Exploring Easter Island

Chile, 5 Nights

Day 1 - Santiago/Easter Island
Transfer from your hotel in Santiago to the airport for the five-hour flight, out across the Pacific Ocean, to Easter Island also known as Rapa Nui. On arrival you will be met and taken a short distance to the simple but well located Otai Hotel. Otai will be your base for the next five days.

Discovered in 1771 on Easter Sunday, Easter Island is a World Heritage site and the most isolated place on earth. Although more Polynesian than South American in character, the 64-square mile island was annexed by Chile in 1888 and is now famous on account of the moai: the large stone statues numbering more than 600 on the island, some weighing more than 250 tonnes. Exactly how they came to be here nobody knows for sure, and because of a total lack of documentation from the period, this and many other aspects of Rapa Nui culture remain a captivating mystery.

Day 2 - Easter Island
Enjoy a full day guided tour of the island beginning with a visit to Rano Raraku volcano where 95% of all moai were carved. This is followed by a stop at Ahu Tongariki, a magnificent platform with a formidable row of 15 moai. Other points of interest are Ahu Te Pito Kura (the site of the largest moai), Anakena and Vaitea. A bush lunch is included.

Day 3 - Easter Island
Morning visit to Ahu Vinapu with its stone walls built in a similar way to those of the Incas, followed by a tour of the ceremonial village of Orongo, the centre of the 'Bird Man' cult. Enjoy the afternoon at the Englert Muesum and ceremonial complex of Tahai.

Day 4 - Easter Island
Morning to explore the island on foot or by horse and see the volcanoes and lava tubes present on the island. A bush lunch is included. Afternoon at leisure to explore the town or enjoy the beaches.

Day 5 - Easter Island/Santiago 
Transfer to the airport for your flight back to Santiago.

Alternative 'active' itineraries are available using explora's all-inclusive programme at explora Rapa Nui's Posada de Mike Rapu.