Two years of isolation has forced locals on Easter Island to turn to a more sustainable way of life, something indigenous elders say their ancestors foretold.
During more than two years of the coronavirus pandemic, Easter Island was closed to tourism — forcing inhabitants to turn to a more sustainable way of life and relearn forgotten skills.Large hotel chains remain closed and there will be just two flights to the island per weekNow the island's borders are open once again, local people, including the Rapa Nui indigenous population, want to resist the temptation to return to their pre-pandemic lifestyle.
Easter Island lies 3,500 kilometres off the west coast of Chile and is world renowned for its monumental statues of human figures with giant heads, called moai. She took advantage of a program that delivered seeds before the island was shut off from the outside world. Last week, the first airplane of tourists in 28 months landed on the island, much to the excitement of locals desperate to see new faces.
Carved from volcanic rock by the Polynesian Rapa Nui people between the years 1200 and 1500, there are more than 900 statues on the island, which measures 24 kilometres by 12 kilometres.Most remain at the quarry where they were originally carved but many others were carted to coastal areas to look inland, presumably for ceremonial purposes.
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