Located on a hill with panoramic views, close to Easter Island´s centre, Victoria offers accommodation with a Polynesian flair. Rooms are bright and spacious, featuring private entrance and free Wi-Fi.

Description

Run by its owners, Hotel Victoria provides a homely atmosphere. Accommodation includes minibar, TV and telephone. Rooms have en suite bathroom and seating area as well.

The hotel has a tour desk and can arrange trips to Kau volcano and other attractions. Free parking on site and complimentary airport pick-up are available.

Guests can relax in the terrace by the garden, or try international and local specialities at the restaurant. Polynesian buffet breakfast, with a variety of local fruit, is served daily.

Hotel Victoria is situated 1 block from Easter Island´s Main Street, with its shops and restaurants, and 6 blocks from the airport.

Location

Tripadvisor

Hotel Uka is situated in the town centre on scenic Rapa Nui Island. It offers guided horseback riding or 4x4 jeep island excursions, and spacious rooms with free Wi-Fi.

Description

Guests at Hotel Uka can see the indigenous paintings in the Ana Kai Tanata caves, or enjoy a nature trail to the Rano Kau volcano crater. 4x4 jeeps, scooters and mountain bikes can be rented.

Rooms at Uka Hotel are decorated with wooden decked walls and jeans coloured bedding. All have en suite bathrooms and air conditioning.

The tropical garden has a furnished terrace where guests can enjoy a breakfast with fresh bagels, jams and fresh juices. The restaurant at Uka serves regional cuisine and classic cocktails.

Guests can contact the 24-hour reception desk too arrange an airport shuttle service.

Location

Tripadvisor

Set in a rural house surrounded by a garden only 1 km from Pea Beach, Hotel Kimi Ora offers rooms with free Wi-Fi in Easter Island. Breakfast is provided. The Tahai archeologial site is 1 km away.

Description

Bright and spacious, rooms at Kimi Ora have tiled floors and wooden walls. Some of them feature self-catering facilities and fans. All of the rooms enjoy garden views.

Breakfast including tea, coffee, milk, jams, natural juices, cheese and pancakes can be requested at a fee.

Guests can relax in the garden or rent bikes to explore the island. The 24-hour front desk can secure shuttles to Mataveri Airport, which is 2 km away. Hotel Kimi Ora is 1 km from Hanga Roa Centre.

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

Atavai offers 8 rooms on the picturesque Hanga Roa Island. It features free Wi-Fi and a front garden with colourful lilac flowers and Easter Island sculptures.

Description

Rooms at Hotel Atavai feature large ceiling to floor windows with plenty of natural light. All are equipped with en suite bathrooms and offer Pacific Ocean views.

Guests at Atavai Hotel can enjoy regional cuisine and exotic cocktails at the bar. A daily breakfast with seasonal fruits, natural juices and bread rolls is served daily.

Hotel Atavai is 5-minutes drive from both Mataveri International Airport, and downtown Hanga Roa. Free parking is available.

Location

Tripadvisor

Just a 5-minute walk from Pea Beach the hotel boasts and an outdoor swimming pool surrounded by a garden with stone sculptures. All rooms have garden views and there is free Wi-Fi in common areas.

Description

Chez Maria Goretti offers regional folk style décor and plenty of outdoor seating areas to enjoy the garden.

Rooms at Chez Maria feature dark wood furniture and simple décor. All rooms have private bathrooms.

A continental breakfast with fruits and juices is served daily. A variety of drinks can be ordered from the bar, styled with traditional sculpted wood designs and ornaments.

Downtown Hanga Roa is a 5-minute walk away. Bicycle and car rental can be arranged through the tour desk.

Mataveri Airport is a 5-minute drive. Private parking is free.

Location

Tripadvisor

Peacefully located in central Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chez Joseph is 50 metres from the beachfront. It offers spacious accommodation, a tour desk with bicycle rental and free parking.

Description

Rooms at Chez Joseph offer spacious accommodation with private terraces overlooking the hotel´s exotic gardens. All room feature private bathrooms with a bathtub and some include a queen-size bed.

Guests at Chez Joseph Rapa Nui can try out regional cuisine at the hotel´s restaurant and bar, while a special Rapa Nui Tropical breakfast offering fresh fruits, juices and rolls is served daily.

With it´s central location, local restaurants and bars are within walking distance. The hotel conveniently offers a car rental service. Free transfers are provided.

