The Picture That Had Grace Intrigued Since Childhood
Giant statues called moais are found dotted throughout Easter Island. They were built by the ancient people who lived on the island more than a thousand years ago, in a time period long forgotten, overseeing the ancient civilization that went extinct. The moais were mostly carved out of volcanic tufa, on the slopes of the Rano Raraku volcano. Grace, who was intrigued by a particular image of these gigantic moais since young, was very happy to have that image appear for real right in front of her very own eyes on the day we went to the Rano Raraku volcano.
The picture that captures the atmosphere of deep mystery
Hundreds of moai that were not transported to their altars still rest on the slopes of the volcano
Before reaching their altars, the moais face outward
The Rano Raraku volcano
Lichen growing on the moais
If only the moais could store information of what they saw and heard over the centuries
Looking more mysterious as the sun set
There are 92 moais making their way from the volcano to an Ahu (ceremonial platform)
It was probably because of in-fighting that these moais never made it to their final resting place
How did the ancient people transport them? Did they use ropes, sledges or wooden rollers to move these moais?
The characteristic big and flared nose of a moai
An average moai weighs 12.5 tons and stands at 4.05 meters high
Photo taken from a higher slope
Some of the moais are still in the quarry niches, enabling researchers to understand and reconstruct the delicate process of carving used to make them.
There are 397 moais still left in the Rano Raraku quarry
Looking out to sea
The image of the ancient islander’s ancestor
There were only a few people walking around the volcano, and some were friendly locals who greeted us Hola
The Ahu Tongariki (seen at a distance here) is just a few minutes by car from the Rano Raraku volcano
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