UPFRONT.

• Position: Letter to the Editor

Return to Rapa Nui

Your February 2001 issue shows Rapa Nui (commonly called Easter Island) is rapidly becoming another mecca for tourists! When I was there in the 1980s it was more primitive, and I consider the change to be bad in many ways. At that time LAN Chile ran a weekly service between Santiago and Tahiti with stops at Rapa Nui in both directions. Supplies were provided by ships, which were called twice per year. They were months behind schedule with no fixed sailing time, so virtually nothing could be purchased.

The moai were the one object for attraction of tourists, but the park headquarters at Orongo featured the Birdman Cult and a series of caves labeled dangerous and bearing the warning that those who went inside did so at personal risk.

The festivals these days are, so far as I can ascertain, late developments, as are the costumes worn by participants. Horse racing is mentioned. In the 1980s there was one horse in local activities. The young man who raced it through the island was regarded as being a bit less than mentally brilliant!

Scott Walls Oakland, California

The Root of the Matter

Congratulations on your December 2000 issue. I personally want to thank you for publishing the article "Journey to the Roots of a Shore," by Victor Englebert. About thirty years ago, I had the opportunity to travel in this region of "imposing magic" on the Colombian Pacific coast. Sharing with the author his experiences, it hurts to think that the only progress that has reached a land of such kind people is the continuous logging and destruction of the trees that Mother Nature has so generously given us. The problem is very serious, because of Colombia's current political and economical situation.

Let's hope that a politician takes this valuable information, written with a...