Stunning Pictures from Easter Island
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, boasts stupendous nature and enigmatic stone statues.
Dawn breaks over Ahu Tongariki, the largest of the ahu at over 650 feet wide. Ahu, or stone platforms holding up the moai statues, remain "tapu," or sacred and forbidden.
The enigmatic moai, carved between 13th and 17th centuries, are engineering marvels. It remains uncertain how the stone statues, which weigh up to 95 tons, were transported across the mountainous terrains. A local legend says they walked.
A powerful tsunami in 1960 swept away Ahu Tongariki's 15 moai. They were restored to their current place in the 90s.
The iconic statues, 887 of which have been found, are thought to be deified representations of ancestors. They always look over the settlements that worshipped them.
The seven moai of Ahu Akivi are the only ones that look toward the ocean. During spring and fall equinox they directly face the sunset.
Horses, both wild and tame, roam about the island freely...
...as do cows.
The Pacific douses the island's dramatic coastlines...
...but the daredevil surfers don't seem daunted.
Almost every moai was carved out of Rano Raraku, the volcanic quarry where nearly 400 incomplete statues remain partially buried.
Following the uprising that led the islanders to topple every moai in the 18th century, the crater of Rano Kau became the site of a new "Bird Man" religion.
In 1983 NASA opened a facility to monitor the Pacific Ocean's seismic activity. The island's sole runway is designated as an emergency landing site for the space shuttle.
The abandoned wool manufacturing plant of Williamson-Balfour Company bears witness to the island's painful history. From Chile's annexation of Easter Island in the late 19th century Rapa Nui natives were interned in the town of Hanga Roa while the rest of the island was turned into a vast sheep ranch. Only in 1966 did the locals receive full Chilean citizenship.
Today, most residents choose to live in Hanga Roa, but ranches and small settlements dot the sparse island outside the town.
And, of course, the moai aren't going anywhere.
More remote places: