Lewis the Lion at the Rano Kau viewpoint
One afternoon, Lewis the Lion and his friends (Helen, John, Gemma and Singa) decided to go for a hike up to a popular tourist spot on Easter Island: an extinct volcano called Rano Kau.
Lewis the Lion visits an extinct volcano on Easter Island
They were a bit unsure of the weather because even if it was a relatively mild climate, being an island, the rain could sweep in very suddenly but then pass by quickly too. However, they weren’t going to let a bit of rain spoil their fun so off they went!
Lobito follows the friend’s on their walk
At first their path took them along the coast and they were joined by another four legged friend: a white stray dog which they ended up calling ‘Lobito’ – meaning small wolf in Spanish as it had wolffish looks. She seemed to want a bit of company and was happy to accompany the group of friends.
The walk takes the friends up towards the volcano
One of the things that Lewis the Lion enjoyed about Easter Island was the large number of caves scattered around the island. Sometimes, they would start inland and then weave their way down to the coast, so you could have a window out to the sea. They were certainly a useful shelter from the rain when it came down suddenly!
An island cave looking out to sea
So, Lewis and his friends walked down some steps fixed into the cliffside before clambering across some rocks to take them into some caves. There were some drawings in the cave but Lewis couldn’t be sure if they had been there for a long time or not?
Their walk then took them over the cliff tops
The sea is a deep turquoise colour
where Lewis the Lion again felt humbled and small when he looked out across the vast Pacific Island.
Looking out across the vast Pacific Ocean
The horizon stretched on for miles and miles and Lewis the Lion felt awe at the magnitude of nature: after all, he was on the remotest island on the planet. In that moment, as in many moments throughout his travels, he felt truly grateful for such a wonderful, unique opportunity to see the world: he must be the luckiest little lion that had ever lived, that’s for sure!
The friends look out onto the Pacific Ocean
As they rounded the coastline, in the distance he could see a picturesque little island surrounded by a turquoise sea. ‘How pretty!’ Lewis the Lion thought to himself but he was soon to discover the relevance of this island, which he will tell you about in his next blog.
Lewis the Lion spies an interesting looking islet
Lewis the Lion and Helen look out at the pretty islet
After trampling through lots of high grasses uphill, after a couple of hours, the group of friends reached the summit of the volcano. Unlike an active volcano, this extinct one’s crater had now formed a lake.
Lewis nearly gets blown away at the crater’s edge
Lewis was struck by its serene beauty and at just how windy it was! Helen had to hold on very tight to Lewis the Lion for fear that he might blow away: she nearly had her feet lifted from under her, the wind was so strong!
Helen nearly gets blown away!
Signs were erected around the crater edge telling people to keep out and Lewis the Lion could understand why. It was as if there was a wind tunnel sweeping across the top of the perfectly formed crater towards the sea as part of the crater wall was missing.
A big hole in the crater’s wall shows the blue of the Pacific Ocean behind it
Lewis the Lion couldn’t believe that there was a village not far from here but he will tell you more about that in his next blog when he talks about the tradition of the Birdman.
Everyday is a new day to learn something new, Lewis the Lion believed and today was no exception. As the friends rested their weary legs for a bit, whilst overlooking the beautiful blue and green, cratered lake, two of his friends had a bet. Lobito was lying down beside them and was ready for a snack too. Gemma bet John that Lobito wouldn’t eat fruit. John was sure that she would so they watched to see what would happen when he tried to feed her one of his bananas? To his surprise, even though Lobito was a hungry, stray dog it just sniffed, disinterested at the banana. Gemma laughed, having won the bet. She was an animal lover and knew that dogs don’t eat fruit. Lewis the Lion was surprised too as he didn’t know that and was just happy that he didn’t bet against Gemma too!
Luckily though for Lobito, she didn’t go hungry as at the end of their long walk, Lewis’ kind friend Singa bought some dog food for Lobito seeing as she had kept them company all day long. Lewis the Lion thought that showed real compassion and kindness for this stray dog.
The friends then walked through a wood and across a field without any clearly marked path. At points Lewis felt that he was simply falling forward in big strides, sometimes hitting big stones beneath his paws. Helen was having fun as she bounded down the hillside but was equally grateful that she had got back to the cliff-top without having broken her ankle!
When they arrived at a mound of stones, Lewis the Lion was delighted to see a rock carving. Many of these had all but disappeared off Easter Island, being eroded over time by the wind and rain. He thought this one looked a little bit like an alien.
A petroglyph which Lewis thinks looks like an alien
Being a curious cat, with a head full of imagination, he wondered that if aliens exist at all, would they have visited Easter Island? What do you think?
Not so far away now was another ceremonial moai platform. However, unlike some of the other sites he had visited, here all the moai were laid flat.
A Moai is laid down
Lewis the Lion thought that this was a bit of a shame but at the same time, realised that this too told a story of the island. It was because of the wars between the different island tribes that these huge statues had been toppled over. In fact, Lewis realised that more moai were strewn across the landscape on Easter Island than were stood upright.
With a rapidly increasing stride, the friends now followed the length of the airport’s runway across the island.
The sun sets as the friends reach home
It was getting close to dusk now and they were eager to get home before it got dark, especially as that night, Lewis the Lion was attending a special show.
Lewis the Lion enjoys an Easter Island show
This show entertained the tourists with a taste of Rapa Nui culture as there was traditional music, singing and dancing. He particularly liked the men’s warrior routines with their spears, grass-skirts and island tattoos. Click here to see a snippet.
It made him laugh his hearty laugh when they looked really fierce one moment but then would open their eyes wide and suddenly stick their tongues out really far at you! You can see some more video clips on the Lewis Loves Languages page on Rapa Nui.
What a long day it had been and Lewis the Lion fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He thinks he dreamt of alien landings on Easter Island but he couldn’t be sure?!
Lewis the Lion wonders if like him you could let your imagination run wild too? Write a story about an alien landing on Easter Island. What do you think they would think of this mysterious and remote island? What would they look like? How would they behave? Would they be friendly or not?
