Travel Guide to Easter Island in Chile-Traditional and Strange Customs "Birdman Festival" Customs

Easter Island, located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, covers an area of approximately 117 square kilometers and is now part of the Valparaíso region of the Republic of Chile. It is about 3000 kilometers away from Chile on the South American continent and far away from other islands in the Pacific, so it is a lonely island in the southeastern Pacific. The island is approximately triangular in shape and consists of three volcanoes.

There are many volcanic mounds standing on the island, with the highest point being 601 meters above sea level. The ground is rugged and covered with deep tuff. Most of the island's landforms are smooth hills, grasslands and volcanoes. The beaches on the island are mostly rocky, cliffs are everywhere, and no one guards the bay. There are only three beaches on the island, but the sand is very clean.

The climate is subtropical, that is, sunny and dry. January to March is the hottest, with an average temperature of 23 ° C 73 ° F); June to August is the coolest, with an average temperature of 18 ° C 64 ° F). September is the driest month, with the most rainfall in June and July, which is consistent with the passage time of the winter front in the south. Winds blow irregularly in June and August, and other times are mainly trade winds from the east and southeast. The Peruvian Current (also known as the Humboldt Current) flows through the island from September to March of the following year, with an average water temperature of about 21 ° C 70 ° F).

The residents of the island are all immigrants from the easternmost Polynesian sub-group originating from the Marguesas race and originally speak Spanish. The island residents consider themselves descendants of the long-eared and short-eared tribes. There are about 2000 residents on the island, all of whom are Polynesian. Before Westerners arrived on the island, this place was still in the Stone Age of humans. They only have language and no writing. Because the island is full of rocks, no crops grow, so we can only grow sweet potatoes that are easy to grow. The islanders used to make a living by fishing and growing a few sweet potatoes, but now most of them are engaged in tourism services.

Easter Island is famous for its hundreds of giant stone statues full of mystery. Stone statues are generally 7-10 meters high and weigh 30-90 tons. Some stone statues weigh as much as 10 tons with a hat. The stone statues are all carved from a whole piece of dark red volcanic rock. All the stone statues have no legs, are all busts, with similar shapes. The stone statue's facial expressions are very rich, and its eyes are specially inlaid with shiny obsidian or shiny shells, which is particularly vivid. These stone statues are the main tourist attractions.

Chileans generally drink tea at 5 p.m., so dinner time here is relatively late; women cannot wear shorts on the street, except on the beach; Monday to Friday midnight 2:00~5:30 for lights-out sleep time, Saturday and Sunday do not have this rule. The island also has a wealth of specialties, red, salmon, wine, bronze, wood carving, leather products and famous black pottery and Indian handmade carpets are many tourists 'favorites.

Easter Islanders are hospitable, friendly and polite, and each welcome guest presents a string of wreaths. Young men and women can sing and dance well. Every holiday, men wear garlands on their necks and bare upper bodies, and women wear floral decorations on their heads and feather skirts under them to dance beautiful feather skirt dances. This dance is similar to the hula dance in Hawaii and is a "reserved program" of Chilean tourism activities.

The largest traditional festival on the island is the annual Birdman Festival. Every spring, all islanders gather on the top of Orongo Fire Mountain to elect their leader, the "Birdman", and worship their gods. In this way, when seagulls fly in in August and September every year, the islanders will gather on the Orongo Sea. Each tribe selects one player to go down the cliff and swim to the sea to the large reef 2 kilometers away to find bird eggs. The first player to get the bird egg immediately swam back to the island and handed the egg to his chief, who became the "bird man" of those days. Throughout the year, he was worshipped as a god by the islanders. Because swimming to retrieve eggs is often attacked by sharks, this activity has been stopped for more than 100 years. However, the sacred ritual ceremonies and colorful makeup performances still remain to this day, and the "bird man" is still the god of worship of the islanders. In order to meet the needs of tourism, the event time is changed to February every year, so that more tourists can witness this strange custom.

Anakai in the northern part of Easter Island is the most charming attraction on the island. In addition to a row of powerful "Moai" stone statues, a golden beach is long and wide; the palm forests on the shore are lush and green. Climb to the top of Trevaca, the highest point on the island, at an altitude of 507 meters. You can see the island's large and small volcanoes and the surrounding stone statues. The vast Pacific Ocean is integrated with the blue sky, making it refreshing. Not far from the mountain is the famous "Seven Zun Moai" scenic spot. It is said that it is the place where seven sons of a Maori wizard were waiting for the arrival of King Otu-Matua. "Dahai" is the best preserved "Moai" stone statue group on the island. Every evening, people walk here to watch the sunset. Half of the sky is red, and the huge stone statues are set off in an eternal silhouette.

Wooden boards engraved with strange patterns were once found near the stone statue. They were called the "Talking Wooden Board" and the locals called it "Kohau Langolango". However, people of insight believe that the "Lango Lango" written symbol is the key to unlocking the mystery of the ancient civilization of Easter Island. For more than 100 years, many scholars around the world have devoted their lives to deciphering it, but no one has been able to decipher it.

These wooden boards once suffered catastrophe caused by "civilized people". After explorers discovered Easter Island, European missionaries came to the island to spread God's "will." They ordered that all these wooden boards be burned. Only one local resident snatched 25 wooden boards, nailed them into a fishing boat, and fled to the sea. The 25 wooden boards were later preserved and collected in famous museums around the world.

These "talking wooden boards" that survived the disaster are 2 meters long and have square patterns carved on both sides with shark teeth or hard stones, such as fish, birds, vegetation and paddle, etc., and also have some geometric shapes. However, are the patterns on these "talking wooden boards" words? What is it telling us? The mystery has not yet been solved.