Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, and thanks largely to its isolation, Rapa Nui's history is unique. There are many scientific hypotheses and guesses regarding the time of settlement of Rapa Nui, the racial background of the local residents, the cause of the death of a unique civilization, whose representatives built huge stone sculptures (moai) and knew writing (rongo-rongo), which has not yet been deciphered by linguists. With the discovery of the island in 1722 by the Dutch traveler Jacob Roggeveen.
Easter Island is a piece of desert land belonging to Chile, lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is known throughout the world for its unique giant stone statues, as if keeping its secrets. And one of the main ones: what catastrophe had to happen for the island civilization to die out? For several centuries, scientists have been trying to find the answer to this question.
The Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen, who set out from Amsterdam in search of Davis Land, was, of course, not the first European to discover Easter Island. But he was the first to describe it and determine the coordinates. And the name of the island was given by Roggeveen, whose ships (and there were three of them) moored to it on the day of the great Christian holiday of Holy Easter, April 5, 1722. As Roggeveen reported in his notes, when they came ashore, the sailors saw that the locals “had lit fires in front of very tall stone statues... which amazed us, since we could not understand how these people, having neither timber nor strong ropes, could build them." At that time, about two to three thousand natives lived in the territory discovered by Roggeveen, who called the island Rapa Nui, that is, “the navel of the earth.”
Captain James Cook landed on the island in 1774 and was as amazed as Roggeveen, noting the incredible contrast between the magnificent giant statues of Rapa Nui and the wretched life of the indigenous population: “It was difficult for us to imagine how the islanders, deprived of technology, were able to erect these amazing figures and in addition, place huge cylindrical stones on their heads.”
Four years before Cook, the Spanish colonial administrator of Peru, seeking to annex Easter Island, sent a ship to its shores under the command of Felipe Gonzalez de Haedo. This step was explained simply: Spain, wanting to secure its American colonies, decided to seize the territories that lay near them. Gonzalez's few days on the island allowed him to draw up his first detailed map.
Completely inexplicable were about 200 giant stone sculptures - “Moai”, located on massive pedestals along the coast of the island with pathetic vegetation, far from the quarries. Most of the statues were located on massive pedestals. At least 700 more sculptures, in varying degrees of completion, were left in quarries or on ancient roads connecting the quarries with the coast. It seemed as if the sculptors suddenly abandoned their tools and stopped working...
Distant masters carved “moai” on the slopes of the Rano Roraku volcano, located in the eastern part of the island, from soft volcanic tuff. Then the finished statues were lowered down the slope and placed along the perimeter of the island, over a distance of more than 10 km. The height of most idols ranges from five to seven meters, while later sculptures reached 10 and 12 meters. The tuff, or, as it is also called, pumice, from which they are made, has a sponge-like structure and easily crumbles even with a slight impact on it. so the average weight of a “moai” does not exceed 5 tons. Stone ahu - platform-pedestals: reached 150 m in length and 3 m in height, and consisted of pieces weighing up to 10 tons.
At one time, Admiral Roggeveen, recalling his trip to the island, claimed that the aborigines lit fires in front of the “moai” idols and squatted next to them, bowing their heads. After that, they folded their hands and swung them up and down. Of course, this observation is not able to explain who the idols really were for the islanders.
Roggeveen and his companions could not understand how, without using thick wooden rollers and strong ropes, it was possible to move and install such blocks. The islanders had no wheels, no draft animals, and no other source of energy other than their own muscles. Ancient legends say that the statues walked on their own. There is no point in asking how this actually happened, because there is no documentary evidence left anyway. There are many hypotheses about the movement of the “moai”, some are even confirmed by experiments, but all this proves only one thing - it was possible in principle. And the statues were moved by the inhabitants of the island and no one else. So why did they do this? This is where the differences begin.
It is also surprising that in 1770 the statues were still standing. James Cook, who visited the island in 1774, mentioned the lying statues; no one had noticed anything like this before him. The last time the standing idols were seen was in 1830. Then a French squadron entered the island. Since then, no one has seen the original statues, that is, installed by the inhabitants of the island themselves. Everything that exists on the island today was restored in the 20th century. The last restoration of fifteen “moai” located between the Rano Roraku volcano and the Poike Peninsula occurred relatively recently - from 1992 to 1995. Moreover, the Japanese were involved in the restoration work.
