on a tourist yacht or cruise ship, which sometimes come here. You can go on an independent trip and call at the port in a couple of weeks.

The second way is air. The island has an airport that receives flights from the Chilean capital Santiago, Tahiti and Lima. The flight schedule depends on the time of year. For example, from December to March, you can only fly once a week. In other months - twice a week. The flight from Santiago takes about 5 hours.

The only way to get to Easter Island from Russia is by plane. Tickets are not cheap. You can buy from Moscow before Easter with transfers, you can buy from Moscow - St. Petersburg to North America, then to South America, and from there until Easter, you can immediately go to South America, and from there until Easter. In any case, you will have to spend money on a ticket. There is also a very good option when airlines offer special offers and reduce the cost of air tickets by half or even three times.

Easter Island: video

The most beautiful places for Easter

Aerial view of Easter Island

Uniqueness easter islands manifests itself in an ambiguous opinion about him. That is, on the one hand, people know everything about this place, on the other, nothing at the same time. Its enigmatic stone statues are still silent witnesses of an ancient and unknown culture. But who and how could create these monumental sculptures from rocks?

A bit of geography. Easter Island is located in the southeastern Pacific between Chile and Tahiti (Figure 1). Local natives dubbed it - Rapanui or Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui). Easter is the most remote island on the globe. The distance to the nearby piece of land in the west is two thousand ninety-two kilometers, and in the east - two thousand nine hundred and seventy-one kilometers. It is formed in the form of a triangle, on each edge of which there are extinct volcanoes.

The area of ​​the island is about one hundred and sixty square kilometers. Easter Island is recognized as the highest point above sea level. It is located on a huge hill, which was called the East Pacific Rise. In view of this, Thor Heyerdahl wrote that the closest land that the locals see is the Moon.

The capital of the island, as well as its only city, is the city of Anga Roa. The island has its own flag (Fig. 3) and its coat of arms (Fig. 4).

Interestingly, Easter Island has / had several names: Vaihu, Mata-ki-te-Ragi, San Carlos Island, Rapanui, Teapi, Tekaouhangoaru, Te Pito-o-te-henua, Hititeairagi, Easter Island.

Some legends claim that Easter Island was once part of one large country (many consider it to be a surviving part of Atlantis). This looks quite plausible, since today at Easter a lot of evidence was found confirming these legends: there are roads on the island that lead directly to the ocean, a large number of underground tunnels originating in local caves and paving the way in an unknown direction, as well as other equally significant information and amazing finds.

Interesting data on underwater research of the ocean floor near Easter Island are given by the Australian Howard Tirloren, who arrived here with Cousteau. He said that having arrived here in 1978, they studied the bottom around the island in sufficient detail. Anyone who went down in a bathyscaphe will confirm that the mountains under water, even at a shallow depth, are quite unusual in appearance: some of them even had holes made that looked like window connectors. And once Jacques-Yves Cousteau found one unfamiliar deep-sea depression in the vicinity, where after he dived for another three days. When he returned, he wanted to explore this depression even more scrupulously. Cousteau did not manage to see anything in full, but according to him, the silhouettes of the walls are visible at the bottom, forming something like a section of a large city. However, because of the people serving in the political police of DINA, which was supervised by Pinochet himself, nothing came of it. According to Tirloren, they were forced to endorse non-disclosure documents, and also demanded to stop research, so all work was stopped. But what could be unusual in this cavity? Why the Chilean state security is so afraid of scientists remains a mystery. After the Pinochet regime, this issue was raised again, but to no avail. Thus, this fact does not rule out the possibility that a significant part of Easter Island sank during some kind of catastrophe.

In 1973-1977, several American oceanologists studied oceanic depressions near Easter Island, namely, near the Sala y Gomez ridge. As a result, they discovered sixty-five underwater peaks and agreed with the hypothesis of the existence of an unknown archipelago, which was in the area tens of thousands of years ago, and then sank into the water. But all subsequent studies were frozen for no good reason at the request of the Chilean government. The "Island of Mysteries" still does not make it possible to unravel its mystery.

The obtained geophysical data confirm that the coast of Southeast Asia is slowly sinking into the ocean. Maybe this subsidence once happened faster and at one moment, like Atlantis, it went deep into the depths of the ocean, including Pacifida with its huge population and original culture, traces of which are still found on Easter Island? And the various tablets with inscriptions and monuments of art are nothing more than the surviving evidence of an ancient vanished civilization? After all, according to the testimony of the first inhabitant of Easter Island, Eiro, all buildings contain wooden planks or sticks containing some kind of hieroglyphs and symbols. Basically, these are images of unknown animals, which the natives continue to paint with stones to this day. Each image has its own designation; but in view of the fact that they make such products on very rare occasions, this suggests that these hieroglyphs are only the remains of ancient writing. That is, the natives are only trying to follow old customs, without trying to find any meaning in this.

Macmillan Brown, in his research, even tried to find out the approximate date of the death of Pacifida. In his opinion, this phenomenon could have occurred in the interval between 1687, when the English sailor Davis examined a large ledge near Easter Island, and 1722, when Admiral Roggeven found nothing in this place except for a small island. The cataclysm that had happened was evidenced not only by the unexpectedly stopped work in the quarries on Rano Raraku. In many areas of Easter Island, spacious roads are paved that end in the ocean. Does this mean that these paths end deep under water? Can it be possible to find new evidence of a lost culture on the seabed?

There is one thing that completely destroys this hypothesis, and that is the question of chronology. At what point did the landmass in the Pacific Ocean begin to sink? Three hundred years ago, or three thousand, or perhaps even three hundred thousand? Or is this number in the millions? Geological and geophysical data indicate that the deepening of the land and the collapse of the Pacifida happened just in the ancient period. The fauna and flora of such islands as the Galapagos, New Zealand, Fiji, formed from the mainland, but many centuries ago they were part of one huge continent. This led to the discovery of fossils here that have long disappeared and are no longer found anywhere on the globe. Similarly, at one point, the Australian continent broke away from Asia. Land sinking at the location of Easter Island has not occurred since that ancient period.

Chubb's geological and oceanographic surveys near Easter confirmed the fact that he did not sink a millimeter, and at the time when the monuments were erected, the coastline was as stable as it is today. This argument was repeated by the Swedish expedition, which established the geological stability of the island, which lasts at least a million years.

Studying the issue of the emergence of the island itself, the author got the impression that many scientists do not aim to understand or reveal the truth, but pursue the goal of defending their own point of view, to prove what is beneficial for them. Or, moving in an absolutely impartial search, they encounter postulates that are currently imposed on society as official, but at the slightest check they are bursting at the seams. This forces one to turn one's research from the straight path to the thorny straight official wilds. It is not difficult to pay attention to the fact that most researchers evaluate the available artifacts only from the point of view of the dominance of matter over spirituality, and nothing else.

