I think this is my second post in the history of the Connelly blog, so here it goes. Last weekend I went to Easter Island for work. Unfortunately the family couldn't go with me because well I'm cheap and it's very expensive to get there and it's a 6 hour plane ride to the middle of the Pacific. In fact the closest inhabited place is Tahiti. Easter Island (or Rapa Nui in the native tongue) is a Polynesian island and a special territory of Chile. It is most famous for the 887 Moai statues covering the island created by the Rapanui people (think giant talking stone head in Night at the Museum).
Easter Island has an interesting history. At one time the tiny Island about 5 miles by 8 miles had up to 40,000 inhabitants and those 40,000 inhabitants belonged to nine tribes. The overpopulation of the island led to scarce resources which led to wars among the people and a lot of the Moai statues were toppled. Because of the wars, disease and slave raids on the island in 1877 there was only 111 people on the Island. That number has slowly grown to about 3,000 people today.
Here we are hanging out at the only beach on the island.
The most fascinating part for me was to hang out with the people and have them tell their story about their ancestors and how they survived. The Island was beautiful and a lot different than the majority of the Islands I've visited.
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| On the Island there are three inactive volcanoes which catch the rain water and supply the water to the entire Island. |
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| The islanders believe their island is the "bellybutton" of the world and alot of hippies come to this particular rock on the Island and do some type of meditation that supposedly helps them connect with the earth. Didn't really work for us we just felt like idiots with out heads on a rock. |
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| This is the NASA station on Easter Island, yep NASA is everywhere |
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And of course what polynesian island would be complete without the native polynesian dance show. And of course the gringo is always pulled up to dance on stage in front of everyone because they know we suck at dancing. There is a video of that dance but there's no way I'm posting it on here.
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All in all it was a great trip and believe it or not I got work done too.
6 comments:
Great pix Mike! Loved the head-to-rock yoga pose:)The island is exquisite! Thanks for sharing. Gotta see that dance sequence when I come visit...woohoo!
Great to hear from you!! Dan always says blogs are for girls when I tell him he should post, but thanks for proving even a "perfect physical male specimen" can blog. Love the meditation!! So awesome you got to go there and hope the family is well. Miss being able to talk to you guys!
I don't know... I think you should post the video. Great pictures! It looks beautiful there!
Son, You've got the best blog teacher there is. Thanks for lessons Anna. I'm impressed! How cool to see these heads/statues. I love hearing about the history. That is alot of people on a very tiny island--at one time. I can see how tempers could flare especially when there's no food.And like everyone else, that video is a must see. If enough ask will you post?? xoxo
you are the coolest person I know.
p.s. that was from me (paul)
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