In the second half of the 19th century, the cult of the bird man also died. This strange, unique ritual for all of Polynesia was dedicated to Makemaka, the supreme deity of the islanders. The chosen one became his earthly incarnation. Moreover, interestingly, elections were held regularly, once a year. At the same time, servants or warriors took the most active part in them. It depended on them whether their owner, the head of the family clan, would become Tangata-manu, or a bird-man. It is to this ritual that the main cult center, the rock village of Orongo on the largest volcano Rano Kao in the western tip of the island, owes its origin. Although, perhaps, Orongo existed long before the emergence of the cult of Tangata-manu. Legends say that the heir to the legendary Hotu Matua, the first leader to arrive on the island, was born here. In turn, his descendants, hundreds of years later, themselves gave the signal for the start of the annual competition.
In the spring, messengers of the god Makemake - black sea swallows - flew to the small islands of Motu-Kao-Kao, Motu-Iti and Motu-Nui, located not far from the coast. The warrior who was the first to find the first egg of these birds and swim it to his master received seven beautiful women as a reward. Well, the owner became a leader, or rather, a bird-man, receiving universal respect, honor and privileges. The last Tangata Manu ceremony took place in the 60s of the 19th century. After the disastrous pirate raid of the Peruvians in 1862, when the pirates took the entire male population of the island into slavery, there was no one left to choose the bird-man.
Why did the Easter Island natives carve moai statues in a quarry? Why did they stop this activity? The society that created the statues must have been significantly different from the 2,000 people Roggeveen saw. It had to be well organized. What happened to him?
For more than two and a half centuries, the mystery of Easter Island remained unsolved. Most theories about the history and development of Easter Island are based on oral traditions. This happens because no one still can understand what is written in written sources - the famous tablets “ko hau motu mo rongorongo”, which roughly means a manuscript for recitation. Most of them were destroyed by Christian missionaries, but those that survived could probably shed light on the history of this mysterious island. And although the scientific world has more than once been excited by reports that ancient writings have finally been deciphered, upon careful verification, all this turned out to be a not very accurate interpretation of oral facts and legends
Several years ago, paleontologist David Steadman and several other researchers carried out the first systematic study of Easter Island in order to find out what its flora and fauna were once like. The result is evidence for a new, surprising and instructive interpretation of the history of its settlers.
Easter Island was settled around 400 AD. e. The islanders grew bananas, taro, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, and mulberries. In addition to chickens, there were also rats on the island, which arrived with the first settlers.
The period of production of the statues dates back to 1200-1500. The number of inhabitants by that time ranged from 7,000 to 20,000 people. To lift and move the statue, several hundred people were enough, who used ropes and rollers from trees, which were available in sufficient quantities at that time.
The painstaking work of archaeologists and paleontologists has shown that approximately 30,000 years before the arrival of people and in the first years of their stay, the island was not at all as deserted as it is now. A subtropical forest of trees and undergrowth rose above the shrubs, grasses, ferns and turf. The forest contained tree daisies, hauhau trees, which can be used to make ropes, and toromiro, which is useful as fuel. There were also varieties of palm trees that are not now on the island, but formerly there were so many of them that the base of the trees was densely covered with their pollen. They are related to the Chilean palm, which grows up to 32 m and has a diameter of up to 2 m. Tall, branchless trunks were ideal material for skating rinks and canoe construction. They also provided edible nuts and juice from which the Chileans made sugar, syrup, wine and collected honey from the sotah. A unique subspecies, Apis mellifera, has developed on the island. DNA testing of local bees will clarify this issue. But today, according to P. Aldea, it is clear that local bees represent a valuable biological material for scientific research and experiments, as well as a unique resource for the development of practical beekeeping. Local bees are distinguished not only by good health, but also by exceptional hard work: they can produce 90-120 kg of marketable honey per season, which lasts 11 months a year on Easter Island. You can read how honey in combs differs from regular honey. The number of beekeepers and bee colonies on Easter Island is not reported. Apparently, we can only talk about a few dozen beekeepers and several hundred bee families. According to researchers, there are also wild bees on the island that live in caves and rock crevices.
The relatively cold coastal waters provided fishing in only a few places. The main marine prey were dolphins and seals. To hunt them, they went out into the open sea and used harpoons. Before the arrival of people, the island was an ideal place for birds, because they did not have any enemies here. Albatrosses, gannets, frigate birds, fulmars, parrots and other birds nested here - 25 species in total. It was probably the richest nesting site in the entire Pacific Ocean.
Around the 800s, forest destruction began. Layers of charcoal from forest fires began to appear more and more often, tree pollen became less and less, and pollen from grasses that replaced the forest appeared more and more. No later than 1400, the palm trees disappeared completely, not only as a result of cutting down, but also because of the ubiquitous rats, which did not give them the opportunity to recover: a dozen surviving remains of nuts preserved in the caves showed signs of being chewed by rats. Such nuts could not germinate. The hauhau trees did not disappear completely, but there were no longer enough of them to make ropes.
In the 15th century, not only the palm trees disappeared, but the entire forest disappeared. It was destroyed by people who cleared areas for gardens, cut down trees to build canoes, to make skating rinks for sculptures, and for heating. The rats ate the seeds. It is likely that the birds died out due to polluted flowers and a decrease in fruit yield. The same thing happened that happens everywhere in the world where forests are destroyed: most of the forest inhabitants disappear. All species of local birds and animals have disappeared on the island. All coastal fish were also caught. Small snails were used as food. From the diet of people by the 15th century. the dolphins disappeared: there was nothing to go out to sea on, and there was nothing to make harpoons from. It came down to cannibalism.
The paradise that opened to the first settlers became almost lifeless 1600 years later. Fertile soils, an abundance of food, plenty of building materials, sufficient living space, and all opportunities for a comfortable existence were destroyed. At the time of Heyerdahl's visit to the island, there was only a toromiro tree on the island; now he is no longer there.
It all started with the fact that several centuries after arriving on the island, people began, like their Polynesian ancestors, to install stone idols on platforms. Over time, the statues became larger; their heads began to be decorated with red 10-ton crowns; the spiral of competition was unwinding; Rival clans tried to outdo each other with displays of health and strength like the Egyptians building their giant pyramids. The island, like modern America, had a complex political system for distributing available resources and integrating the economy in various areas.
The ever-growing population depleted the forests faster than they could regenerate; vegetable gardens took up more and more space; the soil, devoid of forests, springs and streams dried up; the trees that were spent on transporting and lifting the statues, as well as on building canoes and dwellings, were not enough even for cooking. As birds and animals were destroyed, famine set in. The fertility of arable lands decreased due to wind and rain erosion. Droughts have begun. Intensive chicken breeding and cannibalism did not solve the food problem. The statues, prepared for moving, with sunken cheeks and visible ribs, are evidence of the onset of hunger.
With food scarce, the islanders could no longer support the chiefs, bureaucracy, and shamans who administered the society. The surviving islanders told the first Europeans to visit them how the centralized system had been replaced by chaos and the warlike class had defeated the hereditary leaders. The stones appeared to depict spears and daggers made by the warring parties in the 1600s and 1700s; They are still scattered throughout Easter Island. By 1700 the population was between a quarter and a tenth of its former size. People moved into caves to hide from their enemies. Around 1770, rival clans began knocking over each other's statues and cutting off their heads. The last statue was toppled and desecrated in 1864.
As the picture of the decline of the civilization of Easter Island appeared before the researchers, they asked themselves: - Why didn’t they look back, didn’t realize what was happening, didn’t stop until it was too late? What were they thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?
Most likely, the disaster did not occur suddenly, but stretched out over several decades. The changes occurring in nature were not noticeable for one generation. Only old people, looking back on their childhood years, could realize what was happening and understand the threat posed by the destruction of forests, but the ruling class and stonemasons, afraid of losing their privileges and jobs, treated the warnings in the same way as today's loggers in the northwest: " Work is more important than forest!”
The trees gradually became smaller, thinner and less significant. Once upon a time, the last fruit-bearing palm was cut off, and the young shoots were destroyed along with the remains of bushes and undergrowth. No one noticed the death of the last young palm tree.
How to get there:
The only way to get to Easter Island is by plane. There are a lot of options, but tickets are not cheap. You can buy from Moscow before Easter with transfers, you can buy from Moscow - St. Petersburg to North America, then to South America, and from there until Easter, or directly to South America, and from there until Easter. In general, in any case, you will have to spend money on tickets. There is also a very good option when airlines offer special offers and reduce the cost of air tickets by half or even three times.