In the process of studying the topic, a number of questions arose. Why do scientists, faced with inexplicable archaeological artifacts and at the same time with the same incomprehensible behavior of authorities that openly ban research, do not sound the alarm in every possible way and do not try to convey obvious things to the public? Why don't they build hypotheses in which there would be a place for all findings and facts, and not just convenient or understandable? How can one sometimes come up with theories so that they do not seem crude to the public? Are they really not interested in learning about the past of their planet, or simply there is no free time due to everyday problems? Who really needed to build multi-ton statues on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, place them around the perimeter of the island facing the ocean, paint with ornaments and patterns? What was so special about their writing that when the first Europeans who visited the island saw it, they began to hastily eradicate it from the local population, so much so that after forty years almost none of the Rapanui could not only write, but also read their home signs? It can be objected that this was by chance and that this 18th century was a very long time ago, well, but why are excavations and studies not being carried out at the state level now? Why, if you now approach the statue behind the fence, will a person be threatened with a prison? And why did UNESCO ban the excavation and study of the underground part of the statues? Another curious fact is that almost all modern researchers of the original culture of Easter Island claim that it is impossible to find out its true meaning or decipher the script, and all that is read is ordinary everyday texts.

The people exterminated for half a century.

Fifty years later, in 1722, the Englishman James Cook and the Frenchman La Perouse visited Easter Island. Since then, the situation has changed greatly. Many plains have been abandoned. Once chubby inhabitants vegetated in poverty, and statues filled with grandeur were almost all dumped and lying on the ground. The ancient cult was erased from memory. Only a few representatives of the famous “long-eared” race remained, most likely, their death is associated with rivals - “short-eared”, who not only destroyed the tribe, but also their inherent culture. As a result of the events that took place on Easter Island, an entire era ended, which lasted more than one century, and possibly even a millennium. What this period was, has remained an unsolved mystery for many. Roggeven and his assistants were unable to find out almost nothing about her. Captain Cook, La Perouse and the Spaniards, who discovered this island in the second half of the 18th century, showed no curiosity about the ancient artifacts, they were only looking for new territories that could be developed and used as colonies. By the time European researchers finally awakened interest in the cultural heritage of other peoples, only silent witnesses of its majestic past remained on Easter Island - these are huge and breathtaking statues. Now they have been thrown off their bases, on the edge of the crater there was only an abandoned temple and several strange wooden tablets with unknown hieroglyphs. The number of local residents decreased not only because of the ongoing internecine wars. In 1862, slave traders from Peru broke in here, they captured and took out about nine hundred people, including the last king. The captives were sent to mine fertilizer in the Atacama Desert. Later, three hundred more inhabitants of the island were captured and sent to Tahiti for hard labor on the plantations. When, on Easter, a show war began, arranged by Dutroux-Bornier at the request of a French company, the remaining inhabitants and the missionaries who lived there fled. Subsequently, they moved to the Gambier archipelago, located in a more westerly direction. Thus, the population of the island in fifteen years decreased from two and a half thousand to one hundred and eleven people! Therefore, those few people who decided to stay did not remember anything about the age-old customs of their forefathers.

Interesting facts about the inhabitants of the island (Fig. 6). According to H. P. Blavatsky, the multi-colored skin of the local natives indicates that different peoples mixed up on Easter Island, which include the Lemurians (the third hereditary race) and the Atlanteans (the fourth hereditary race). This information is contained in the Secret Doctrine of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, where Easter Island is mentioned as the habitat of some of the earliest generations of the third race. An unexpected volcanic eruption and upheaval of the ocean floor sank it, along with all the monuments and culture. At the same time, the island remained untouched, as proof of the existence of Lemuria. There is another interpretation - the territory of Easter was occupied by several Atlanteans, who, fleeing from the cataclysm that occurred in their area, settled in the rest of Lemuria, but not for long, since it was subsequently destroyed by a volcanic eruption and lava that collapsed. Thus, it becomes clear that the ancestors of the black Lemurians, as well as the red-skinned and light-skinned Atlanteans, mixed up in this territory.

The blow that destroyed the culture of the ancient people.

A large number of scientists have made great efforts to reconstruct the culture of the Easter population piece by piece. But the resulting picture was incomplete. The researchers were lucky to find out that on this small piece of land, only one hundred and eighteen square kilometers in size, there are two centers of culture:

Rano Raraku Quarry;
Sanctuary of Orongo on the border of the volcanic mountain Rano Kao.

At the same time, Rano Raraku also has a volcano crater, on the southern side of which there are ancient quarries. In them, huge sacred statues were subsequently carved out of the porous rock of the rocks. This mountain still keeps the consequences of a terrible civil war. A large number of statues remained unfinished, at various stages of completion. For some, only the first outlines are observed, for others, for readiness, it is enough to work with a chisel several times in order to freely dissociate them from the rock and move them. The rest are standing or lying around and are already prepared for shipment. One of the most massive finished monuments is Rano Raraku, the top of which is twenty-two meters from the ground. At the base of the volcano there is a huge platform formed from basalt blocks, another similar platform is located below, directly on the coast. Its length is fifty meters. The lower platform once housed as many as fifteen stone idols. However, now they are all, except for one, lying on the ground. The “short-eared” race, which completely defeated the carriers of the mysterious “long-eared” culture, toppled their huge monuments, breaking stones from the foundation.

The mass of the largest idols reaches fifty tons. Stone hammers, axes and chisels were used to carve them, due to the fact that the locals did not know how to make tools from metal. The most incomprehensible is the way in which these statues were transported from the volcano to sites located at its base, as well as at a considerable distance from it. Indeed, on Easter Island there were not a large number of people to perform forced labor. Therefore, it is possible to think that stone idols were transported with the help of small groups of their local residents, using rigid cables made of reed or vegetable threads, wooden rollers and levers for this. Then they were installed vertically with a neat supply of stone mounds under their base. But this business did not end. Now, on an island with little to no vegetation, such monuments are everywhere to be seen. They are standing, lying, unfinished or just begun. Bloody civil war at the end of the 18th century. caused the collapse of these iconic sculptures. It should be noted that these statues were not only used as tombstones, they had a peculiar spiritual purpose, evidence of which was found on the rocky plateau of Orongo, extending at the base of Rano Kao in the southwestern side of Easter Island. In that place, not far from the crater of the volcano, there are mysterious buildings without a hole for windows, erected from bulky stone blocks. And on the rocks around them, a lot of incomprehensible images are minted.

Bird-man.

