March 11, 2009

Happy Birthday, Rosemary!



Here's Robinson Crusoe Island and Easter Island.


On March 2 the seas were too rough for us to tender to Robinson Crusoe Island (formerly known as Mas a Tierra). This is the largest island of the Chilean Juan Fernandez archipelago. However, not to worry, the natives came to our ship and we really had a great time listening to their music and dancing with the “pirates”. We heard an excellent lecture the day before with the more factual version of Alexander Selkirk’s four years on this island before being rescued by Captain Woods Rogers. It seems Daniel Defoe embellished a bit on the story. Here are some pictures of our party - I was the very happy recipient of a pirate’s hat from the singer in the band - Laura would have been proud of me!



Robinson Crusoe Island



The Local Band



The Leader of the Band and my new hat.


My Dance Partner



My friend, Ruth, and her new friends.



Some Island Facts



Easter Island - March 6

We were crossing our fingers that we would have better luck weather-wise at Easter Island than we had at Robinson Crusoe Island. We were so happy to have a beautiful sunny day and seas that were not too rough for the tenders.

The most isolated island in the world, Easter Island was named by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen when he landed here on Easter Sunday in 1722. The explorer found a thriving native population that lived in tight-knit communities of hare paengas, or boat-shaped houses. To communicate they had created rongorongo, a beautiful script and the only written language in all of Polynesia. But their greatest achievement was the hundreds of sad-eyed stone statues called moais they erected to honor their ancestors. By the time British Captain James Cook anchored here, just 50 years later, he found only several hundred people and many of the moais toppled from their foundations. During the ensuing century, raids by slave traders, disease, and colonial disenfranchisement further decimated the local population. So many people died that to this day, no one has been able to decipher the language. Today Easter Island’s primary industry is tourism, and the residents, most of whom are descended from the original inhabitants, are extremely proud of their island’s past.

Couple of other bits of information - the people of Easter Island called themselves the Rapa Nui and the word “Ahu” describes the platform upon which the moais are erected.




Easter Island



Quarry from which Moai were carved (volcanic rock)



One of hundreds of Moai in this quarry that weren't completed and moved to an Ahu.



A carving still in the rock (face laying down)



Carved Moai still in stone (El Gigante - 72 feet)


Ahu Tongariki - 15 Moais stand side by side on a 200 foot-long ahu.
This was restored after having been destroyed by a tidal wave in 1960.



Ahu Tongariki without tourists!




Me & Moais - One behind me is 92 tons. - hope I don't catch up!




Lunch at Anakena Beach


Anakena Beach


Ahu Ko Te Reku

The eyes have been put in this Moai which is the point at which it was believed that the spirit of the ancestor being represented by the Moai enters the Moai. The Moai face inland so that the spirit of the ancestor protects the inhabitants of the island. Our ship is to the left of the Moai.

Later............