Visiting Easter Island (Boat-Based)

Visiting Anakena (continued)

Ahu Ature Huki.

A cara-cara bird flying through the grove of coconut palms.

Off to the side, there was a separate ahu and single moai called Ahu Ature Huki. This site was restored in 1956 by a team led by Thor Heyerdahl and was one of the first sites restored. As part of the restoration, the modern-day workers attempted to erect the moai using primitive techniques that may have been used by the original builders.

As a backdrop for the moai and ahu there was a large grove of coconut palms that was quite attractive. There were some noisy birds roosting in the palms and they turned out to be hawk-like raptors. They are called cara-cara birds and were introduced from the mainland to help control the rat problem on Easter Island. Unfortunately, the rats are mostly nocturnal, so the birds rarely caught any. Instead the cara-cara birds found other prey, and now there are so many cara-cara birds they are a nuisance themselves.

A cara-cara bird soaring overhead.