Mayhem Among the Moai? It's Fiction, Fortunately.

A few weeks ago, while walking the dog, I rifled through a nearby Little Free Library and stumbled upon an intriguing title by the late Lyn Hamilton, a Toronto-based author of archaeological mysteries. The Moai Murders, as you might guess, is not about the destruction of iconic statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), but rather about events at a fictional “Rapa Nui Moai Congress,” where academic disagreements appear to escalate into mayhem. I enjoy whodunits, so I took it home and have finally finished it.

The Moai Murders is one of a series of archaeological mysteries.

Hamilton’s protagonist, Lara McClintoch, is a Canadian antiques dealer who chances upon violent death everywhere she goes (there are 11 books in the series, in destinations including Mexico, Perú, Italy and China as well). According to her website, Hamilton made a point of doing fieldwork in the destinations she wrote about, and traveled to Rapa Nui in 2004.

 

Lara is an archaeological amateur, and that’s apparent from her (and Hamilton’s) infatuation with Thor Heyerdahl, whose legacy there is more notoriety than scholarship (Heyerdahl proved it was possible to raft from South America to Rapa Nui, but not that it happened that way; the overwhelming consensus is that the island was settled from the Western Pacific rather than the continent to the east). Could bitter differences of opinion result in multiple deaths at the Congress, however?  

Do not embrace the moai at Abu Tongariki (or elsewhere).

I’m not going to offer any plot spoilers, but I will quote the late Georgia Lee, founder of the Rapa Nui Journal (for which I have written in a somewhat more academic vein) to the effect that “The Moai Murders would be a good book to take along on the flight home from a visit to Rapa Nui; the reading time is just about the same as the flight time” (back to Santiago, at least). I will note, however, that Lara’s friend and companion Moira’s impulse to embrace a moai would probably, at present, be enough to get you expelled from the island, and that the Rapanui people—as Georgia Lee emphasizes—are barely noticeable in the book.

Flights have resumed to Rapa Nui's Aeropuerto Mataveri, but restrictions remain and schedules could change.

For my part, though I’ve been to Rapa Nui half a dozen times or so, I haven’t visited since 2012. Because I’m not presently writing a guidebook to Chile, I’m not likely to return any time soon but I will note that, in the hopefully waning days of the pandemic, flights from the mainland have resumed. The island has been highly dependent on the tourist economy and, while there’s only one weekly flight at this time, there will be two or three per week after August 1st. These will be subject to restrictions, including vaccination records, PCR tests and other requirements. These requirements could also change, depending on public health developments.

Polynesias of the Americas, North and South

When I was a toddler, my traveling life began when my parents left Minnesota for the

Pacific Northwest, and my earliest memories include crossing the Rockies en route to a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. In later years I became a stamp collector, imagining remote destinations I might someday visit, and I listened to the radio—when, after dark, the signals from remote 50,000-watt stations would boom onto my tiny transistor radio, under the blankets.

In 1961, Hawai'i's Frankie Reveira was starting catcher for the Pacific Coast League champion Tacoma Giants.

Growing up on the West Coast, I heard major league baseball when the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants relocated to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, and the legendary Vin Scully helped make me a lifetime Dodgers fan. Locally, though, I was a fan of the Tacoma Giants (Pacific Coast League), and I would lie awake until the bars closed—even though I was nowhere near drinking age—to hear Don Hill’s re-creations when Tacoma played the Hawai’i Islanders in Honolulu (those games started at 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time). In fact, the Tacoma Giants themselves employed a Hawaiian catcher by the name of Frankie Reveira (whom Hill, unfortunately, nicknamed “Johnny Pineapple”), and a number of Hawaiians now play in the majors.

Hanga Roa is the only town on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Oddly, despite its relative accessibility, Hawai’i was not the first Polynesian island I ever visited—that “honor” goes to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which I’ve visited at least half a dozen times in the course of writing and updating guidebooks to southernmost South America (Rapa Nui, of course, is a Chilean possession, though it’s gained some autonomy is recent years).