Here's my suggestion for how to get there before Easter. It is certainly not super cheap, but also not as expensive as one airline offers (the cost of a flight until Easter is 118 thousand rubles =))
The flight is carried out by Iberia airlines from Moscow to Santiago de Chile (I indicate the cost of tickets there and back) for 28,934 rubles. This is one of the cheapest flight specials. But from Santiago de Chile we buy a ticket to Easter Island. It will cost 199 euros through Lan Airlines.
I can suggest another option. We fly to Madrid, the cost of a round-trip ticket will be 179 euros through our Aeroflot, and from Madrid to Easter Island for 490 euros by Lan Airlines.
A tiny piece of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which we know as Easter Island, can easily lay claim to the title of the most exotic and mysterious place on the planet. The main attraction of the island, which brought it worldwide fame and, at the same time, became one of the biggest mysteries of humanity, are the huge stone idols. And while scientists argue about the true origin of the sculptures and their purpose, we will talk about how to get to Easter Island from Russia faster, cheaper and easier.
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For the majority of people, this region is a real mystery. Accordingly, the level of interest in its attractions, which are the main decoration of the region, is constantly growing. But stone giants are far from the only thing this piece of land is famous for. Many travelers also come here to enjoy the extraordinary cuisine and soak up the most deserted beaches in the world!
Particularly popular is the beach called Anakena, which the locals unashamedly glorify. They say that there are very beautiful sunsets and sunrises here, and the water can change color several times a day. There are several cafes right on the beach where you can enjoy original seafood dishes and fresh fish. Tuna steaks, dishes made from freshly caught fish and potatoes, as well as kebabs prepared according to special recipes are held in special esteem here. Sometimes it seems that the coast has a great resemblance to the Black Sea resorts.
If you have heard a lot about the mysterious land and have long nurtured the dream of visiting Easter Island, we bring to your attention an overview of the best ways to do it. Let us immediately note that for tourists from Russia such a trip will cost a tidy sum, so be prepared for the fact that this vacation will be the most expensive. The final cost of travel is affected by the enormous distance that every Russian traveler has to travel by air.
Detailed information about the Easter Island idols is in our article.
Air travel
It’s not hard to guess that you can get to an island that is located in the open ocean either by water or by plane. Moreover, you will have to take several flights for your foot to finally set foot on the “promised land”. There is no direct plane from Moscow or St. Petersburg that would take tourists directly to the local airport.
Since the region belongs to Chilean territory, the final destination of the first part of your air flight will be the Chilean capital or the airport of Tahiti or Lima. Particularly popular are direct flights from Moscow to Santiago, from whose airport it is easiest to continue your journey by air.
The number and frequency of flights depends on the time of year. For example, tourists prefer to fly from Moscow to Santiago in November, December and January. For a one-way ticket during this period you will have to pay from 45 to 59 thousand rubles. But if you buy a round-trip ticket at once, the cost of the second one will cost almost half as much. During periods of minimal popularity of flights in this direction, significant discounts are observed. A ticket can be bought for no more than 38 thousand rubles, although the cost of a round-trip flight will be almost the same as the price during the peak season.
Planes fly six days a week, which is very convenient for those who are used to planning their vacation by the hour. The journey will take from 18.5 to 19.5 hours. Please note that there is only one airport in Santiago - Arturo Merino Benitez, so it is worth planning your further route from there. You can also choose an alternative flight method, which includes one transfer. In particular, you can move to the cabin of another plane in Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and at Miami airport. Depending on the route you choose, the journey will take you from 19 hours 25 minutes to 26 hours 20 minutes. The cost of the flight will range from 55 to 108 thousand rubles.
Once you arrive at the main Chilean airport, you will need to transfer to the plane that will take you to Easter Island. The frequency of flights depends on the season, and you will have to spend no more than 5 hours in the sky.
Yacht or ship
An alternative to traveling from the Chilean mainland to the island is by yacht or cruise ship, which sometimes passes through the mysterious region. If you're lucky, you'll be able to board a ship in one of the ports in Chile. Or specially charter a yacht in order to see with your own eyes why this small piece of land is so famous. In any case, the trip cannot be called budget, and not every tourist can afford it.
