3G0YR CE0Y Team will be active from Easter Island, IOTA SA - 001, 26 November - 3 December 2025.
Team - CE3CT, CE3SPR, LW6DG, LU9FVS, UA3AB, R5AA, RX3APM, RW7K, RA3AUU.
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They will operate on HF Bands, including activity in CQ WW DX CW Contest, 29 - 30 November 2025 as CE0Y in Multi Multi Category.
Easter Island – a place shrouded in mystery
Easter Island is one of the most mysterious places on our planet. This small piece of land, lost in the southern Pacific Ocean, is part of Chile. Rapa Nui (translated as “Navel of the Earth”), as the locals call their island, is one of the most remote inhabited islands, located more than 3,000 kilometers from the mainland.
Scientists around the world are still puzzling over the mysteries of Rapa Nui. The stone giants known as moai, undeciphered writings, the language, the origin of the local inhabitants, and the time of the island's settlement are all topics of ongoing debate that are unlikely to subside anytime soon.
3G0YR CE0Y Easter Island DX Pedition. Banner.
Nature and climate of Easter Island
The island has a mild tropical climate with an average annual temperature of 22°C. The warmest time is in January, and the coldest period is in August, when the thermometer drops to 19 degrees Celsius. Due to the favorable climatic conditions, vacationing on the island is very enjoyable, as there is no extreme heat.
The flora on Rapa Nui is extremely poor, although, according to archaeological findings, the entire island was once covered with dense forests. It is believed that the mystery of the island's devastation was solved in 1786 by French navigator Jean François La Pérouse. In his opinion, the reason for the disappearance of the forests is trivial: all the trees were simply cut down by short-sighted islanders. And since the salty air is unfavorable for vegetation, no new shoots appeared. However, not all scientists agree with this version of events and continue to put forward their own hypotheses about the reasons for the island's transformation into a desert.
The famous tablets with undeciphered inscriptions were made from the extinct toromiro tree, which belonged to the legume family. This dense wood was also used to build houses, the remains of which were also found during excavations. The fauna of Rapa Nui is as poor as its flora. The island is home to about 30 species of birds, 25 of which are marine species.
Easter Island. Author - Eliot Herman.
The population of Easter Island
The time of the arrival of the first settlers continues to be a subject of debate among historians. According to radiocarbon analysis, American scientists have concluded that the island was inhabited in 1200 BC. About a hundred years later, some kind of ecological disaster occurred, causing all large vegetation to disappear, which is why the island looks so deserted.
The origin of the islanders also remains a mystery. According to local legend, the first settlers arrived on two large canoes led by the chief Hotu Matu'a. The latter is still highly revered by the Rapanui people, who respectfully call him their leader and father.
Where exactly the first settlers came from remains a mystery. The unique Rapanui language is similar to the Polynesian language group, which has led to a theory of ethnic kinship between the islanders and the Eastern Polynesians, in particular the Maori people of New Zealand.
There is also a belief that the islanders are related to South American Indian tribes. According to Norwegian researcher Thor Heyerdahl, the Rapanui people bear a striking resemblance to the Peruvians. A third group of scientists believes that the island was inhabited by representatives of different ethnic groups, at least two
. The writing system of Easter Island is no less mysterious. It has been established that at least three writing systems existed here before the Europeans discovered the island. The most unusual and still not understood is the rongorongo writing system. Its samples have been preserved on wooden fragments — these carefully carved hieroglyphs have no analogues in the world, and the world's best linguists have been working unsuccessfully for many years to decipher them. It is known that the last inhabitant of the island who knew the rongorongo script was taken from Rapa Nui to Peru by slave traders.
The discovery of the island by Europeans
One of the first European travelers to land on Easter Island was the Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen in April 1722. He was the first to determine the coordinates of the island and make the first written description of the land. In addition, Roggeveen gave the island such a romantic name because his expedition's ships landed on the island's shore on a Christian holiday.
Fifty years later, the ships of another traveler, James Cook, landed on the island, and a couple of years before that, a Peruvian expedition visited Easter Island with the aim of colonizing the land. The Peruvian conquerors drew up a detailed map of Rapa Nui and indicated more accurate coordinates. In addition to the positive aspects, the visits of the Peruvians were marked by the enslavement and deportation of almost the entire population of the island. In 1888, Easter Island was annexed by Chile, and by that time, less than two hundred people remained on the island. Gradually, the number of indigenous inhabitants was partially restored. Today, more than half of the local residents are descendants of the indigenous population.
In addition to their brutal conquest policy, the Europeans brought many useful changes to the local culture, bringing the islanders closer to the civilized world. For example, it was thanks to the Europeans that the practice of cannibalism was eradicated.
Easter Island. Author - Drew Murray.
Moai – the mysterious statues of Easter Island
All travelers left behind memories in which they vividly described their amazement at what they saw on the island. The local islanders, who lived a poor, primitive life, lit bonfires in front of huge stone statues. This contrast made an indelible impression on Europeans: how could people without any technical equipment or scientific knowledge create such monumental objects, and in such quantities?
Today, there are 887 monolithic sculptures on the island. It is believed that they were all erected between 1250 and 1500 AD.
The average height of the statues is three to five meters, with an average weight of about five tons. Only a few dozen statues weigh an average of 10 tons. The largest statue weighs 270 tons and is 20 meters tall. The material used to make the moai statues was mainly volcanic rock—pumice, tuff, obsidian, and xenoliths.
Huge anthropomorphic sculptures are located along the coastline throughout the island, all with their backs to the sea and their faces looking inland.
Today, almost all of the statues on the island have been re-erected on their pedestals (ahu). There is no exact information as to why they were partially destroyed at different times. Perhaps they were knocked down en masse during civil wars.
Modern life on Rapa Nui
Today, the island is an administrative unit of Chile and is part of the Valparaíso Region. The largest city and capital is Anga Roa.
The island has modern infrastructure, which is actively developing the tourism sector. Since 1966, the huge Mataveri Airport, built by the Americans as a military airbase, has been in operation. The island also has a marina.
Most of the island's population is employed in tourism, and the local government is investing heavily in the development of this promising sector. You can stay on the island in one of three hotels. Due to the island's remoteness from the mainland, all imported goods, including fuel, are very expensive here. Renting a car or simply taking a taxi will cost you a pretty penny. Food is also expensive, as almost all products are delivered by plane.
How to get to Easter Island
Getting here is difficult by either of the two existing methods. The first option is by sea, buying a cruise tour that includes a visit to the island. You can try to organize a yacht trip yourself, which will also be expensive.
The second option is by air, buying a plane ticket. This method is more convenient and, in practice, the most optimal. The island has an operational international airport, where planes from Chile, Lima, and Tahiti land regularly. Flights are scheduled 1-2 times a week, and the flight itself takes relatively little time. For example, the flight from Santiago takes only five hours.
