Easter Island Discovery

Hanga Roa · Chile

Easy6 daysSouth America~£3,000 est.

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Overview

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is the loneliest inhabited place on earth — 3,500 km of Pacific between it and the Chilean coast — and nearly nine hundred moai still stand, lie and wait across its 163 sq km. Walking is the way to take it in: over four or five days you can circuit the island's coast and volcanoes on foot, from the fifteen re-erected giants of Ahu Tongariki catching first light to Rano Raraku, the quarry-volcano where almost four hundred unfinished statues lean out of the grass exactly where the carvers downed tools. The clifftop village of Orongo, perched between the Rano Kau crater and 300 m sea cliffs, tells the later story of the Birdman cult that replaced the statue religion. Anakena's palm-backed beach makes the one soft afternoon; the rest is windswept grassland, wild horses and surf hammering black lava shores. Flights from Santiago — about five hours — are the only way in, and the national park ticket (around US$80, valid ten days) is checked at the main sites; Rano Raraku and Orongo admit you once each. November to April brings the warmest, most settled weather. Around £3,000 covers a week with guesthouse lodging and a guide for the key sites; book flights early — they are the trip's real cost.