Rapa Nui - Easter Island - Isla de Pascua pt. 3 Orongo and The Birdman ceremony
This was a day all about the Birdman ceremony and the places associated with it. The contest took place at Orongo and overlooks a precipitous cliff and the Motu Nui islet. We were up on the cliff and it was very windy. I'm not afraid of heights, but the thought of trying to climb down the cliff (or the concern of falling off) made me take a few steps back. We walked through the settlement and got to see the shelters that were created just for the time of the ceremony. They figured it was a better plan to build sturdy structures once, then have to build new structures every year. The contestants vying for the yearly title of Birdman climbed down the cliff, swam to the furthest islet, climbed up (there aren't any nice sandy beaches) and find an egg of the sooty tern, a bird that returned every year and was recognized as a way to mark the calendar. Our guide told us it was the only bird that had a regular migratory pattern at that time. Mirador Rano Kau Birdman point of view Motu ...