Easter Island

Chile

Easter Island is known by the local people as Rapa Nui. In Spanish the island is called Isla de Pascua.

How did it get its name? Well, the island was discovered on Easter day (Sunday 6 April 1722) by the Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen.

Easter Island is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about 3,700km from the Chilean Coast making it the most isolated inhabited island in the world. With its petroglyphs and imposing Moai statues, the island is like an outdoor museum that cannot be found anywhere else.

The Moai Statues were carved from the island's volcanic rocks. They can have a diameter of more than 3 meters and heights that can reach up to 24 meters. The height of the statues grew over time so you can roughly say that the small the statue, the older it is. Considering that many statues weigh up to 80 tonnes, we can only wonder how they were put into their upright position.

A curious fact is that almost all of the statues have their back to the sea, looking towards the interior of the island. The only statues that do look towards the sea can be found north of Hanga Roa at Ahu Akivi. Here there are 7 statues representing the original explorers that came to this island and that are now looking out to sea towards their homeland.

What to do?

We recommend that you visit the museum in Hanga Roa before you visit any of the Moais or other touristy places so you get an idea of what its all about and you will appreciate the visit a lot more.

Some of the Main attractions and places to visit on Easter Island are:

The Rano Raraku volcano, located to the Northeast of Hanga Roa, is considered one of the greatest and most valuable archaeological sites of the island. It contains the open quarry that was once used to carve the statues before they were taken to their final position. There are over 300 statues in varying states of completion scattered about the quarry which give us an idea of how they were made. As to how they were take to the final standing place has been debated ever since they were first discovered.

The famous line of statues (the most photographed ones) are called Ahu Tongariki. There are 15 Moai standing looking towards the center of the island. You can take great photos here at sunrise. It takes around 20 minutes to get there by car from Hanga Roa. It is also possible to get there by bike (there are no big hills) but there is no shade nor anywhere to buy water on the way so make sure you bring enough.

You can walk about two hours south of Hanga Roa along a trail to get to a beautiful lake (Rano Kau) that used to be a volcano.

Many people walk 20 minutes north of Hanga Roa to take photos of Ahu Tahai (about 5 or 6 Maois (don't remember) at sunset.

Other attractions of Easter Island are the main beaches of the island called Anakena and Ovahe. There are also many recreational activities available to do on the island such as surfing, diving, horse riding and fishing amongst others.

You can rent a car to see most of these sites in a day or two. You can also rent scooters, bicycles and horses.

Language

Spanish is the official language of Easter Island though you will hear (and see) a lot of the local language (Rapa Nui) spoken (for Maori speakers of New Zealand, you will find a large number of similarities). You can usually get by with English though a Japanese tourist told us that he found it difficult that almost nobody spoke his language at hotels or tourist attractions. (Let us know about your nationality!!!!!)

Where to Stay

As you come in the airport you will find some counters offering accommodation. Many times they will give you a free pickup to take you to their hotel. One place to stay is Martin y Anita Hotel which is owned and run by a local couple (however they don't have a kitchen that you can use).

Costs

Things on Easter island are generally expensive because they have to fly most of their products from Chile. To give you an idea, a typical Chilean empanada costs around $1.500 Chilean Pesos but apparently they are really good.

Flights leave most days of the week from Santiago via Lan Chile airlines and take around 5 hours.

Note: The photos of Easter Island on this page are from: iCLIPART Over 7.8 million royalty free photos, clipart images, web graphics!

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