As ancient legends say, once a year the priests turned to God with a request to choose a new bird-man. The man chosen for this role was to organize a group of several guys and go with them to the stone dwellings and caves of Rano Kao. Once there, they waited (sometimes more than one month) until the seagulls living on the island lay their eggs on a rock that is several hundred feet away from the coast. Then the group, floating on the water, headed for the rock, called Motunui. The first person to arrive immediately had to start searching for the egg, then wash it and bring it to the island intact. Having done this, he, filled with pride, gave the egg to the leader of the tribe, who, from that moment on, acquired the status of a bird-man. Clutching it in his palm, the head of the tribe danced along the entire southern coast of the island until he got to Rano Raraku. In this place, the leader had to live for twelve whole months next to the stone inhabitants on Rapanui. He lived there completely alone, spending time in prayer and meditation. For the rest of the Rapanui, this place was forbidden, because the chambers of the respected gentleman settled there. The main deity of this outlandish religion was Make-Make. At the same time, he has no resemblance either to the Creator God known to us, or the Creator of the entire Universe. He, his companion - the lord of seagulls and three deities - the guardians of eggs and future descendants, demanded the offering of human sacrifices. It is possible that once upon a time cannibalism could well exist on the island.

If you carefully study the legend of the bird-man and compare it with primordial knowledge, then a completely clear logical picture emerges. Suppose that, unlike our civilization, the ancient inhabitants of Easter Island did not have a materialistic perception, but lived with a predominance of spiritual values. Maybe because of this, some of the Europeans needed to destroy their culture so hastily?

Then it turns out that the election of the next bird-man (the bird is a symbol of the front essence) is nothing more than the choice of the most spiritually developed person to perform important tasks (controlling climate, weather, seismic activity, perhaps even solving planetary problems). For this, he recruited a group of young men to form a circle of power. In this case, it is logical to assume what they were doing while they were together in the cave - they studied, were intensively engaged in spiritual practices, spiritual self-development, self-disclosure. When the group was ready, something like an exam or a test for possession of certain properties related to understanding the structure of the world was assigned (the symbol is the world egg). After that, this bird-man set to work with the largest ahu Rano Raraku. This is confirmed by the symbols inscribed on many statues, perhaps it is worth taking a closer look at them to study the signs with which the bird-man worked.

The connection between the worship of the bird-man and massive stone idols is proved by the images drawn on the backs of most of the statues. These drawings depict skeletons, ghosts, deities, but most often - a bird-man. In 1722, the cult of worship of a demigod and huge statues was fully promoted, but after the landing of the “short-eared” tribe on Rapanui, everything changed dramatically. The beliefs tell of several large boats, on which there were about three hundred men and, most likely, the same number of women. Scientists believe that they fled the Rapaiti Islands after the start of a terrible civil war or a sizzling drought.

From the AllatRa book:

Anastasia: A few more words about Easter Island. The local population still believes that the ceremonial platforms (“ahu”), on which some stone statues are located, are a link between the visible and invisible (other worlds) worlds, that the stone statues (“moai”) themselves contain the supernatural power of ancestors. The latter, according to beliefs, is supposedly able to regulate natural phenomena and, accordingly, lead to a favorable outcome - the prosperity of the people ...

Rigden: There is nothing supernatural there. It's just that once people lived here who knew how and why certain signs should be activated. If their descendants had not lost the knowledge that was given to them, then those who now live on that island would better understand themselves and their elementary connection with other worlds. Usually for the chronicle, as a transfer of knowledge and legends to descendants, knowledgeable people put signs on stone statues, and often decorated themselves with appropriate tattoos, which had a special symbolic meaning. For ignorant people, these were drawings that meant absolutely nothing, but inspired respect and fear for those who, in their opinion, "probably knew something special." Later, of course, ordinary imitation began.

Anastasia: Yes, but there are no signs on the stone heads and platforms that are on Easter Island.

Rigden: And who said that these heads have no continuation? Yes, let them dig deeper in those places, then maybe they will find what is hidden from their eyes. But that's not the point. Even if people find something interesting by signs and symbols, what will they do with it? With the dominance of material thinking and the absence of Knowledge, at best, they will make a sensation in the media in order to attract more tourists to the island and earn money. That's all. Knowledge is valuable for a spiritual seeker only when they can be used and improve oneself, provide spiritual assistance to other people. (page 443)

Letter and symbols.

I must say that the culture of the islanders did not die with them. Along with the worship of the bird-man and massive idols, the tribe of "long-eared" also had writing skills. Therefore, it is natural that the "short-eared" managed to take advantage of them. In the first half of the 19th century, the last of the literate Ariki remained to rule on the island, he was called Ngaara, he was white-skinned and small in stature. The ruler accumulated a whole repository of symbolic tablets with hieroglyphs, and also taught the features of the sacred script rongo-rongo at the school. Only a few chosen ones were provided for training, for the rest of the inhabitants of the island it was the strictest ban. They were not even allowed to touch these tablets. And those who were still allowed to learn the rongo-rongo alphabet, which included several hundred characters, had yet another test. First of all, they had to get the hang of twisting rope knots and silhouettes that fit these hieroglyphs. Similar tests are also known in many other parts of the world.

From the AllatRa book:

“Anastasia: The importance of some signs, in my opinion, proves another fact of a kind of “hunting” for them. Take, for example, the story of the ancient writing of Easter Island. In that area, knowledge of signs and symbols, however, as well as their use in writing, disappeared quite recently, in the middle of the 19th century, when “Western civilization” broke into the island in the form of people who sailed on Dutch and Spanish ships. A Catholic missionary who visited the island told the world about the unusual writing of the island. The inhabitants of Easter Island kept their records with special signs on wooden tablets, which were in almost every house. But, having opened the signs of Easter Island to Europeans, this missionary and his followers at the same time did everything to destroy this writing, burn it as a pagan heresy. And what is left now of this very recently existing culture? Several hundred huge sculptures-heads as high as a multi-storey building and weighing twenty tons, scattered all over Easter Island, and a couple of dozen tablets - writing monuments that have miraculously survived, as well as a staff and breast decoration with inscriptions. Moreover, the latter are scattered in various museums around the world. It seems that the world priests, having learned about these signs and symbols, did everything to destroy them, even despite the fact that these were already actually pitiful remnants of once past knowledge.

Rigden: Well, the Archons do not sleep, they act. Already someone who, but they understand what signs are and, moreover, what an activated sign is in work. (page 439)

Among the primitive settlers of Oceania, where established habits and traditions have not lost their true meaning, knot magic has become especially widespread. This can be read in the one hundred and thirteenth sura of the Qur'an. Its modern interpreters explain this fact as witchcraft. In ancient explanations, on the contrary, it is believed that the mention of knots in the Koran means sorceresses who knit magical figures, then blow on them and pronounce spells, which contributes to the attraction of evil. At the same time, in Arabia, such things were considered quite common in the pre-Islamic period. But today it is no longer possible to find either a Christian or an Arab who would understand anything about "lace witchcraft." But in those regions where traditional beliefs have not supplanted the worship of deities, as well as ancient and mystical customs, people still knit magic knots, which often develop into quite complex configurations. This is common among peoples such as:

• Eskimos;
• Indians of North, Central and South America;
• all African peoples;
• island tribes of Oceania;
• native inhabitants of Australia and East Asia, including Japan.