Hawai'i, especially the Big Island, has dense forests and rivers that Rapa Nui lacks.

Hawai’i, of course, has a far greater land mass (10,931 square miles, about 28,300 sq km) than Rapa Nui (just 63 square miles or 164 sq km), with a much larger population (1.43 million v. 5,800 or so), but the two still have much in common. While Hawai’i is a literally tropical archipelago (Honolulu’s latitude is 21° N), Rapa Nui (27° S) is a bit farther from the Equator and, with the islets of Motu Iti and Motu Nui, it barely classifies as an archipelago.

Motu Iti and Motu Nui lie a short distance off the Rapa Nui shoreline.

Rapa Nui's Playa Ovahe is far less crowded than just about anywhere in Hawai'i.

Both areas are volcanic, though Rapa Nui has no active volcanism and its handful of beaches is far less crowded than Hawai’i’s. Both have lava tubes, however, that are open for short hikes. Hawai’i retains much of its native forest, while nearly barren Rapa Nui now has only non-native trees. There have been efforts, however, to re-introduce the native toromiro tree, which is extinct in the wild but present at botanical gardens at Kew and Gothenburg.

Hiking through the Thurston Lava Tube, Volcanoes National Park, Big Island of Hawai'i

Rapa Nui's Ana Te Pahu is far smaller than the Thurston Lava Tube.

There are also some links between the Polynesian peoples of the two archipelagos. Educated in the United States, former Rapa Nui governor Sergio Rapu earned an M.A. in Pacific culture and archaeology from the University of Hawai’i, and has helped supervise the restoration of megalithic monuments such as those at Ahu Tongariki and other sites (the term ahu, denoting a memorial altar or shrine, is also common in Hawai’i and other parts of Polynesia). What Rapa Nui really lacks, though, may be its own Frankie Reveira—soccer, sadly, is the prime participant sport here.

Former governor Sergio Rapu, who has studied and lived in Hawai'i, helped restore Rapa Nui's Ahu Tongariki.

Bilking the Foreigner? Discriminatory Pricing in Argentina and Chile (Part 2)

Recently I wrote on the topic of discriminatory pricing against foreign tourists in Argentina and Chile, with which I disagree. My opinion brought a vocal dissent from my cousin, María Elisa Rodríguez, who is a tourism guide in the town of El Calafate, in Argentine Patagonia. I will translate her remarks here, and then offer my response:

“I do not agree, this information is not objective and not completely true. In Argentine national parks, we charge one fee for residents and another for non-residents; that is, foreigners living in the country pay the resident fee, and Argentines living overseas pay the non-resident fee. The rationale is as simple as it is fair: residents support the national parks with their daily taxes, and for that reason they get a discount.”

“Without going overboard, this practice is common in Europe, where museums have a differential fee for EU residents and non-residents, and also in the US (it surprises me that such an experienced traveler would feel annoyed, instead of trying to understand the reasons behind a policy, whether or not he agrees with it, especially when his own country applies it). For example, see the following link: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm.”

With all due respect to María Elisa, who is highly intelligent and knowledgeable about many things in the travel and tourism sector, I think she has misread my comments. When I have written about Argentine and Chilean “reciprocity fees,” I have simultaneously criticized US immigration for its restrictive visa requirements, including the need for an in-person interview that often obliges applicants to make a special trip to a US embassy, at extra expense, from distant destinations within their own countries.

She is correct that Argentine national parks (such as Los Alerces, at top) have differential fees for Argentines – well, some of them do – but those fees are sometimes lower for local residents than they are for Argentines from the rest of the country. I question, though, whether non-resident Argentines ever pay more than resident Argentines – my Argentine wife, who has lived in California for more than 30 years, has visited Argentine parks many times, and no official has ever bothered to ask about her country of residence.

