How many Moai are on Easter Island

It is said that the Easter Island colonists (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui; Spanish: Isla de Pascua) came between 700-1100 AD and were more than likely descendents of the Polynesian triangle near the island. Since the first Europeans came here hundreds of years ago, it has become a place of great scheming, now attracting more than 80,000 people a year (more than thirteenfold of the island's almost 6,000 inhabitants), a number that is growing every year.

The overwhelming number of travellers who make the six-hour journey to this small secluded island in the Pacific Ocean are undoubtedly fascinated by the mysticism and the existence of several hundred Moai sculptures found scattered throughout the countryside - their building and transport, not to speak of how they were built, continue to be a subject of discussion.

In order to find out more about the ancestors of Rafa Nui and the importance of the mystical Moai statue, I had the opportunity to take a Kia Koe trip to find out more about this amazing island. Ahu Akahanga is one of a kind because it has never been renovated, which means that the condition in which you find the moai and the countryside is exactly as the first Europeans would have known it.

This is a notable fact in view of the fact that the statue has been in a somewhat well-preserved state of erosion since its creation hundreds of years ago. Since then, many of the moai in the area have fell from their allu ( "stone platforms"), which have been overthrown either by competing island strains or by nature's causes such as tsunami.

There is a relatively small moai (a few metres long) that is open (surrounded by stones) and is considered one of the first moai on the island. Rosie, Hotu Matu'a, allegedly the first colonist and first sovereign of Rapa Nui, is said to be dead in the area, also called "the King Husseinplatfords.

Since the arrival of the first Rape Nui, many rare objects have been preserved, such as around u pe (earth furnaces), which worked by warming and moving warm stones to the mine and then by using oak leaf to boil and conceal nourishment (including seafood and vegetables), and hairy va (boathouses), which are large ovals that the Rape Nui used to build yachts.

There is an anana ( "cave") not too far from the around the rabbit va and the rabbit vara, which the Rapa Nui used as protection in case of heavy wind, rains or fleeing from the hard solar radiation. In the vicinity of the caves you will find an abundance of pupao (hair knot) in the area.

It is still a puzzle how the Rapa Nui succeeded in placing the pukaos on the moai, although a hypothesis is that they were set up at the same moment as the moai, using a system of stones, handles and rollers to slowly bring them into their erect state.

The next stop was Rano Raraku, where 397 of the 887 Moai are on Easter Island. Indeed, this area of Easter Island provided the construction materials for over 95% of all moai on the island. It' s amazing to hike through this area of the reserve (which is only reachable by bike, although I have been told by some travellers who have crossed the checkpoint by bike) and to see how many moai are either partly or partly overgrown.

As Rosie explains, the reasons why many of the Moai are found in this state is because they were given up somewhere along the building or transport processes. The Moai were built to honour only the most honoured and senior members of the Rapa Nui.

It is also why each moai (except seven moai) points inward to the centre of the island and not to the sea, so that, as the Rapa Nui thought, their ancestors can guard them and shelter it. The moai are usually several metres high and can range from several tens to more than a few hundred tonnes.

A moai is one of the most striking specimens, although it has been finished but not yet hewn into the rocks. The biggest moai on the island, it weighs over 270 tonnes and, if fully assembled, would be over 21 metres (71 feet) high, more than twice as high as any other mai.

When the Moai are ordered to be constructed, they are constructed on site, cut from the rocks of the pit, brought into their erect positions and, if ordered, moved to the right place along the coast. However, when Rapa Nui abruptly ceased producing Moai a few hundred years ago, many remained in their present condition, either incompletely or partly intact.

It would also account for the absence of caved eye cavities found without Pukkao and not falling to the floor. Rano Raraku is home to two of the most popular moai: touku tori (a kneeling mai of scaria with ear and goatee) and another mai carrying a parroglyph on his stomach, which records the first known encounter of the Europeans arriving on the island.

Although the discoverer Jacob Roggeveen was the first Flemish to come to the island of Rape Nui (he arrived on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1722, hence the name of the island), the island has long been under Spain's aegis. 1888 was the year when Chile formally incorporated into the Valparaiso region (therefore the island's language is English and Spanish).

It would be a good moment to say that the trip takes about seven hour and is 20,000 CH$ (31 USD) without lunches or 30,000 CH$ (47 USD) with lunches. Considering the extra charge for lunches (it is an island, so you' re expecting higher than regular rates for almost everything in comparison to the mainland) I decided to wrap my own lunches.

This is a good moment to buy a souvenir, as there are many stores near the area. It is also noteworthy that at the moment of my attendance (May 2015) the entrance to the reserve was free (due to tax dispute between Rapa Nui and Chile the entrance to the reserve was free until the problem was solved).

In view of the normal tourist taxes on Galápagos Island visitors ($100), a similar charge (park entrance fee) may be imposed on the Raffa Nui National Parks, so the earlier you can come the better. In the afternoon we took our coach to one of the most popular ahu' s in the town: Rafa Nui:

The island's biggest moai, all fifteen moai were overthrown at one point, either because of the many civilian conflicts on the island or because of the 1960 tidal wave that hit the Chilean coastline and blew the moai into the interior. Only in the 90s, a group headed by archaeologists Claudio Cristino and Patricia Vargas, in collaboration with Tadano Limited and the University of Chile, returned the Moai to its place on the Alm.

The second one (from the right) has a dollao on his skull, which is a great performance with a weight of 86t. All the Moai here are also on the verge of sundown. It is remarkable that the best season to go to Ahu Tongariki is uprise.

However, it is worth it if you look over the hill and see the faces of the Moai on Ahu Tongariki. Te Pito Kura (Rapa Nui: umbilicus of lights, which is also the island’ name) is not far from Ahu Tongariki. Due to the particular characteristics of the thick, iron-tight rock (which was thought to have been taken to the island by Hotu Matu'a), it was assumed to have particular curative power or energies (known as mana), as well as the capacity to enhance feminine infertility.

Beside Te Pito Kura stands the Moai sculpture which, together with its associated doll, is the biggest sculpture ever to have been moved on the island. With a weight of 82 tonnes and a length of almost 10 metres, many researchers are speculating that it would have taken between four and five hundred persons to get from Tu'u Paro to his hut.

The last stop on the trip was Anakena, a wonderful sandy spot with two ahu, Ahu Ature (with a moai) and Ahu Nao-Nao (with seven moai). In Anakena, according to verbal records, Hotu Matu'a first dropped lands when he arrived on Easter Island and established the first population there.

Anakeena is one of only two bays on the island. Although the trip was over, at the end of the afternoon I had not only won a greater esteem for Rapa Nui, his family and his story, but also the wish to remain even longer, which you probably wouldn't have expected if you were in one of the remotest places in the canyon.