In most cases, various rope figures are made for fun. But at the same time, one can often hear how the natives, stretching a knitted silhouette from a lace on their fingers, pronounce ancient words with a magical meaning. Especially such witchcraft is developed in the isolated territories of the Melanesian archipelago, Micronesia, Polynesia, as well as among the American Indians.

At the moment, scientists are familiar with about three and a half thousand such figures. The material for their manufacture is an ordinary rope, the ends of which are tied, or a woven lace made of synthetics. In ancient times, the tribes used animal veins, intestinal fibers, connected or twisted plant threads, and sometimes even long curls of human hair to obtain magical patterns.

Sometimes it happens that the ritual is based on the worship of spirits and mystical creatures. So, for example, the Eskimos are convinced of the existence of a soul in connected figures and are overly afraid of it, since, in their opinion, it can be a danger to their lives. If someone plays with the ropes for too long or does it at an inadmissible time, then a characteristic rustling is heard in front of the dwelling, and at this moment, inside the tent, the light of the lamp begins to slowly fade. And only those who are aware understand that the spirit of the connected figures is approaching in this way. At one time, he removed the insides from his dried-up body and now he is engaged in knitting from dehydrated intestines. This process is accompanied by a sound similar to the rustling of paper.

It is curious that the Navajo Indians, who settled in the northwest of the United States of America, are convinced that knot knitting originated in ancient times with the help of a tribe of spider people, and they later taught this craft to other people. A large number of peoples tie figures from laces, so that later they can be presented as a gift to their deities. But the inhabitants of the Gilbert Islands in Micronesia are sure that such silhouettes appeared at the time of the creation of the world.

A gift that gives passage to another world.

As one legend says: “When the heavens were cut off from the earth at the beginning of life, the demigod rose and, while the sky gradually “rise”, he tied eleven knots one after the other.” On the Gilbert Islands, they are still familiar today, and Maude even managed to capture ten of them.

Leading signs.

It becomes clear why scientists to this day have not been able to interpret the ancient records, which are more symbolic than alphabetic, especially considering that they are only partially preserved. These forgotten symbols explain the real details and mysteries of a much older culture. Only twenty surviving epistles have now been studied. They are in museums in Germany, Belgium, Chile, USA, Russia, England, and Austria.

If we do not take into account the interpretation of Hausen, in which there is a decoding of about five hundred characters, the meaning of the hieroglyphs rongo-rongo has not been disclosed so far. In doing so, they provoke interesting conclusions. Similar writings were common among the natives of northwestern India in the 4th millennium BC. Subsequently, their culture also disappeared. Some historians believe that certain components of this culture, including writing, came to Polynesia somewhere in the 2nd millennium BC. Then the tribe of "long-ears" spread them to the island of Rapanui, where they rested for many centuries, and possibly millennia. This continued until the death of knowledgeable people and priests led to the emergence of an unsolved mystery for today's researchers.

Any figure woven from ropes was suitable for a certain melody, which had to be memorized, as well as a certain sign-drawing. These hieroglyphs were not letters or phrases, but at the same time they displayed some concepts and important thoughts. They were obtained using a chisel made of volcanic glass or turned with a shark tooth. Each line was done from the bottom up. At the same time, the lowest one was drawn from left to right, and the next one was vice versa. In addition, the signs were drawn upside down in every even line. Scientists have given the name boustrophedon to such a peculiar writing. However, in world literature, this method is extremely rare. The mysterious writing remained unknown for a long time. Therefore, the Europeans could not immediately find out about it. The first information about it surfaced only in 1817, when Tepano Hausen took up their detailed study. He was very surprised when he realized that only a small number of literate islanders can read the texts written on the tablets, but at the same time they retell their essence in their own words, using the signs solely as a clue. The information that popped up from the clues was learned by heart, but everyone learned it in their own way.

Here is an interesting point from Wikipedia that clearly shows how the archons, through their people, in this case the priests, uprooted the Rongorongo culture. Thomson was told about an old man named Ure Wa'e Iko. He assured that he understood most of the signs, as he took reading lessons. He was the head of the last king of the dynasty of monarchs - Nga'ara, who had the ability to read at least one memorized text and play many songs, but at the same time did not know how to write rongo-rongo. Having learned this, Thomson began to load the old man with various gifts and coins in the hope that he would tell what was written in the tablets. But Ure Wa'e Iko did not agree, since the Christian priests did not allow him to do this, intimidating him with death. After that, he ran away. However, Thomson later took photographs of the mysterious tablets and, with great effort, persuaded the old man to reproduce the text written on them. While Ure was telling, Alexander Salmon wrote down all the information from dictation, and a little later he translated it into English.

Mystery notebook.

Once Thor Heyerdahl decided to visit a shack on Easter Island. The owner of the hut claimed to have a notebook written by his grandfather, who was aware of the secret of kohau rongo-rongo. It displays the main hieroglyphs of ancient writing, as well as the decoding of their meaning, indicated in Latin letters. But when the scientist tried to study the notebook, Esteban immediately hid it. Shortly after this event, witnesses claim that they saw him sail away in a small boat to the island of Tahiti. Most likely, the notebook was also with him. Since then, no one has heard anything about Esteban. Therefore, what happened to the notebook is also not clear.

Once the missionaries noticed an amazing similarity of the writing that existed on Easter Island with hieroglyphs ancient egypt. At the same time, it turned out that one hundred and seventy-five signs of kohau rongo-rongo are absolutely identical with the inscriptions of Hindustan. And their similarity with ancient Chinese writing was established by the Austrian archaeologist Robert Teldern in 1951. American and German scientists are convinced that the script that once existed in Polynesia was miraculously not lost and remained on Easter Island.

The unusual tradition of the natives to achieve drooping earlobes testifies to the reverence for the possibilities of acute hearing, which at one time was the main advantage of the Lemurians. It was they who could capture such sounds that are absolutely incomprehensible to a modern person.

Such an amazing rumor was also mentioned in the book Fragments of a Forgotten History. It was argued that such physical data arose due to the improvement of the spirit. They had access to sounds that we are not able to hear, and this was their happiness. It was in honor of such a gift that previous generations of Lemurians rewarded themselves with drooping earlobes. Thus, they wanted to be like their distant ancestors.

Creation of sculptures for the glory of the gods.

Behrens liked to talk about the rich vegetation of Easter Island, as well as about the huge harvests of vegetables and fruits that were collected every year. When he described the local inhabitants, he wrote the following: "Always cheerful, well-built, excellent runners, friendly, but extremely shy. Almost every one of them, having brought gifts, hastily threw them to the ground and immediately ran away with all his strength." As for the color of the skin, it has different shades - among them there are both blacks and completely white inhabitants, in addition, there are even redskins, which makes it seem that they were burned in the sun. Their ears are long and often reach to the shoulders. Some, as a decoration, have small white bars inserted into the earlobes.

According to some statements, the amazing abilities of the Rapanui people are the will of the gods. They made them such that they could be responsible for that part of the world to which they are fully deployed. The inhabitants of the island confirmed that their ancestors once upon a time were engaged in the construction of the now known monuments, as they possessed great power. However, this is not currently allowed. Hearing this version, James Cook did not want to believe it and even formulated the key mysteries of the island - how the idols could have arisen and why they do not appear now.

However, the islanders do not support this proposal and talk about bird-people, that is, deities who descended to earth, installed and flew back. The images of people with wings found on the island serve as evidence of this version.

Thus, the Rapanui culture has long excited the minds of researchers with its unusualness and mystery. Her envoys created unique stone monuments, which testifies to the high level of development of this civilization. All statues appeared between 1250 and 1500. Their known number today is eight hundred and eighty-seven idols. At the same time, almost nothing is known about the inhabitants of Easter Island themselves. Indeed, at the time of its discovery by Europeans in the 18th century, a backward race was discovered that could not make such monuments. When the island was captured by slave traders in the 19th century, the last remnants of civilization were buried.

In an article published in the journal Antiquity, archaeologists provide a detailed overview of the arrowheads found in large numbers in almost all parts of the island. According to the analysis, they are absolutely unsuitable for military operations. This conclusion is due to the fact that the main purpose of a good weapon is to kill the enemy, and spears from the island can only injure a person, but not mortally. Therefore, most likely, these tips served the locals as tools for cultivating the land, food, and applying various tattoos to the body. There is also no evidence of large-scale and bloody wars on the island. So it can be argued that the death of the ancient culture is most likely due to a lack of resources and the transformation of the economic structure. Theoretically, the revival of civilization was very possible, but this was prevented by the arrival of Europeans.

Research results.

After reviewing the materials of various researchers, scientists who are simply looking for people, the impression is that there is interest in the island, but the catastrophic lack of true information leads the student either into the jungle of harmonious standard theories, or to the conclusion that we will never know the truth.

So what we found out:

1. There are several types of moai (statues) on the island, some recently placed on pedestals, others are scattered around the island, others are partially buried in the ground, some are very deep.

2. Also, these statues differ in size and appearance, apparently they were made at different times.

3. At the moment, official science says that the Moai were created around 1200-1400 AD. And those that are in the ground up to their shoulders, just covered with soil over time. How long does it take for nature to raise the soil level by 2-3 meters or more? Somehow it doesn't fit.

4. There are several traditions on the island that remotely resemble the actions of people who had spiritual knowledge about man and the world (skin whitening, the cult of the bird-man).

5. Despite the many mysteries and open opportunities to explore the island, the local authorities do not conduct official scientific research. Moreover, such research is taboo, excavations are prohibited, and the same is true with underwater research near the island. Researchers are waiting for a warning from the police or special services and a prison. There are many examples of this. Even what Thor Heyerdahl unearthed is covered up. It turns out that someone is afraid that people will find out the truth that the artifacts of the island and the handwriting that is familiar in many similar places around the world keep. The work of the archons deserves a detailed study so that, understanding the methods of their influence, which have not changed for centuries, it would be possible to identify them in the daily life of society and bring them to the public review.

6. A very interesting question about the writing that was on the island and so quickly destroyed with the arrival of the Europeans, in less than a century, almost no one remembered how to read and write their traditional signs and symbols. And those who still remembered the letter fled from the researchers like fire. Apparently taught by bitter experience.

7. From the foregoing, it becomes obvious that before the advent of Europeans, there was an ancient culture on the island that kept true knowledge and not only kept it, but also actively used it. For example, the “plasticine” stone processing technology (when the stone for processing became plastic like plasticine), cutting and transporting multi-ton stone statues, three-layer ahu (platforms), the lower layer is lined with polygonal masonry, like many other megalithic buildings on different continents. The very fact of creating statues and installing them around the perimeter of the island suggests that there was a need for this (at least for the local population), and as we have already found out, these were knowledgeable spiritual people, this need could be associated with the creation of certain conditions for the whole world, or some part of it. Since "moai have the power of the north winds and are responsible for the side of the world in which they look." It could be both climatic conditions and spiritual ones, perhaps Rigden Djappo considers it necessary and reveals to us the true purpose of the statues and their sacred meaning.

Thus, even now, many of the mysteries of Easter Island remain unsolved, and it is possible that the answers to the questions of interest to scientists have already been lost forever. However, while research is underway, people do not lose hope of solving the puzzle created many centuries ago.

Prepared by: Alex Ermak (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Easter Island (Spanish: Isla de Pascua, Polynesian: Rapa Nui) is one of the most isolated islands on Earth. Early settlers call the island "Te Pito O Te Henua" (The Navel of the World). Officially a territory, Easter Island is far out in the Pacific, about halfway to Tahiti. Known for the enigmatic giant stone statues built centuries ago, reflecting the dramatic rise and fall of Polynesian culture.

general information

The name of the island recalls that it was discovered by a Dutch survey vessel on Easter Sunday 1722.

Ever since Thor Heyerdahl and a small group of adventurers set sail from South America to the Tuamotu Islands, far north of Easter Island, the controversy over the origin of the islanders has not subsided. DNA testing has now conclusively proven that the Polynesians came from the west, not the east, and that Easter Islanders are the descendants of intrepid travelers who traveled there from Taiwan thousands of years ago. Legend has it that people went to Easter Island because their own island was gradually swallowed up by the sea.

In short, the backstory of Easter Island is a series of achievements, prosperity and civilization that ended in environmental destruction and decline. While there is no consensus as to when humans first arrived on Easter Island (estimated to be from a few hundred to over a thousand years ago), it is assumed that the first humans arrived from Polynesia. It is unlikely that this was a mistake or an accident: the evidence suggests that Easter Island was colonized intentionally by large boats with many settlers - a remarkable feat, given the distance from Easter Island to any other land in the Pacific Ocean.

The first islanders found the land undeniably a paradise. Archaeological evidence shows that the island was covered with trees of various kinds, including the largest species of palm trees in the world, whose bark and wood the natives used to make cloth, rope and canoes. Birds were found in abundance. The mild climate favored an easy life, and abundant waters provided fish and oysters.

The islanders prospered from these benefits and reflected this in the religion that developed into their leisure - the giant moai, or heads, which are the island's most distinctive feature today. The moai that dot the island are thought to have been ancestral images, whose presence was probably considered a blessing or a watchful guard in every small village.