María Elisa mentioned US national parks but, at the link she cites, it says that the US$80 annual pass (which two people may use, and which is valid for all passengers in a given vehicle) is “available to everyone,” not just US citizens. Separate and cheaper passes are available only for US citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over, and for those with permanent disabilities. It is true, as she says, as that European museums charge differential rates, but I had never seen that in the US until last week, when I paid US$10 to visit the Denver Art Museum (my cousin, a Colorado resident, paid US$8).

It’s worth adding, as I’ve written before, that even though Chile collects differential rates at some of its national parks, anyone can purchase a Pase Anual (annual pass, about US$20) valid for all protected areas except Rapa Nui (Easter Island, now collected at a booth at Aeropuerto Mataveri, above), Torres del Paine, and Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos (near San Pedro de Atacama), which do have differential fees. For US$60, Chile also offers an annual family pass valid for two adults and up to four children.

On a related topic, I should repeat that in at least one matter Chile practices discriminatory pricing in favor of foreign visitors. They are exempt from the 19 percent impuesto de valor agregado (IVA; value added tax or VAT) for accommodations when paying in dollars or other foreign currency; thus, a US$100 hotel room costs them US$81 instead. Personally, I’ve always felt this was unfair to Chileans and, as I’ve indicated in the paragraphs above, would prefer to see all visitors treated equally.

On a related matter, Uruguay also discounts IVA to foreign visitors, even on restaurant bills.

Moon Handbooks Chile, in Los Altos

In just a week – Wednesday, July 17, at 7 p.m., to be precise – I will offer a digital slide presentation on travel in Chile at Santa Clara County’s Los Altos Library (13 S. San Antonio Road, tel. 650/948-7683). Coverage will also include the Chilean Pacific Islands of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Juan Fernández (Robinson Crusoe), as well as southernmost Argentina (Tierra del Fuego and the vicinity of El Calafate) that appear in the book. I will also be prepared to answer questions about Argentina and Buenos Aires. The presentation is free of charge, but books will be available for purchase.

After the Moai: Easter Island's Historical Archaeology

Researchers who visit Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are, understandably, focused on archaeology. Its part in the peopling of the Pacific, and the tale behind its massive moai, are topics that stimulate academics and excite the popular imagination. They can still elicit controversy, as with a new theory of how the megaliths moved from their “nursery” at Rano Raraku to broad ahu (platforms) around the island.

Exterior view of the woodshed at Fundo Vaitea

It’s disappointing, though, that Rapanuiphiles and local authorities are focused on this to the exclusion of contemporary history (which I shall define as history within the life span of somebody alive today). When I visited the island in April, I was disappointed to see the dilapidated state of Fundo Vaitea (pictured above), the one-time sheep ranch founded by the abusive Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Dutroux-Bornier in 1870. Dutroux-Bornier died at the hands of the Rapanui themselves, but the sheep ranch survived under the management of the Valparaíso-based Williamson, Balfour & Company, which essentially governed the island from 1888 to 1952 as the Compañía Explotadora de la Isla de Pascua (CEDIP). After 1952, Chile had a greater administrative presence in its remote Pacific possession, first through the navy and then through civilian government.

Interior of the woodshed at Fundo Vaitea

I first saw Vaitea on my initial visit to the island, about 20 years ago, when the wool shed (above) and concrete sheep dips (below) were in relatively good condition (I have never seen a sheep on the island, though there are cattle and, of course, the overpopulation of horses has caused serious environmental damage). On my recent trip, though, the shed was on the point of collapse, the machinery within was rusting, and volunteer trees were growing within the dip. Eventually, unless action is taken, the trees will pull those installations apart.

Ruins of the sheep dips at Funda Vaitea

Obviously, the deteriorating remains of a sheep ranch are less significant than ancient archaeological sites that can help explain some of the biggest questions in Polynesian prehistory. On the other hand, unless some historical archaeologist takes an interest soon – such a project was recently announced – Vaitea could suffer a regrettable and utterly preventable loss of valuable artifacts to reconstruct a period that’s been largely neglected.