We hope that you will definitely find the optimal solution on how to get to Easter Island at minimal cost and put another “tick” in your notebook with the list of places you have visited.
The cost of a flight always depends on the time of travel. The chart will allow you to compare prices for air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island, track the dynamics of changes in their cost and find the best offer.
Statistics will help determine the season of low prices. For example, in October prices reach an average of 387,537 rubles, and in March the cost of tickets drops to an average of 155,796 rubles. Plan your trip now!
We analyze this information and create charts to make it easier for you to plan your trips.
What is more profitable – to buy air tickets in advance, avoiding the general rush, or to take advantage of a “hot” offer closer to the departure date? The chart will help you determine the best time to purchase airline tickets.
See how the price of air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island changed depending on the time of purchase. Since the start of sales, their value has changed by an average of 197%. The minimum price for a flight from Moscow to Easter Island is 27 days before departure, approximately 130,004 rubles. The maximum price for a flight from Moscow to Easter Island is 19 days before departure, approximately 755,702 rubles. In most cases, early booking helps you save money, take advantage of it!
The cost of air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island does not represent a fixed and constant amount. It depends on many factors, including the day of departure. The dynamics of changes are visible on the graph.
According to statistics, the most affordable option for flights from Moscow to Easter Island is on Saturdays, their average cost is 203,543 rubles. The most expensive flights are on Sundays, their average cost is 329,632 rubles. It is worth considering that flights on holidays are usually more expensive. We hope this information will help you plan your travels more effectively.
The cost of air tickets depends not only on the date, but also on the time of departure. An airline can operate several flights on one day, and they will differ in price category.
The graph shows the cost of departure depending on the time of day. For example, the average cost of a ticket from Moscow to Easter Island in the morning is 175,821 rubles, and in the evening 370,745 rubles. Evaluate all conditions and choose the best offer.
The graph shows comparative prices for air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island on the most popular airlines. Based on this information, you can plan your trip and buy air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island from the carrier that suits you.
Statistics will help you choose a flight based on your financial capabilities, as well as your wishes in terms of comfort and flight conditions. The lowest prices for air tickets from Moscow to Easter Island are offered by LAN Airlines, the highest prices are offered by Transaero.
For passionate fans of adventure and distant travels, it is not so easy to find exotic, little-explored and mystical places in the growing 21st century.
Desperate tourists who are not put off by the long flight time to Santiago, South America, are always in for an educational and eventful trip to those amazing lands.
After all, it takes gambling travelers only five hours to get from the Chilean capital on a fast plane to the famous easter islands- a mystical and mysterious place, hidden among the calm waves of the ocean that protect it. Many holiday enthusiasts dream of getting to know this mysterious place, which helps them get in touch with the mysteries that still exist on our planet.
Beach holiday on a wild island
The island will delight its guests with neither dense picturesque forests, nor numerous clear lakes, nor luxurious sandy beaches, nor luxury hotels. Typically, travelers arriving on Easter Island are not interested in a comfortable holiday on the ocean coast. Although some tourists do not refuse to visit Anakena, a local beach known primarily for its clean sand.
Fans of surfing, which is becoming fashionable here, must either be true professionals of this exciting entertainment on the water, or seek help from local, rather picky, instructors. Of course, no one is forbidden to admire the five-meter waves, but riding a board on the surface of the stormy ocean can turn out to be unexpectedly tragic.
There are practically no tourists on other beaches of this seemingly wild island. After enjoying a tan under the warm rays of the Pacific sun or exploring the beauty of the local underwater kingdom during exciting diving, travelers do not refuse to visit one of the local cozy restaurants in Hanga Roa, a picturesque, sparsely populated village. Most often, vacationers seek to visit the famous “Au bout du Monde” - a fashionable restaurant famous for its performances and evenings organized by Polynesian dancers.
Excursions to the famous stone idols
Numerous foreign travelers are attracted to the island not by the modest beauty of the local beaches, but by the mysteries and secrets associated with the moai - strange, mystical-looking stone statues. They can be found along the entire fairly long coastline and even inside the island. None of the fascinating excursions to the local attractions is complete without visiting the places where the stone figures of these strange, seemingly extraterrestrial creatures are located. All inquisitive tourists are surprised by the certain thickness of their bodies, the large size of their heads and the absence of legs, as if they were hidden somewhere underground.