The ruins of the Rano Raraku crater in the quarry, where dozens, if not hundreds of moai are located in the very center, are a testament to the significance of these figures for the islanders and the fact that their lives revolved around these creations. It has been suggested that their isolation from all other peoples working in the center of trade and creativity created an expectation of some other significant path destined for them, for which they could use their skills and resources. The bird-man in culture (in the form of petroglyphs) is an obvious evidence of the hopes of the islanders for the opportunity to leave their island for distant lands.

However, as the population grew, so did the pressure on the island's environment. Deforestation of trees on the island gradually increased, and when this main resource was exhausted, it was difficult for the islanders to continue to make ropes, canoes and everything necessary for hunting and fishing, and ultimately to maintain a culture that encouraged the islanders to produce giant stone figures. Apparently, the divisions began to intensify (with some violence), confidence in the old religion was lost, which was reflected in part in the ruins of the moai, which were deliberately overthrown.

By the end of the glorious culture of Easter Island, the population had reached a minimum, the inhabitants, due to the lack of food or livelihood, sometimes resorted to cannibalism and a raw food diet. Even subsequent raids by powers such as and did not devastate the population so much, in the last century only a few hundred natives of Rapa Nui remained.

Today Rapa Nui National Park is on the list world heritage UNESCO. Its inhabitants rely on many tourist and economic connections and daily flights to Santiago. Like many indigenous peoples, Rapa Nui seek artifacts from their past and try to integrate their culture with the political, economic and social realities of today. You can book a hotel on Easter Island at, and you can check if there is a better price anywhere. Some travelers prefer to rent accommodation from locals - you can look at offers.

How to get there

Due to the extreme geographic isolation of Easter Island, many people believe that only a very brave traveler can reach it. In fact, it can be reached with regular commercial air service from Hanga Roa (IATA: IPC), as tourism is the island's main industry.

Since this place is a de facto part of , this is a domestic flight from Santiago and no passports will be required upon arrival from Chile. Flights also come from Tahiti - then your passport will be needed.

However, these are more of a "path" for most people, with a minimum of 5.5 hours in the air from the nearest continent, and there are very few routes to get to Easter Island. Only regular LAN Airlines flights fly daily to Santiago de and once a week to Tahiti. With no competition for this long and challenging flight, fares range from US$400 to US$1,200 per flight from Santiago. You can find out how much air travel will cost for your dates in the Trevelask section.

Easter Island is said to be "conveniently located" when it is found to be on a world travel map, where it acts as an interesting stopover between Polynesia and South America, and also helps reinforce the perception of outsiders. Because of the waves, only one in four cruise ships can dock here.

If you want to take the intrepid route, the "sailboat" Soren Larsen sails to Easter Island from New Zealand once a year. The journey takes 35 days, crossing the point farthest from land.

If possible, consider landing in Santiago after returning from Easter Island. There is a small chance that you will be denied boarding your flight if you need a medical evacuation, and a scheduled stop will give you more options if you experience this. The plane sometimes leaves the island late, as a result of which you may have problems with further transfers on the mainland.

By plane

Clue:

Easter Island - the time is now

Hour difference:

Moscow 8

Kazan 8

Samara 9

Yekaterinburg 10

Novosibirsk 12

Vladivostok 15

When is the season. When is the best time to go

Clue:

Easter Island - monthly weather

Main attractions. What to see

The biggest sights on Easter Island are the figures standing on solemn platforms called ahu, moai.

Please note that moai and their platforms are protected by law and should not be approached under any circumstances. Don't go ah. This is extremely disrespectful, and in case you damage the seats, even by accident, the punishment will be severe. Recently, a German tourist who broke a moai's ear was sentenced to criminal liability and fined $10,000.

Rano Raraku and Orongo require an entrance ticket to the National Park, which can be purchased at the airport upon arrival or at the CONAF office. You need a ticket to enter both places, so make sure you have it secure. The rest of the island can be visited without a ticket.

Ahu are mostly located along the coastline of the island. First time visitors may be amazed at how many archeological sites there are around the island that you can practically visit on your own depending on the season and time of day.

Each clan usually had a keeper, although not all of them were moai, so if you drive along the south coast of the island, you will see that every mile has sections of ruins.

Two exceptional sites are the volcanic craters Rano Kau Rano and Raraku. A little further back in the quarry at "Rano Raraku" is the place where most of the moai were created, on a hillside. This is a 300-foot cooled volcano that provided the stones for great creations. The visitor can see the various stages of carving, as well as partially completed figures scattered around. Climbing along the left side of the volcano, to the top and inside the crater, you will remember for a long time. The opposite side of the crater, where some of the moai were carved, is one of the most dramatic spots on the island, but is unfortunately not currently accessible.

Similarly, Rano Kau is the remnant of a volcanic cone, ash, like Rano Raraku, filled with fresh rainwater and has a speckled, ethereal appearance that takes your breath away. Nearby are other Hanga Roa viewpoints.

Often overlooked, Easter Island's vast cave systems are a particularly fascinating attraction. While there are a few "official" caves that are quite interesting in their own right, there are numerous unofficial caves on the island, most of which are located near Ana Kakenga. When you study them, you will feel like a real adventurer.

CONAF (National Park Maintenance Organization) has classified the caves as dangerous for tourists, and park rangers have been regulating access to the caves since March 2014. According to the instructions of the park rangers, there is a danger of collapse, especially Ana Te Pahu, which is located under the road. Consequently, tour operators will no longer take their clients to the caves (cave visits have now been replaced by excursions to other archaeological sites). At the moment there is no fence preventing access, and with local guides it is quite possible to visit the caves individually, although some precautions and restrictions should be observed.

While the openings in most of these caves are small (some barely crawlable) and hidden (the background of the rather surreal lava field could be compared to the surface of Mars), many of them lead into prohibitively deep and extensive cave systems. Caution note: these caves can be dangerous in that so many go much deeper. A person left without a torch will plunge into complete darkness with little hope of being able to get out soon ... if it ever happens.

The caves are also extremely wet and slippery (some ceilings have collapsed due to water erosion). Also, don't underestimate subtropical rain. Climate change is very fast and there is a risk of unexpected flooding due to rain. And this is in a cave with limited space to move around!

Beaches. Which is better

Easter Island has two white sand beaches. Anakena, on the north side of the island, is a great surf spot with small waves. You can also surf in the harbor at Hanga Roa, which many of the locals do. There is a small car park, a toilet ($1), a few small barbeque cafes with cold drinks, and a shady picnic area. Palm trees imported from Tahiti complete the calming effect. Anakena includes 2 ahu with moai. Be careful when walking under trees - coconuts can fall. Anakena is considered the place where the colonial tribes first appeared on Easter Island, which is why it is called the birthplace of the island's civilization.

The second beach is the pearl of the island and is called Ovahe, east of Anakena. This beautiful and deserted beach is surrounded by breathtaking cliffs. Attention: the path leading down to the beach is quite uneven and it is best to get here on foot. Off-road driving (as opposed to the misguided actions of some tourists) is illegal in most of the island.

