Easter Island

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, or Te-Pito-Henúa, which in native language means "The Navel of the World," is one of the paradisiacal spots found in insular Chile. Located 3,760 km from the Chilean cost, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it receives its visitors with a tropical climate that invites them to enjoy its beaches. However, without a doubt one of its greatest attractions are the world famous Moais, a series of enormous statues (20 meters high) of volcanic rock carved by the indigenous group of the island, and which today continue to be a mystery.

Easter Island, or "Rapa Nui", owes its origin to three volcanoes that erupted three million years ago: Poike, Rano Kau, and Maunga Terevaka. On the island at least 70 other craters can be found, which together give form to what is currently Rapa Nui, an island of smooth slopes, low hills and extinct volcanoes.

Since its settlement, the culture of the island developed isolated from the rest of the World until its discovery in 1722 by a Dutchman on Easter Day. During its isolation, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui developed a complex culture.

Today there are 3,000 inhabitants of the island, of which 70% are Rapa Nui, known for being friendly and affectionate. The majority of the Rapa Nui lives in Hanga Roa, a town in which the largest concentration of food, housing, security, and health services of the island can be found. Here one can enjoy the exquisite gourmet cooking of the island, which has as its base seafood, such as the tasty Easter Island tuna. Together with the magical sunsets, traditional music, dancing, and the intoxicating smell of the air, visitors to the island finds themselves converted into the perfect postcard of paradise.

The island, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995, is the geographical point farthest from the Earth and of volcanic origin. In fact, another of the attractions that can be enjoyed is the observation of the crater of the Rano Kau volcano, whose interior boasts of a lagoon and native vegetation.

Rapa Nui has a temperate climate and an average temperature of 20°C, making it possible to visit the island during the entire year.

History
Around the 5th century of our time, before America was even discovered, small Polynesian ships moved through the Pacific Ocean sailing east. Seemingly, they never reached the continent, but rather disembarked on an uninhabited insular territory after feeling desperate from their vast and solitary voyage. The Island that they reached is known today throughout the world as Easter Island, named by the Dutch mariner, Jacobo Roggeween, who discovered the island on Easter Day of 1722. Being that researchers have not managed to connect all of the links of the history of Easter Island, the reconstruction of its past zigzags between reality and legend, transforming it into a constant source of mystery and myths.

National Park "Rapa Nui"
The majority of the sculpture and architecture of the Rapa Nui people is concentrated in the National Park of the same name, Rapa Nui. In this protected sector, one can find popular archaeological vestiges such as the Moais, the Ahu, or ceremonial altars, together with cave paintings and ancient villages, constituting an archaeological heritage unique in the world.

Local Identity and Traditions
The people and culture of the people who inhabit Easter Island is reflected in their dress, tattoos, dances, and in a stone architecture of religious character that is best observed in the Moais that sustain the Polynesian cult to their ancestors. These characteristics validate the theories of the origin of this culture.

Its culture has been characterized for ancestral traditions such as the ceremony of the man-bird or Tangata Manu, which emerges as a response to the social conflicts that existed in the Island. This ceremony consisted in obtaining an egg from the Manutara (the Easter Island Seagull), a migratory bird that makes its nest in the small rocky islands that are located in front of the crater of the Rano Kau Volcano. The person who obtained the egg assumed a sacred character, and was expected to live alone and isolated. Meanwhile the family group acquired a despotic power over the rest of the population, which included human sacrifices to the gods in order to augur wellbeing for the year.

Volcanoes
The triangle aspect of Rapa Nui is the result of the eruption of three principal central volcanoes: Rano Kau, Poike, and Terevaka (more than 511 meters all). The eruptions, along with the natural process of marine erosion, configured its current shape of approximately 173 km². Despite its volcanic origin, the Island has several gentle slopes that contrast with its rocky, rugged coasts distinguishing it from the rest of the High Island of Polynesia. The only two existing beaches, Anakena and Ovahe, are found on the northern coast and are characterized by their sand of coral and volcanic origin