Most often, travelers are interested in the opportunity to participate in inexpensive and quite exciting excursions to Ahu Tongariki, restored by Japanese specialists, and Ahu Akivi, restored by Americans. There are several moai located on these two most famous platforms.
Standing near these mysterious alien-looking statues, tourists most often want to think about the mystery associated with the appearance of the statues. Travelers also often have to think about the inexplicable method of transporting these multi-ton stone idols from the local quarry to various, and often quite remote, parts of the island.
Unique places on the island
For any European who finds himself on Easter Island, a real immersion in the events of the distant past is an acquaintance with the unique Orongo - a preserved rural settlement of an ancient tribe. Here travelers can not only get acquainted with the ancient music and dance creativity of the Rapa Nui - an extraordinary people who have inhabited these lands for a long time, but also take part in a fun competition.
Usually the competition involves the participation of young people who jump from picturesque cliffs into the stormy waters of the ocean and try to quickly swim to one of the nearest islands, lost in the sea. The bird man is the name given to the winner, who is the lucky participant in the swim who manages to be the first to reach the goal and be sure to find the reward.
To the surprise of tourists, the prize turns out to be an ordinary chicken egg. Experts say that it was birds that local residents considered sacred creatures, and such competitions were constantly held during the period of their cult among the local people.
To get acquainted with the unique natural attractions of this region, travelers, first of all, join educational excursions to the picturesque Rano Kau and the legendary Rano Raraku. There are many different myths about these two famous volcanoes. The truth remains that travelers never tire of admiring the alien beauty of the mystical-looking lakes located in their craters.
Easter Island Hotels
Accommodation prices are relatively expensive - after all, the nearest civilization is 5 hours by plane, and everything you need has to be brought from the mainland. Luxury hotels here cost from 20 thousand rubles per room. Most hotels are in the middle price category - 8-12 thousand rubles. But you can find a room for 3 thousand, most often within the villages. It is worth considering that the star rating of hotels on Easter Island does not coincide with European ratings.
How to get to the island
If you are traveling from Russia, then the starting point is Frankfurt am Main airport, where it takes 2 hours to fly from Moscow. Next, take a flight from the South American airline LAN to the Chilean capital of Santiago. The flight lasts 19 hours. Then another 5 hours to Mataveri Airport on Easter Island.
On average, such a flight can last from 1 to 3 days. It all depends on the specific connecting flights. Cost - 250-300 thousand rubles round trip.
Despite such remoteness from civilization and large financial expenses, a trip to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a unique event. And the mysterious moai, and funny competitions on the water, and exciting diving, and the beauty of the local lakes - all this will forever remain in the grateful memory of inquisitive travelers who have visited the famous and mysterious Easter Island.
Photos from the sites chile-hotels.com, wall321.com, santiagoadventures.com were used.
Hititeairagi, Rapa Nui, Te Pito-o-te-henua, Tekaowhangoaru are all other names for the area we know as Easter Island. For most people, Easter Island is associated with something mysterious - and no wonder: it is famous for the huge stone statues lined up along the shore. They look with drawn eyes into the ocean, and this look is both creepy and mesmerizing. One of the main questions is how did these 10-meter idols get there? - still remains unresolved. Tourists flock here in the hope of unraveling the mystery, but return home covered in souvenirs and... without an answer.
Easter Island
How to get there
Easter Island is part of Valparaiso, one of the regions of Chile. There are two ways to get to the island, both of which are expensive. The first is on a tourist yacht or cruise ship, which sometimes come here. You can go on an independent trip and arrive at the port in a couple of weeks.
The second way is by air; there is an airport on the island that accepts flights from the capital of Chile, Santiago, Tahiti and Lima. Flight schedules vary depending on the time of year: for example, from December to March, flights operate only once a week. In other months - twice a week. The flight from Santiago lasts about 5 hours.
Search for flights to Santiago (the closest airport to Easter Island)
Transport
All the attractions of the island are located close to each other, and the territory itself is small. On Easter Island you can take a taxi, bike or rent a car. It is almost impossible to get lost on the island, since there are only two roads.
The average cost of renting a car is from 80 USD per day with a full tank of gasoline. By the way, it is better to refuel completely - this will be difficult to do on the island. Prices on the page are as of September 2018.
