The Protest
What an amazing island, Rapa Nui. I found myself quite unexpectedly at the center of a small revolution this week on Easter Island. I arrived to explore the most remote inhabited place on Earth and found a local protest that affected hundreds of tourists from all over the world. Being here at this place at this very moment probably created my most interesting story so far during my travels.
A couple hundred Rapa Nui people had decided that they were tired of not receiving ALL the revenue from the national government of Chile from the sale of $60 wristbands to enter the National Parks where the Moai stand and draw 150.000 tourists per year to the island. The day after I arrived to the island these local people blocked all the roads leading out of the only town on the island, Hanga Roa. To give an idea of size, 3,800 people live on Rapa Nui, mostly in the town. There is only 1 gas station on the island and 2 small grocery stores, several souvenir shops and probably 10-15 small restaurants…all expensive. So when all the tourists on the island are confined to this very small town, not allowed to see the only thing they came to see, and with little access to even decent wifi it is quite easy to catch “island fever”!
On the first night of the protest I went and talked with the protestors and photographed them near the beach with the Moai in the distance. I felt compassion for their cause but also learned that the island is supported by Chile and the people do not pay any tax to the federal government. A pretty good deal I would say. As we talked I became aware this was a very unorganized affair, watching them drink beer and listen to music while blocking all tourists from seeing the Moai. The following day I was told it was on the radio that the Central Government in Santiago announced that the roads were to be opened and access allowed for all tourists to the historical sites. I immediately got on my motorcycle and went out to the far end of the island to see these massive stone statues. I, along with probably 50 tourists who had the same information were stopped again by the local people. This time many dressed in costume and drunk, playing guitar, and dancing around. A general party atmosphere and homespun defiance to the authorities.
I have respect for the police in my own country and every other, but these were men just like me that decided to block roads and legal access to these amazing historical sites. To me it seemed the equivalent of me and a few friends stretching a rope across the Clearwater Bay Bridge and saying there was no access to the beach! As I talked with a couple of guys from England we pondered what, with absolutely no authority, would happen if we just went on through their roadblock. I turned my motorcycle around and sped through their party over some pretty rough terrain, and around the rope stretched across the road. What I didn’t count on was the pursuit!!