REGION: Islands of Chile (Easter Island, Rapa Nui)
ACTIVITY LEVEL: 2+ (Easy to Medium)
SUMMARY: This packaged program includes four days in Easter Island with the following transfer services/tours: Transfer in and out from Santiago airport to Santiago Hotel day 1, 2 and 5; half day walking tour at Hanga Roa town; full day trekking excursion at Poike volcano and full day excursion at Te Moai Circuit (most important places of the Moai worship) and dinner performance of Rapa Nui ballet. Local tour guides during the full program.
Also, one or two days for optional tours in Easter Island or Central Chile of Santiago are possible or you can combine this tour with other Northern Chile or North or South Patagonia tours.
DURATION: 5 days (Can be extended by combining with other tours.)
MIN. / MAX. PEOPLE: 2-12; more with prior arrangement.
SEASON: October through April (Peak season: December – March).
INCLUDED: Hotel accommodation at Santiago and Easter Island Rapa Nui, Professional local tour guides (with First Aid Accreditation and mobile phone), entrance to National Park Rapa Nui and Private Transportation with seat insurance.
NOT INCLUDED: Travel insurance, personal equipment, meals*Under request, Domestic flight to Easter Island*Under request., Tips for Staff or anything not listed in the program.
GUEST PROVIDES: Comfortable clothes appropriate to the activity.
TOUR COST: Request a quote!
COSTO: Contáctenos!
ITINERARY:
Day 1: Welcome to Chile – Transfer in from Santiago Airport
Activity Level: 1 (Easy)
Pick up from Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport. Meet your local guide and rprivate transfer to your hotel. Drop off at your hotel. Leisure time at the capital of Chile or if you have time, great opportunity to do a City walk tour around this cosmopolitan city and/or combine with Wine tour at Maipo valley. Dinner and rest.
Overnight: Santiago. Meals:*Under request.
Day 2: Transfer Out Santiago – Easter Island Rapa Nui – Half Day Cultural Tour – Tahai Sunset (4 Hours)
Welcome to Rapa Nui, in Rapa Nui Language, Isla de Pascua in Spanish or Easter Island in English belonging to Chile. At your arrival at Easter Island International Airport Mataveri, you will be greeted with a traditional flower collar. You will meet your local tour guide at Rapa Nui and be taken to your hotel. Check in at your Hotel.
After lunch, visit Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum. It is a museum in the town of Hanga Roa, named for the Bavarian missionary, Fr. Sebastian Englert, OFM Cap. The museum was founded in 1973 and is dedicated to the conservation of the Rapa Nui cultural heritage. In the museum you will find the only female Moai, as well as one of the coral eyes that were placed in the Moais. There are wood statuettes, a photographic collection, archives of traditional music, and a three-thousand-volume library. Then, visit the Santa Cruz Church to observe beautiful wooden carvings. After that, we will ride along the main harbor at Rapa Nui Hanga Roa to admire the Ahu (flat mound and sacred ceremonial site where the Moai stand). Later, browse through unique stones and wood carvings at the artisan market on town. Then, we will walk to Ahu “Tahai”(Ahu means: “Ceremonial Place” at Rapa Nui language) observe beautiful sunset looking the Pacific Ocean. Dinner and rest.
Overnight: Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui. Meals:*Under request.
Day 3: Full Day Excursion – Hiking to Poike Volcano (6 hours).
After breakfast, depart from the hotel along the main highway to Anakena beach. We turn toward the south-east coast road. On the way to the Volcano Poike, observe the rugged rock coast passing by many Ahu (sacred ceremonial site) in ruins. Also we drive through Rano Raraku quarry (where Moai were made) and Ahu Tongariki to finally arrive at the most ancient volcano on Rapa Nui: Poike. This magnificent volcano erupted 3 million years ago forming the island.
We start our hike of Poike and walk along the deforested hill. Oral tradition says that the Long Ears or Hanau E’epe tribe lived at Poike and that they threw every rock to the ocean, that is why maybe Poike is the only area of the island, without rocks.
