Rapa Nui - Easter Island - Isla de Pascua pt. 3 Orongo and The Birdman ceremony

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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 Nui




shelters for Birdman contestclose up of Birdman names carved into rock

Ahu Akivi


The day after our tours, I wanted to get on the water. I unexpectedly had a free day, so I went to the marina area and asked around for a boat ride. There are plenty of opportunities to go scuba diving and snorkeling, but I don't scuba (yet) and my comfort level on snorkeling is not where I would want it to be, so I was going to have to see the water from topside. I wandered around and after a couple of false starts, met a man with a boat and we made arrangements. It was a small motorboat that was used for scuba trips and fishing, but on this morning, it was just me and another gentleman, who sounded like he was from New England. We went out for about an hour or so, and being that close to the water, we felt every wave. Definitely no frills here, but it was a fun experience and got really close up to the Motu Nui. The water was so blue. One of goals is to get better at snorkeling and maybe get certified to scuba dive, because it would have been amazing to be in that water.

I experienced so much on Rapa Nui, the Moai (of course), the food, the people, the history and it feels so inadequate to try and share with people, because I cannot find the words. I hope the pictures give you a sense of the scope and the majesty of these statues and culture that created them. From one extreme to another, my next stop is nicknamed 'the end of the world' - Punta Arenas, Chile, in (near) the Strait of Magellan.

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