Hanga Roa, Chile

This morning we visited the archaelogical sites of Ahu Tahai, Rano Rarku ( the Quarry) and Ahu Tongariki. On our route, we drove by a huge Mormon temple, a 7th Day Adventist church and a large Methodist school. We also drove by the large new modern hospital built by the Chinese. We learned about the Rapa Nui people and viewed several of the Moai statues. There are over 4000 Moai statutes on the island. In 900 AD people arrived to a tropical forest on Easter Island. It was homeland to millions of birds. Then the Polynesians arrived and and gradually, the forest disappeared and the island became desert like due to the ruination on the ecosystem when they started carving Moai statues to honor the great lords of the family. The statues became more sophisticated and a symbol of power and each one needed more resources to build them. In 400 years they had destroyed the resources of the island. The building of the Moai essentially destroyed the ecosystem of the island. The next period of the history of the island involved the bird man era. We had a Bbq lunch and a dip in the ocean at Anakena Beach. Evening lectures by Edmundo, Claudio and Patricia. Fabulous local dance troupe performed before dinner. .