Rapa Nui National Park: The mystery of Easter Island in images
We're off to Oceania ...
(GREGORY BOISSY/AFP via Getty Images)
Far off the Chilean coastline, tucked among the mystery of the grand Pacific Ocean—and more so, the Polynesian Triangle—lies Easter Island, an enigmatic expanse that is home to one of the more notorious elements in archeological history — the stone statues of the Rapa Nui people.
There are some 360 shrines, known as ahu, on the island, with many containing statues that are called moai. Throughout history, the island has been a tourist and scientist mecca, a place to sightsee and fact-find, and even a perfect spot to take in a solar eclipse.
And while much of the research and deeper-meaning theories about the figures have been countered with more realistic Monolithic stone comparisons worldwide, there is still something otherworldly about the areas and the giant faces with their backs to the sea.
So, we’re packing up the e-backpack again, this time taking a trip around Rapa Nui National Park…
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO / AFP) (Photo by PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(Photo by PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
( PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(Photo by PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(Photo by PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MIGUEL CARRASCO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(Photo by MIGUEL CARRASCO/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
Rapa Nui National Park
(MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
