Easter Island January 29 – February 1, 2012

     When King Hoto Matua arrived at Easter Island – Isla de Pasqua – Rapa Nui – over 1000 years ago from the Marquessa Islands to settle this new land, he called it “the naval of the world.”  Since it’s one of the largest open air archaeological  museums (63 square miles filled with 1045 Moai (mo – eye) ), it has been declared a World Heritage Site.
     The only village of Hanga Roa (3200 pop.) hosts 12 hotels and 12 restaurants for the tourists who come to see these huge (10-14 tons and 20-30 ft. tall) monolithic statues.  The Rapanuians believe that these deep set sad eyed sculptures with their backs to the ocean and looking inland protect the people with their Mana (mystical force of their look).
     Some Moai are astronomically placed with attention to the constellation of Orion and the vernal equinox on Dec. 21 while a single Moai with 4 arms is aligned so that light from the sun hits it on June 21, the winter solstice.
     I thought that the quarry at Rano Raraku, the volcanic site where 95% of the Moai were carved,  provided an extensive look at many Moai in varying stages of development.
     Before we left this archeological wonderland, I bought 2 small Moai to watch over me.