Moments of Inspiration: Rapa Nui, with Leonardo Pakarati

Some journeys start long before the first step. As a child, I’d page through my grandmother’s books on mysterious places, utterly captivated by the Moai of Easter Island. Decades later, I booked a cruise from Tahiti to Lima—specifically because it stopped for two precious days on Rapa Nui. After months of planning with Marcus Edensky and his wife at Easter Island Traveling, our itinerary was set. When we arrived by tender from the Oceania Marina, we were met by our guide, Leonardo Pakarati—or simply, Leo. At first, I didn’t quite know what to make of him—his stories were as sweeping as the landscape itself. He told us he grew up in a cave by the sea. He spoke of being imprisoned during the Pinochet regime, and of his long journey home. It was hard to believe—and impossible to forget. We spent the next two days crisscrossing the island—visiting sacred sites, standing before the quarry where the Moai were carved, learning how many believe they were moved.  Leo told us that as a boy, his grandmother would sing him songs of the Moai dancing across the land to their resting places. That image never left me. He spoke about the “mana”, or spiritual power, the Moai draw from their ahu (the sacred platforms they stand upon), and how their coral eyes were designed to gaze inland protecting the island’s people for centuries. Then came the part I truly wasn’t expecting Leo shared that he had worked on the set of the 1994 film Rapa Nui—produced by Kevin Costner and set on the island long known as Te Pito o Te Henua, the Navel of the World. He had also contributed to a NOVA documentary about the island and later directed his own film:  Te Kuhane o te Tupuna (The Spirit of the Ancestors), a powerful journey tracing the story of a sacred Moai taken from the island to a museum in Europe. I’ll admit—I was stunned. The stories had felt almost mythical. But back on the ship, I found the documentary, the film, and Leo’s name—real and remembered. To this day, we’re still connected through the quiet magic of social media.  And not a year goes by that I don’t think of him—or the island—with a deep sense of wonder.    I can still close my eyes and see Leo doing the dance—his arms swaying, his voice soft and powerful—singing the song his grandmother once sang to him about the Moai walking across the island. A story. A memory. A legacy passed on. At GLM Luxury Events, I design with moments like this in mind: Where myth and memory meet.  Where every place has a soul—and someone who can help you hear it. #GLMLuxuryEvents #MomentsOfInspiration #EasterIsland #RapaNui #Moai #MotuNui #TangataManu #LeonardoPakarati #TeKuhaneoteTupuna #NovaPBS #CulturalTravel #TravelingEasterIsland #LuxuryEvents #CuratedExperiences #TravelDesign #EventArchitect #TimeFlies #LiveWell #TravelWell