Bucket List Trip
Explore the myths and legends that surround the isolated
island of Rapa Nui By Tania Moffat
Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) may be small but it is rich in mystery. M
ysteries and myths prevail around one of the world’s most isolated islands. It is a place of many names. Natives once referred to it as Ti Pito O Te Henua (the navel
of the world) and Mata Kiterage (the eyes that look up to the sky). Sailor John Cook made reference to the island as San Carlos during its Spanish rule. Today, it is most commonly known as Easter Island, a name it received from Dutch sailor Jacob Roggeween, who discovered it during the Easter of 1972. It’s also known as Rapa Nui, the name of the people who originally inhabited it. Tis tiny island is shrouded in even more mys-
How to get there
LATAM is the only airline that offers flights to Rapa Nui. Depending on the sea- son, the number of weekly flights to/from Santiago, Chile, Papete, Tahiti and Lima, Peru vary.
teries than names. Much speculation has been made about the construction and placement of some of the most interesting archeological relics ever found — the moai.
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What are these giant statues, who did they represent, why and how were they placed over the entire island? Who built them, and did their construction lead to the demise of their makers? Is this a site once oc- cupied by an advanced ancient race, evidence of alien architecture or is it perhaps the lost city of Atlantis? Who were the original in- habitants — when and how did they first arrive? While many of the wilder theories have been disproven, Easter Island re- mains a land of myth and legend. Visitors, archeologists and scientists from around the world come here, to study and gaze in awe at the architectural structures that have stood on the island for centuries. Tere is no
doubt that Rapa Nui is beautiful, but it is its history and almost 1,000 strange statues that draw people to it.
The Hub
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