Rapa Nui Reaches California

Meanwhile, with that in mind, the Eighth International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific will take place from July 8 to 13 at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa in Santa Rosa, California, about an hour north of my home in Oakland, and I hope to attend. Its theme is “Living in Changing Island Environments,” and anybody is welcome – presuming, of course, you wish to splurge on the $295 registration fee that includes the welcome banquet with Australian anthropologist Grant McCall.

On Tuesday: Rapa Nui, Puyehue, HydroAysén, & Record-Setting Lemonade

Today’s entry covers a series of recent items on Easter Island, the lingering effects of Volcán Puyehue, the HydroAysén controversy, and the world’s greatest lemonade (by volume; I’ve not been able to taste it).

Rapa Nui Wristbands
Things are changing fast on Easter Island. As I wrote a few months ago, Conaf (Chile’s national parks agency) has instituted a new annual pass (around US$20) that applies to all of Chile’s parks except, unfortunately, Torres del Paine and Rapa Nui. Now we learn that Conaf has instituted a new policy by which every passenger arriving at Hanga Roa’s Aeropuerto Internacional Mataveri will be required to purchase a wristband (US$20 for Chileans, US$50 for foreigners) to visit Parque Nacional Rapa Nui.

The passes will be valid for five days for all sites except the Orongo Ceremonial Village and the Rano Raraku quarry (pictured above), where all the island’s signature moai came from. Previously, those were the only archaeological sites where any charge was collected, and the new pass will entitle visitors to a single visit only to each site.

I’m personally ambivalent about such charges, because I dislike the differential charges for Chilean nationals and foreigners, as it simply assumes foreigners are more able to pay them. On the other hand, given that Easter Island is a relatively remote destination that’s expensive to reach, it’s hard to imagine that the fee difference would be a deal-breaker.

Ash Falling on Cape Town

The ashfall from Volcán Puyehue continues circling the planet and, as of yesterday, it disrupted flights from South Africa’s Cape Town International Airport. LAN Airlines, however, has announced the resumption of flights from Santiago to Auckland and Sydney, though its Argentine domestic operations to the airports of Bariloche, Neuquén, Comodoro Rivadavia and Río Gallegos remain suspended. The Chilean government is permitting evacuees to return to the Puyehue area, where their fields are covered in ash, but the worst victim of the ashfall appears to be the Argentine resort town of Villa La Angostura (where NBA basketball star Manuel Ginóbili has a home; pictured above before the eruption). From photos I have seen, Villa La Angostura is blanketed with ash, while the telephone service has collapsed; the central government has sent five million pesos (about US$1,250,000) in short-term assistance.

HydroAysen: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Following its approval by a government commission last month, the controversial HydroAysén dam and power project in wildest Patagonia (including the Río Baker, pictured above) has hit a judicial obstacle. An appeals court in the city of Puerto Montt has granted an injunction against HydroAysén pending resolution of a series of complaints from lawmakers, municipal authorities, and environmental groups. It is also possible that a number of local land-use referenda currently in progress in the thinly populated Aysén region could prove to be additional obstacles for the company.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Go for the Record
Best known as the cradle of Argentine independence, the northwestern city of San Miguel de Tucumán (pictured below) is where delegates to the Congreso de Tucumán declared themselves free of Spain in 1816. Though it enjoys mild winters, for much of the year it’s a hot, humid subtropical city that was long renowned for its sugar mills. According to the Buenos Aires daily Clarín, though, Argentina is now the world’s largest lemon producer - a fact I did not know - and, on Sunday, Tucumán residents made the Guinness Book of World Records by producing the world’s largest lemonade.

The relevant stats: 30,000 lemons, 1,100 liters of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and 470 kg of sugar to produce 5,500 liters of lemonade - breaking the previous record of 4,359 liters in the United States. With high temperatures only around 15° C (roughly 65° F), Tucumanos might do well to save some of it for summer, when the mercury routinely climbs above 30° C (86° F) with Floridian humidity.

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