Easter Island Culture & Ecology

Welcome to Chile! Upon arrival at Santiago Airport (SCL) we will take you to check in at Hotel Atton el Bosque in the heart of the Las Condes area of Santiago.

In the afternoon your bilingual guide will lead you on a bus tour of Santiago’s most important historical sites including the downtown area surrounding the La Moneda Presidential Palace. You will also see the Mercado Central, one of Chile’s largest fresh seafood markets, and the many bustling stalls showcasing the tremendous variety available from the sea nearby. Continuing through the cobblestoned Lastarria neighborhood, you will pass by the Parque Forestal and the Bellas Artes Museum.

Accommodation: Santiago, Pullman Santiago el Bosque

Meals: Dinner

Transfer from your hotel in Santiago to the airport and transfer from Mataveri Airport to your hotel on Easter Island. You will be picked up from Mataveri Airport and transferred to your hotel to leave your luggage there. (Regular check-in time at 16:00pm).
Transfer to local restaurant for lunch.

Half Day Ahu Akivi Ahu Akivi is special because it is the only platform whose Moai look to the ocean. Here you will learn of the possible explanations for this unique orientation as well as see the very first restored Ahu on the island. Ahu Akivi was restored in 1960 by Dr. Mulloy and his colleague Gonzalo Figueroa. It is the only platform on the island which was restored without the use of any machinery but instead using what is believed to be the traditional way of raising the Moai.

* Rapa Nui Entrance Fee is included

Accommodation: Hotel Otai or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Full Day – Our first stop today could very well be one of the most amazing sites in the world. The volcano of Rano Raraku, also known as the statue factory, is the site from which 95% of all of the statues on the island were carved. Some were completely finished and left waiting on the slopes of the volcano for their transportation, while others are in various stages of completion still connected to the mother rock of the volcano. You will have the opportunity to hike to the top of the volcano and see the beautiful crater with its fresh water lake.

Next, we will visit the Ahu Tongariki, which is recognized as the largest monolithic monument in all of Eastern Polynesia. This amazing platform holds 15 of some of the largest statues on the island. With the surrounding sea cliffs and beautiful ocean background Tongariki is truly one of the most incredible sites on the island. Our last stop of the day is at Anakena, the larger of only two white sand beaches found on the island. It is also the legendary landing spot of the first king, Hotu Matua, and noted to be the center of the royal clan territory called the Miru.

Accommodation: Hotel Otai or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Half Day Orongo Today you will visit two sites that are very important to the Rapa Nui culture: Rano Kau and Orongo. Rano Kau is one of the three principal volcanoes that created the island. It is approximately 2.5 million years old and has the largest caldera of any volcano on the island measuring at approximately 1.6 kilometers in diameter. Inside this beautiful volcano you will see one of three crater lakes on the island. This lake is covered with a type of bulrush reed which is also found in Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Afterward you will visit the ceremonial village of Orongo, one of the most visually spectacular sites on the island. On one side of the village you see the beautiful caldera of Rano Kau and on the other you see the ocean and the mysterious islets of Motu Nui, Motu Iti, Motu Kao Kao. These islets, in addition to the village of Orongo, held the amazing ancient Tangata Manu or Birdman Ceremonies.

Lunch at local restaurant and free time to shop before meeting for dinner.

In the evening, transfer to dinner show Te Ra ́Ai.

Accommodation: Hotel Otai or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Beaches act as natural nets for the trash populating the oceans gyres. Plastic that reaches the sea is transported by currents into the gyres and some of it ends up in the sand on islands that lie close to the gyres.  Easter Island’s beaches are no exception and they are covered with both micro and macro plastics. We at Sirius Travel  have the following goal: to raise awareness that leads to change. We feel that with education and personal experience, our travelers can take what they see and learn on Easter Island back home to help those unable to see the issue first-hand understand its extremity.

After breakfast we will meet with members of Te Mau O Te Vaikava, a non profit organization based on Easter Island that is working hard to establish and maintain a protected marine area around Rapa Nui (Easter Island) that will prevent aggressive industrial fishing and preserve the wildlife resources in the area.  This group is also actively providing education about and clean up of the plastic that is inundating the island and threatening the wildlife.  In coordination with Te Mau O Te Vaikava (and if your group wants to include this), we will participate in a beach cleanup for part of the afternoon as a way to understand first hand what the islanders are coping with.  All profit from this day will be donated directly to Te Mau O Te Vaikava on behalf of our travelers.

Lunch at local restaurant.

Accommodation: Hotel Otai or similar

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Transfer Hotel – Mataveri Airport You will be picked up from your hotel and transferred to Mataveri Airport for your 5 hour flight back to Santiago. In Santiago we will transfer directly to the hotel to check in.

THE FLIGHT FROM EASTER ISLAND ARRIVES IN SANTIAGO AT APPROXIMATELY 7PM. 

Accommodation: Santiago, Pullman Santiago el Bosque

Meals: Breakfast