- Address: Puna Pau, Isla de Pascua, Región de Valparaíso, Chile;
- Working hours: every day from 09:00 to 18:00.
Easter Island , probably, is the most popular and mysterious landmark of Chile . A lot of tourists are eager to visit this place of strength, stand next to the stone giants, who directed their eyes through the centuries to the cold surface of the ocean. One of the most famous and memorable places of Easter Island is the extinct volcano Pune-Pau.
What is interesting about the Pune-Pau volcano?
The Easter Island is associated with a large number of legends, myths and secrets. Until now, it is not known how these giant stone statues appeared on the shore of the island, lined with an even row, who sculpted them, and most importantly, how they were transported ashore, because the weight of each statue reaches several tens of tons.
It is known that stone statues of moai were carved from a single piece of tufa. Tuff is a porous volcanic rock. Many moai were decorated with carvings, symbolizing the native tattoos of the local Polynesian population, in the eye sockets of many was inlaid from white coral and black obsidian. Some of the statues had headdresses made of tufa as well, which are volume truncated cones. It is interesting that the tuff for making the body and head of statues and tuff, from which the headdresses were cut, was extracted in different places, at the slopes of different volcanoes.
Particularly noteworthy is the red tuff, extracted from the gentle slope of the extinct volcano Poona-Pau. It was the rock that was extracted here that went to make headdresses for stone giants. Pune-Pau is located in the southern part of Easter Island in the eponymous village where the Rapa Nui National Park is located. Nearby is a small sparsely populated village.
Pune-Pau is a green and quite picturesque place. Despite the fact that it is blown by winds from the Pacific Ocean in winter and summer, various species of wildlife and vegetation are represented here. Through the grassy hills covered by hills are narrow paths. The National Park is open for visits almost every day. But the main natural attraction of these places is the now inactive Pune-Pau volcano. The tuff, extracted on the slopes of the mountain, is a fairly rare breed, thanks to its red color, and this place was the only quarry for the extraction of red stone. It is known that headdresses (pukao) decorated with the most revered moai.
How to get to the Puna-Pau volcano?
You can walk to Puneau-Pau on foot from the hotel in Anga Roa . If you go by motorway, then you need to move east along the Apiña towards Policarpo Toro. On the way, you will see magnificent views of the green hilly valleys. Already on the way to an ancient career here and there you can find unfinished hats of pukao with the strange symbols scratched on them, which only archaeologists have to unravel.