Life and Solitude In Easter Island

LIFE AND SOLITUDE IN EASTER ISLAND. The exotic Easter Island: Isla de Pascua as it's known to Chileans, Rapa Nui as it's known to the natives, and Te Pito O Te Henua to their ancestors who erected the mysterious moai statues which placidly stand guard throughout this most isolated island on Earth. Although Easter Island is still a rustic place by current standards, today you'll find running water, electricity, money, plus other amenities, and a growing population of several thousand, most of whom came from the mainland.

But a mere 50 years ago, Easter Island had none of these. In 1952, Daro Verdugo-Binimelis, an idealistic Chilean physician, and his wife, Adriana, pulled up stakes and brought their four young sons to Easter Island for what would become an incredible adventure and educational experience for the family.

Appointed by the Chilean Ministry of Health to serve a two-year stint as the island's sole physician, Dr. Verdugo had the responsibility for the health of the island population of about eight hundred, and he also affectionately ministered to the patients isolated in the islands leper colony. Dr. Verdugo has written a lyrical memoir of culture shock melting into affection for the native Pascuenses and their simple, carefree culture.

He reflects on the day-to-day struggles amid stunning natural beauty and on strengthened family ties and deep friendships reinforced by the profound isolation of this tiny island sitting by itself in the middle of the vast South Pacific. Life and Solitude in Easter Island adds a unique personal and family perspective to the growing body of Eastern Island literature, and complements the material found in scholarly texts or in tourist guides.

This is an updated English edition of the original Spanish-language memoir, Vida y Soledad en Isla de Pascua, published in Chile in 1999.