Sometimes large waves wash away all the sand from Ovahe and then slowly bring it back. The last such incident occurred in 2012.

Some sources mention that you can spend the night in one of the caves in the Ovahe beach area, but this information is outdated, as water currently seeps through cracks. In addition, it is not recommended to enter the cave at night without an instructor.

Food. What to try

Hanga Roa's restaurants are on the main street and next to the harbour, but there are a few others scattered in the surrounding areas.

Traditional food includes chiranto and ahi tuna.

Menus tend to be limited as most of the food on the island has to be imported, which explains the price level on the island. Even in regular restaurants, snack prices start at $20 and up. The range of fish is quite large, as it happens in the continental. Pizza and other familiar foods are available at the corner cafe next to the Catholic Church. A large pizza will cost you, however, 14,000 - 22,000 pesos. There is a large selection of toppings and a really varied menu.

There are 2 types of lobsters. The big one is called a real lobster, while the smaller one, equally delicious, is called "Rape Rape" by the locals. The lobsters are currently under protection and restrictions are being placed on catching them during the off-season.

The local tuna is considered a recognized delicacy for its white meat and is highly recommended. Octopus and several types of fish are also very tasty.

There are also a few limited supply grocery stores (only a few of them can be considered real supermarkets) where patrons can pick up snacks, limited stocks of sundries, booze, etc. for themselves. It should be noted that it is difficult to shop at grocery stores on Easter Island. All of them are quite small, and their range is constantly changing. A large number of products are not on the shelves - you can get it only after consulting with the seller. If possible, it makes sense to bring canned food and drinks with you from the mainland. This will save you from having to overpay on the island, as well as provide you with everything you need.

Like souvenir sellers, many restaurants on the island do not accept credit cards or have a high minimum cost. Tipping is also included (10% is considered a polite level). However, check your receipt before paying for anything, as some restaurants add a mandatory service charge to your bill.

• Kanahau - good food and service on the high street.
• Kotaro is a Japanese restaurant with delicious food and excellent service from the chef himself.
• Kuki Varua - great food and great service. Try to have your table on the second floor terrace.
• La Kaleta. A restaurant with a beautiful sea view and delicious food. It has the reputation of being the best restaurant on the island, so it's not the cheapest place either.
• La Taverne du Pêcheur is a small French restaurant on the port side of the village. Very good seafood. Possibly the most expensive restaurant on the island. Some people think the prices are too high.
• Mamma Nui is a traditional family restaurant. They specialize in tuna ahi.
• Pea. Despite the sea view, the high prices are not comparable to the quality of the main dishes.
• Tataku wave. As the restaurant is not located in the very center, you would not be able to find this gem without a recommendation from the front desk. The seafood, service and view are as good as the most expensive restaurants but the prices are much more reasonable. They specialize in small lobsters ("Rape Rape"). Exquisite view of the sunset and crashing waves. 8,000 - 12,000 pesos per person, plus drinks. Steep access road, however, you can drive slowly or take a taxi.
• Te Moana. The restaurant moved from the main street to the outer line in 2013. The tuna sandwich is especially good. A live orchestra often plays on Wednesdays and weekends.
• Te Ra "ai offers a package that includes a transfer (hotel - restaurant - hotel), a Polynesian dance show and a Curanto dinner. The restaurant is located outside Hanga Roa. Reservations are required as the restaurant is very popular. The show has some Brazilian influence due to with its owner.
• Varua, Atamu Takena. A new restaurant with all the classic trappings can be found on the island good prices, plus an excellent menu for the main dishes of the day (appetizer, main course and fruit juice). Service and food are excellent.

Less expensive options include sandwiches and empanadas. Alternatively, you can find a local bakery and make your own sandwiches. Budget travelers or those looking for simple food can try the following options:

• Club Sandwich also has some fantastic empanadas, but the sandwiches are their true calling and worth a try. Try a banana and an orange smoothie if available. To their shame, they are not open for breakfast.
• Donde el Gordo on church street is also a good option for those looking for simple food, but their sandwiches are a bit pricey.
• Mahina Tahai is a classic large "menu" that includes bread, butter, soup, fish and rice steak, juice and dessert.
• Miro is located close to the cemetery, there are big pizzas.
• Piroto Henua is a sports bar with a simple menu next to the airport entrance.

The drinks

The Chilean drink pisco, made from fermented grapes, is the unofficial drink of the island. However, pisco is sour and should be mixed with lemon juice and egg whites, which is the best option if you are not used to whiskey or rum. Drinking pisco has a lower degree than vodka, although it is not recommended by Chileans.

On the island, you can also try papaya, mango or guava drinks, depending on the season. All these natural juices are mixed with pisco. About 4,000 pesos at the restaurant.

Another common cocktail is the piscola, a pisco with Coke.

The local brewery is called Mahina, which produces light craft beer and stout. It was closed for almost 2 years between 2012 and 2014, but is now open again. Delicious bottled souvenirs are also produced. Despite its name and local owner, the Akivi brand is made on the mainland (the brewery is located in Quilpué).

The usual rate for a can of soda in a restaurant or hotel seems to be around 1,500 - 2,000 pesos. You can buy beer for the same price.

Security. What to watch out for

In practice, there are no street crimes in Hanga Roa. Thus, well-behaved tourists have nothing to fear. Tourists who need police assistance can contact the local PDI (Chilean Federal Police) office, which is located outside the city, a short taxi ride away and open until 6pm. However, be aware that the officers usually only speak Spanish.

If you have lost your passport, you can file a report for 500 pesos and also replace the visa application; a photocopy of the document in this case will be invaluable. Presenting this report will allow you to board the plane back to Santiago, the rest will be decided by your embassy.

Mornings during the winter months (June-August) are dark and the nights until spring (September-October) can be cold. Depending on the season, one should not forget about protection from the sun and wind.

Hepatitis shots are offered by the CDC to visitors to Easter Island mainly due to street food vendors and drinking tropical water. Easter Island officials insist the water is safe, but some say it tastes off-putting and can disrupt your intestinal flora. Avoid drinking tap water and eating street food until you know how it will affect you. Let hotels prepare all food and drink for the stomachs of tourists, and therefore be safer than restaurants. Day trips organized by tour companies often include a cooked lunch. They also need to be safe, as many tour companies are affiliated with hotels and source their products from the kitchens of tourist hotels, but if in doubt, ask.

There are many stray dogs on Easter Island. It is advisable not to let them approach, as some of the dogs are unpredictable. Get rid of stray dogs with a commanding voice and strong gestures. If you have been bitten by a dog, go to the hospital and get a rabies shot.

Visitors to Anakena Beach should be careful when walking under palm trees. Coconuts can fall and hurt you. In addition, Anakena Beach has many very exotic food and drink vendors that are fun to try, but you should always keep in mind that there is no running water in this part of the island, so hygiene and food safety should be an important consideration when purchase. If you decide to get a hepatitis shot before you come to the island, keep in mind that it includes three shots and will take several months to fully protect.