The crater called Pu a Katiki, reaches a hight of 370 mts. and it is completely dry with a diameter of 10 to 15 mts deep. From the north side you can see the three small mounts Maunga Parehe, Maunga Vai a Heva and Maunga Tea Tea. First pass by Maunga Vai a Heva and find a huge head–face carved on a rock which was used in rituals alluding to water. Continue walking now to the north east of the peninsula, and find Ana o Keke, the cave where virgin women were kept captive to purify their souls and conserve their white skin. It is popularly known as the Cave of the Virgins. There you can appreciate petroglyphs that refer to the confinement ceremony of the Uka Neru women. Observe the amazing view of the landscape and deep blue ocean, something you will never forget. Return to our vehicle and back to the hotel. Leisure time at afternoon to discover this village of Hanga Roa and inmerse in the Rapa Nui Culture. Dinner and rest.
Overnight: Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui. Meals:*Under request.
Day 4: Full Day Tour – Te Moai Circuit (6 – 7 hours)
After breakfast visit the main tourist circuit. This tour is about the history of the megalithic culture of Rapat Nui. Your guide talks about the Moai, the emblematic figure of Easter Island. Learn about the monarchic social system established in the island between the 5th and 15th centuries.
Our first stop will be at Akahanga Village, located at the southeast coast of the island. It is an important place because, according to oral tradition, the first king to colonize the island, King Hotu´to Matu´a, was buried here. Then continue to visit Rano Raraku. This is the only volcanic tuff cone quarry existing on the island. Tuff cone is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. The Rapa Nui people used this rock to make most of the moai statues. Here you can find about 400 moais in different stages of elaboration. It is also one of the most important archaeological sites for the Rapa Nui culture and the main one on the Rapa Nui National Park. Then, we visit Ahu Tongariki. Located opposite to Rano Raraku, this is the larger platform from all of the reconstructed on the island. This altar has fifteen visible standing statues. Lunch at Hanga Roa.
After lunch, we continue with our excursion. We visit Te Pito Kura and see the largest moai transported from Rano Raraku quarry. It is 11 meters long and about 90 tons weight. Beside this Ahu platform you can find the stone called Te Pito ‘o te Henua, formerly known as Tita’a Hanga ‘o Te Henua. Then, we visit Ahu Nau Nau. Located in the area of Anakena, it is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished Ahu of the island because of the refinement of its moai.
Finally, visit one of the most important places in Easter Island, Mori One Beach at Anakena. This beach is characterized by warm turquoise waters and coral sand. It is the main beach of the island and used to be the ancestral residence of the Miru Araki royal family. Bring your swimming suit and take swim in this marvel beach!. Dinner tonight will be special, because you will inmerse at the “Rapa Nui” culture. Enjoy a nice dinner with great performance of local ballet of Rapa Nui. End of the day and accommodation in your Hotel.
Overnight: Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui. Meals:*Under request.
Day 5: Leisure Time in the Morning – Transfer Out – Santiago.
Breakfast. Leisure time to relax or take a nice walk at the village or the beach. Pick up from your hotel, transfer out to Easter Island airport Mataveri. Arrive to Santiago airport and transfer to your hotel. Accommodation on your own or arranged by us under request.
Note: Don´t forget to confirm the time of your transfer out with our local representative or your tour guide at Easter Island.
Arrive at Santiago airport; connect with international flight home or transfer to Santiago hotel. (If staying in Chile, half day services with English tour guide.)
BACKGROUND INFO: Easter Island, Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui, Chile
Easter Island (Rapa Nui language: Rapa Nui; Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian Triangle. Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental stone statues, called Moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. Polynesian people settled on Easter Island in the first millennium AD, and created a thriving culture, as evidenced by the Moai and other artifacts. However, human activity, the introduction of the Polynesian rat and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources, which caused the demise of the Rapa Nui civilization. By the time of European arrival in 1722, the island’s population had dropped to 2,000–3,000 from a high of approximately 15,000 just a century earlier. Diseases carried by European sailors and Peruvian slave raiding of the 1860s further reduced the Rapa Nui population, down to 111 in 1877. Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest continental point lies in central Chile, 3,512 kilometres (2,182 mi) away.
Easter Island is a special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888. Administratively, it belongs to the Valparaíso Region and more specifically, is the only commune of the Province Isla de Pascua. According to the 2012 census, it has about 5,800 residents, of which some 60% are descendants of the aboriginal Rapa Nui.