Day 1: Island Arrival
Santiago to Easter Island, Chile
After the flight from Santiago to Easter Island, we're met at the airport by our friendly guide. We receive flower necklaces - a traditional islander welcome - and are taken to our exclusive boutique hotel where we'll stay for the next 4 nights. Here, we’ll enjoy a welcome cocktail while our guide talks us through the upcoming itinerary. A good night’s rest energizes us for tomorrow's adventure.
Day 2: Anakena, Ahu Te Pito Kura-Rano Raraku -Ahu Tongariki – Akahanga (Sample itinerary)
Easter Island, Chile
Today we’ll get to know the characters and cultural achievements that make Easter Island legendary. We’ll begin with the ariki (supreme chief) Hotu Matu’a, an early settler of the island and ancestor of the Rapa Nui people. We’ll delve into his story; from the site of his disembarkation to his tomb, and also discover the great creative and engineering efforts that went into the production of the famous Moai statues constructed on Easter Island during the following 700 years post settlement.
Day 3: Ana Kai Tangata – Rano Kau – Orongo (Sample itinerary)
Easter Island, Chile
In a particularly dark moment in Easter Island’s history, its people found themselves more isolated than ever before. Following extensive deforestation and the mass destruction of the Moai and Ahu (stone platforms on which the Moai statues were erected), migration was out of the question, chaos was imminent, and a new order rose: the reign of the Birdman. Today we’ll visit the restored ceremonial village of Orongo, from where an ancient annual ceremony and extreme physical competition took place: a dangerous race to bring back the egg of the manutara (sooty tern) and be crowned the year’s Birdman, or ruler of the island.
Day 4: Museum Ahu Tahai - Ahu Hanga Kio’e (Sample itinerary)
Easter Island, Chile
Easter Island is known throughout the world for its Moai, but before we could contemplate these mysterious (and now reconstructed) statues, the island suffered through one of its worst periods. Today, you’ll visit the island’s west coast sites and be lead through the twilight of the island’s megalithic past in order to understand how a civilization that was able to reach such heights of cultural development could destroy itself before rising again.
Day 5: Departure
Easter Island to Santiago de Chile
This morning, we’ll relax and contemplate for the last time the privileged Pacific views that have accompanied our stay, before being driven back to the airport to catch our flight to Santiago. Now wearing the island’s traditional departure gift of a shell necklace, it’s time to say goodbye to Easter Island and return to the continent.