So I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Easter Island with a few friends from Ancash the first week of June, and let me say the island was amazing. The history and culture was more than plenty for me, but with the added scenery, I was set. This was a trip I will always remember, and one that made it VERY hard to return back to work, but here I am (I guess you can call this work). Check out the pictures and videos, because my description won't do it justice.
Side note: the "Birdman Races" I mention were races where a certain type of bird would return to these small islands near the main island. Then a representative of each clan would have to race down some cliff, swim out to these islands (with a reed surfboard-type thing) and then camp in caves, waiting for the first egg to be laid. Then the first guy to grab the egg won... the first part of the "race". The second part involved having to swim back, without breaking the egg. Kinda like a Rapa Nui Ironman.
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| Sea Turtle that was hanging out by the "port". |
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| My first Moai |
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| The first sunset on the island |
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| The "hats" are top knots and are meant to represent the hairstyle at the time. |
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| These 15 were the most photogenic. To learn more about them, see one of the three following video. |
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| The travel team acting like the Moai. L-R: Brice, Will, Sara, Gisel, and Brie. |
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| Watching a sunset the second night from a cave (lava tube) over the ocean. |
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| We went back to the 15 for sunrise. |
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| Horse remains on the beach. |
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| Don't worry, there's are countless more horses on the island. I heard that horses out number people (apox. 4,000 people live here) at various times in the year. |
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| We rented bikes the one day. The island is easily small enough to ride the whole thing in a day. |
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| Moai, half buried at the base of the volcano where the Moai were carved. |
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| Various Moai around the base of the volcano. These Moai never made it to their platforms before the culture ended. |
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| Looking down from the volcano to where the 15 stood. Can you imagine moving something that big, that far... and this was an easy site. |
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| As you can see the sunsets were great. |
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| This volcano is slowly filling with water, but was once an important lookout for the birdman races. |
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| Will over looking the lake... sad that this was our last day on the island. |
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| Me over looking the islands where the birdman races took place. It's about a mile out to the islands... a pretty impressive swim to make, while holding an egg. |
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| My last picture before leaving the island. |