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

Puku Vai Hotel is situated on Easter Island, world famous for its monumental statues and a part of UNESCO World Heritage. It offers rooms in a tropical setting and an outdoor pool.

Description

Tours include visits to Rapa Nui archaeological sites. The main Hanga Roa street on the island is just a 10-minute walk from Puku Vai. Free parking is available at the Hotel.

Set around a flowery garden, guests at Hotel Puku Vai can enjoy the sun at the terrace by the pool. Massage treatments are offered and as well as a hot tub.

Rooms are designed out of natural materials and local art that cover the coloured walls. Rooms include free Wi-Fi, a seating area with cable TV, air conditioning and a minibar.

Guests are invited to a buffet breakfast each morning, which includes fresh fruits, juices and a variety of bread. Cocktails are ordered at the bar and tasty regional dishes are served during the evening.

Location

Tripadvisor

Featuring a terrace and a garden, this hotel offers rooms with sea and garden views. Free Wi-Fi is available in public areas. Pea Beach is 1 km away.

Description

Featuring a terrace and a garden, this hotel offers rooms with sea and garden views. Free Wi-Fi is available in public areas. Pea Beach is 1 km away.

The rooms at Tupa Hotel have private bathrooms.

There is a tour desk that can recommend archeological tours in the area. Free shuttles to and from Mataveri airport, 1 km away, can be arranged.

Tupa Hotel is located 1 km from Hanga Roa City Center and from Tahai Archeological Museum. Free private parking is possible on site.

Location

Tripadvisor

Rapanui Music

The ancient Rap Nui culture is still alive as is evidenced today by the traditional and contemporary songs and melodies.

This ancient culture is kept alive by the music and songs still sung today , working together to promote its destiny, its attractive values. It is a style of music that combines the songs (riu) of the Ancients with themes of various places of the world. Music (peho) is essential to Rapa Nui life and is used in all important activities: rituals, deaths, the preserving of legends and much more.

Chronology

Ramon Campbell has divided the evolution of the music of the island into four stages. The first two are classified by Campbell as old music, and the remaining two as different forms of modern music.

The first stage begins in old times of which many of the riu (songs) were lost. The little that is known is that songs were sung a capella. In 1864 the missionaries came to the island. Their arrival marks the second stage because they were "the first external influence on the song." (Campbell, 227). The missionaries used music to integrate the Rapanui into the catholic religion and thus to christianize them. The catholic songs were translated into Rapanui.

In the 1800s the people of the island really began to communicate and to establish permanent connections with the rest of the world. This communication indicates the beginning of modern music. The third stage is distinguished by the music interchanged with Tahití. Campbell explains that the influence of Polynesia changed the music from songs that were just sung, into songs that were danced.

The last stage began when more international melodies began to arrive at the island.... Creole, Mexican and North American music are some of the few that have influenced the musicians of Rapa Nui.

Every year a Festival of Song is organized, in low season, (months of winter), whose purpose is to rescue and promote the cultural and musical traditions of Rapa Nui, also giving a space to modern creation. This event is organized by a group of local artists, "Mana Tupuna".

Natural Attractions

The landscape of the island, characterized by its cliffs and the ocean, gives to the visitor a particular view of its volcanic origin. There are several Easter Island Natural Attractions. Of these beauties the following ones can be emphasized as sites of interest for the tourists:

Maunga Terevaka: highest point (more than 500 ms) on the island. From its top it is possible to see all around the island - a 360° view of the horizon. Here you will see the crater Rano Aroi.

Ana Te Pahu-Roiho Complex: group of volcanic galleries located at the foot of the Maunga Terevaka, in the youngest geologic zone of the island. Many of these caverns have exits towards the cliffs overlooking the sea. Most well-known of these is Ana Kakenga, called 'Cave of the Windows' with a magnificent view of the small, barren island Motu Taurata. These caverns served not only as occasional refuges for the islanders, but in addition, as regular residences. Given their natual humidity, they served as plantation sites where bananas, taro, uhi and sweet potato were grown. Leter, the avocado was grown, as well as the grape and guava of modern times.

Ana Kai Tangata: (Eat Man Cave): this particular cavern is below the volcano Rano Kau, near the village. Cave paintings of birds are seen on the ceiling. According to legend, this cave was used for canabalistic rites (hense its name), although there are many who doubt this story.

