Rapa Nui

I really don't know what to say about Easter Island (Rapa Nui). I had been wanting to go for so long that I don't even remember what triggered it. I will say that it is even more magical than I expected. 

Our first full day on the island started with a few sights that are walking distance from town. First, we went to the museum for a little background info. Although interesting, we didn't learn much since Holly had been binge watching documentaries and passing her knowledge on to the rest of us. Next we went to our first ahu (platform for the moai). Ahu Tahai has the only moai with eyes - although, there are actually replications.

After lunch we rented a car and stopped at several sites on our way to the quarry. This was nothing like I expected (especially since it looked like a hill rather than a quarry). However it was amazing. We stayed until they closed and knew we hadn't seen enough. Just as we were about to leave we caught a glimpse of a rainbow in the distance ending on top of the most famous ahu on the island - Ahu Tongariki.

Day two started back at Tongariki followed by a return visit to the quarry. We weren't the only ones to try to catch the sunrise at Tongariki ( it was a bust - too many clouds) but we were the only ones to go to the quarry. So far nearly an hour we had it all to ourselves. In addition to the moai we'd already seen, we also found the kneeling moai (only one of its kind) and then checked out the crater on the other side of the hill. We found many partially buried and toppled moai there too.

Side note: How did we only learn a couple months ago that moai had bodies? Archeologists have been restoring the ahu for over 60 years. I'm guessing we just assumed because of photos from the quarry - particularly of my favorite moai which Holly named Edward.

After several more moai sightings, we went to dinner and traditional dance show. It was a lot like going to a luau in Hawaii but worth less fire and terrible drinks.

One more thing... You can see in the photo above that many moai have it had topknots (the red rock crowns on their heads). In San Francisco, you also see many men with topknots (aka man buns). Just like most of the moai lost there topknots over time, we can only hope for a similar fate for man buns.