Remember that some of the island locations can only be reached after a long, sometimes steep and potholed journey. Always ask your instructors about this. A path longer than 700 meters will tire you out quickly. Travelers will enjoy more if, especially in key areas, physical activity does not cause problems.

Travelers who have difficulty walking, using stairs or wheelchairs will be restricted from traveling. Tracks simply don't support wheeled vehicles. Stairs can be very steep and quite narrow for people walking up and down the same steps. Steep slopes sometimes do not have safety railings. Most trails do not have amenities and can be narrow. It is not allowed to leave the trail: this will result in a complaint from your guide, and it is also against the rules of the park.

Things to do

Some areas of the restoration zone (Pua Catiki and Terevaka peninsula) are planted with trees. These areas may only be accessible for walking or horseback riding. Access to the recovery areas by car is strictly prohibited.

Most of the west coast cannot be accessed by vehicle, and thus only hiking or horseback riding (limited availability).

Snorkelling is a popular pastime, even with the current partial restriction in some areas (near Motu Nui and Motu Iti). There are diving centers that rent equipment and organize boat trips for divers: Atariki Rapa Nui, Orca and Mike Rapu Diving.

Large sea turtles can be seen next to the fishing boats.

Tours

Group tours are the most common way to explore the island. Given the lack of public transport, sharing a tour with a group of tourists is an effective way to reduce the burden on the environment. Travel companies also provide private tours.

Local guides can also show you some aspects of island life that you might never see or hear.

Travel agencies sell holiday packages that include accommodation and excursions. However, only places officially owned by the company can legally provide their services tax-free (invoices they give you, law 16.441). This means that you will avoid VAT and other taxes when you contact the operators directly.

There are 4 established local tour operators, each with at least a decade of experience.

Aku Aku Turismo. Tour operator mainly providing Spanish group tours. Their office is next to the Manutara Hotel reception.

Kia Koe Tour, Atamu Tekena s/n, Hanga Roa, ☎ +56 32 210-0852. The main tour operator on Easter Island. The office is located on the main street. Tours are available in groups or with a private guide in English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. They also provide catering charters and cruisers. The company was founded in 1984.

Mahinatur. One of the oldest tour operators, their specialty is tours in French.

Rapa Nui Travel. Tour operator providing mainly German group tours.

Freelancers can also be contacted at the tourist information center, but professional guides work mainly with large tour operators.

Easter Island Travel. Specializes in private groups, has experience in adventure and independent cruise excursions. English and Spanish speaking guides.

Green Island Tours-Easter Island.

When dealing with small companies or individual freelancers, you should always have the service description and total cost in writing for your own safety. In addition, law firms in , including those on Easter Island, have RUT (9-digit code).

hike

Hiking is pretty easy on Easter Island. It is not necessary to hire a guide for this, although it may be worthwhile to see some of the hidden archaeological treasures of these trails. If you decide to do it without a guide, all you need is a simple map and some guidance from the porter or park rangers (especially given local laws and regulations).

The most popular hiking options are the recovery zones. They are not accessible for any type of vehicle (even the old tracks are still partly visible, it is forbidden to visit these areas):

The hike to Terevau, the highest point of the island, is quite easy. The way to the top will take about 1.5 hours, and take another hour on the way back (from and to Ahu Akivi). Or you can start from Vaitei (about half way to the main beach of Anakena). You can also get there on horseback (as a rule, such tours take place every morning, depending on the weather).

Rano Kau is easily accessible on foot. When you reach the volcanic crater, simply follow the east side of the crater for views not accessible by other vehicles. You can also go to Orongo or just take a tour.

The northwest coast hike will take about 5 - 7 hours and will require some planning and preparation. You can just take a taxi to Anakena's main beach and drive back along the coast to Hanga Roa. You can also go on horseback, although this is less accessible (the route is not as popular and more expensive than others). Although there are several archaeological sites here, which, however, are not of great interest. Among them, for example, a cave full of petroglyphs.

Pua Katiki is an isolated northeastern peninsula with high, precipitous cliffs. Some of them are currently used as cattle grazing areas. The climb to the top will take about 1.5 hours. Along the way, you can see some interesting monuments, including the infamous "Maid's Cave".

Shopping and shops

Since there is only one village on the island, Hanga Roa, craft markets and shops are mostly located on or near its main street, church street.

Many local small producers are located on large plots close to bus stops. tourist buses- Worth a look if you'd like to buy local artisans or limited edition souvenirs that can't be found in other countries. You can also buy souvenirs at the airport, but they will be mass produced.

The official currency is the Chilean peso (CLP), but unlike the continental one, here you can pay in cash using dollars (USD). Almost all hotels and businesses accept USD payment, but you should recalculate to see which rate is best for you. Taxi drivers only accept small USD bills.

Some guidebooks claim that you will be able to use euros (EUR), but this information is false, although some souvenir shops readily accept cash. However, at the gas station you can exchange euros at a reasonable rate (more convenient than in banks).

When buying souvenirs, it is better to pay in cash. Often merchants will charge a minimum or charge for using a credit card (about 10 - 20%) - only in cases where the merchant accepts credit cards at all; many smaller manufacturers only accept cash.

There are a total of 2 ATMs on the island. The ATM in front of the Banco Estado on Tu "at Maheke Hanga Roa accepts only Cirrus, Maestro and Mastercard, except for branded Visa cards. The ATM on Policarpo Toro accepts Visa, Cirrus, Maestro and Mastercard. Previously, there were ATMs in the airport departure hall, as well as inside the gas station , but both stopped their work (July 2013).

The local bank can issue loans to the Visa card, but it is open part-time (Monday to Friday, 08.00 - 13.00) and queues can be long, especially at the end of the month.

Some of the most peculiar things on the island are the banks (CONAF and almost all businesses). They are very picky when it comes to the condition of dollar bills. Banknotes are not considered valid if they are torn, wet, defaced with markings, or even if they are old and worn. These bills can be saved for some other purpose. However, when you take dollars yourself (or exchange money before you visit the island), you should keep this in mind.

Unlike the continental one, 19% VAT is not charged on Easter Island.

Clubs and nightlife

Nightlife on the island is less active than in major cities, and the main attraction is, of course, the Polynesian dance shows. Kari Kari on the main street, Wai Te Mihi next to the cemetery and the Te Ra "ai restaurant outside Hanga Roa have their own characteristics throughout the year (with the exception of the holidays and Tapati, when dancers participate in festival events). Discos, Toroko and piriti - places where you could fit into the crowd of locals.

How to return

LAN Airlines have scheduled flights to and from (daily), to Lima (now discontinued) and Tahiti (weekly). If you are departing from an airport in another state, there will be a small cash exit fee.!

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