Beaches of Easter Island
There are several beaches on Easter Island, but Anakena is the best choice. Local residents even warn that you can only swim here. There are several cafes on the sandy beach, and in general the local landscape is somewhat reminiscent of the Black Sea coast: there are stalls with cold water on the beach, the natives sell sweets and other snacks, and the smell of barbecue is in the air. Only instead of the sea there is an ocean.
Cuisine and restaurants
There are quite a few small cafes on the island where you can have an inexpensive meal. On the menu you should choose seafood dishes, such as soup or tuna steak. In general, the steaks here are very good - made from meat and fish, with potatoes and herbs. Local beer is soft and very pleasant.
Some restaurants are built very close to the water. They stand on stilts, and the owners of the establishment can demolish one of the walls so that visitors can admire the view of the ocean.
Easter Island Hotels
There is only one town on the island where you can stay in a hotel - Hanga Roa. Most tourists prefer mini-hotels rather than chain operators, and yet the cost of living is rather high. The fact is that many goods are imported to the island from the mainland, which increases their price. The most expensive hotel on the island is Explora EN RAPA NUI. There are 30 rooms, a restaurant with an outdoor terrace, a bar, a souvenir boutique, an outdoor swimming pool, a massage parlor, and an outdoor jacuzzi.
One of the ways for island residents to earn money is by renting out apartments. At the airport, each new plane is greeted by a crowd of local residents, vying with each other to offer accommodation in hotels or in their homes.
There is also a camping site on the island - here you can pitch a tent or rent a very simple room for little money, with internet access. To get to the campsite, you need to find a guide at the airport with a sign Mihinoa - that’s the name of the place where you’ll be staying.
The shops
The sale of souvenirs is one of the main sources of income for the islanders. In stores and shops you can buy idols of different sizes, from pocket size to 2-3 meters. The main thing is that you can take this piece of wood out of the country to your homeland. Particularly popular are statues of “kawakawa” - either a person or a ghost - and, of course, magnets, necklaces, beads, hats, headbands, and embroidered shoes.
Entertainment and attractions of Easter Island
Moai
Stone moai are carved from petrified volcanic ash. These are stylized human figures with short bodies and elongated heads. The weight of each idol reaches almost 20 tons. According to local beliefs, they contain the supernatural power of the ancestors of the first king of Easter Island - Hotu Matua.
Moai stand along the coast and look out over the island. Hundreds of books have been written and films have been made about the history of their origin, but there is still no solution. Some believe that they were brought to the island by aliens, others are sure that such statues could only be made by human giants 3-4 meters tall. Another version is that these idols themselves came to the island, but subsequently forgot how to walk and remained here forever. There are about 900 statues on the island, most of them are located near the Rano Raraku volcano.
Volcanoes
The craters of the Rano Kau and Rano Raraku volcanoes are another attraction of Easter Island. It was from the remains of Rano Raraku that the moai were made. Unfinished statues are scattered in the pit of this volcano. The view inside Rano Kau is breathtaking - the crater is filled with rainwater, covered with islands of grass, and the sky is reflected in this giant lake.
Orongo village
The ceremonial village of Orongo is located on the edge of the Rano Kau crater. Ceremonies dedicated to the birdman were once held here. In the village you can find many cobblestones on which images of the god Make-Make and the bird-man are carved.
Hanga Roa Church
This is a Catholic church famous for its wood carvings. Looking at it, it seems that the building itself is carved from wood. Crafts work here, and music services are held on Sundays.
5 things to do on Easter Island:
- At the end of January - beginning of February, visit the unique Tapati festival, which probably has no analogues in the world. It takes place at the end of January or beginning of February. “Tapati” is a cross-section of Easter Island culture, and not an export version, but the real one. The natives sing, dance and measure their strength.
- Ascend to the ceremonial site of Te Pito-te-whenua, whose name means “navel of the earth” in Rapanui.
- Have a romantic picnic in the palm groves of Anakena Bay.
- Come up with your own legend about the moai - and then tell it to the locals. They love to hear versions of how the statues appeared at Easter. They will listen to you carefully, maybe they will write down your story, if it is unique, and place it in the collection of works of tourists.
- Visit the village of Orongo and see numerous petroglyphs with images of bird-men and the god Make-Make. By the way, this island invented its own writing - rongo-rongo, which has not yet been deciphered.