Islands or "Motus": in the Rapanui language the word "motu" is translated into "small barren island" and all around the island coast it is possible to observe many motu, like those that are located in front of the Village of Orongo (Motu Nui, Motu Iti, Motu Kao Kao), the Motu Maro Tiri in the bay of Hanga Nui and the Motu Tautara in the west coast of the island. It is possible to visit them in fishing boats. In them are archaeological rests and the evidence of the nest building of the migratory birds so important in the culture of Rapa Nui..

Beaches: Rapa Nui has four sandy beaches of chorale, of which Anakena Beach stands out as perhaps the most beautiful, in surroundings of palms and archaeological restorations. Close to Ovahe Beach, of similar characteristics, they are frequented by the tourists and locals alike. The two others, Pérouse and Hanga Roa Otái, are recognized for the practice of the diving (first) and of surffing (second).

Inaki uhi is located in Hanga Roas's centre, on Atamu Tekena, the main street, next to the bars and restaurants and only from a 10 minutes walk to the local beach.

Description

•  We are on the main street, near shops, pubs, restaurants, services, etc.
• We offer 15 rooms with private bathrooms, hot water and cleaning services
• Two self-contained apartments (A one bedroom and a two bedroom)
• A fully equipped kitchen that you can use to prepare your own meals (4 kitchens in the complex with all utensils, fridge, stove, cutlery, tea, coffee, sugar ,etc)
• Pergolas in the middle of the gardens where you can relax
• A dining room to enjoy your breakfast
• Free Wi-Fi
• 24 hours reception
•  We also offer you the best-guided tours around the island at the best prices
• We can also coordinate vehicles for rent, boat trips, horse-riding trips, scuba diving and fishing trips and traditional dance shows

Location

The houses have been designed for a unique experience in accommodation, as a project which evolves in total integration with its location, where the style and the comfort of our times is in harmony with the spirit of the ancestors and love of nature.

Description

In the 3.5 hectares (over 8.5 acres) of park overlooking the ocean, all the elements most identified with Rapa Nui can be found : native vegetation, a natural cave, manavai, hare moa, pipi horeko – all typical constructions in stone.

The accommodations consist of 4 houses, all with a northern orientation, to take advantage of the sun. They are built of the finest materials : reinforced concrete with native shale, beams in view, pine wood. The linear architectural lines are harmonized by waves and arches; the interiors are distributed for ease and efficiency and oriented so that all rooms have a view of the ocean and the gardens.

Location

A very kind atmosphere, with rooms with the accesses of the nursery of vegetables and tropical fruits: bananas, papayas, guavas, etc.

Description

Enjoy the convenience of "Keu Henua", we offer you a wide choice of housing: single rooms, double rooms with two beds, rooms with queen size beds, minibar, private bathroom (hot water), family rooms with matrimonial bed and two single beds.

• Simple Room with private bathroom, Wifi
• Double Rooms with matrimonial bed and private bathroom, Wifi
• Room with matrimonial bed and single bed, private bathroom, Wifi
• Rooms with three single beds and a bunk bed
• Family House with three rooms and a matrimonial room on the second floor with a splendid sight on   the ocean, private kitchen and private bathroom.

Location

Tautira is located two blocks from the main drag so it is within walking distance of the shops, pubs, restaurants and the Hanga Roas's caleta.

Description

The cabins have all you need, hot shower with plenty of hot water, good sized comfortable beds, two gas hobs and microwave and a large fridge.

• TV with remote control
• Iron with table
• Night table lamp

• King size bed and / or individual
• TV table
• Night tables
• Dining Chairs
• Couch
• Drapes
• Ashtrays

• Kitchennette
• Microwave
• Frigobar
• Cups of tea and coffee
• Spoons soup, tea and coffee
• Forks
• Bread bowl
• Corkscrews
• Electric kettle
• Bowls, low bread
• Knives table, cooks
• Vessels
• Cookware

• Bath towels
• Bathtub
• Toilet paper

Location

Designed and built with high standards of quality and comfort, Morerava Cabins in Easter Island offer everything needed for an unforgettable experience, surrounded by nature, dances, music and the mystery of the “moais”.

Description

Our cottages in Easter Island, combine the concepts of ecology and exquisite rest. The Cabins are designed and built kind to the environment and the Island.

The morerava Cabins in Rapa Nui , are based on innovative architecture conceptually designed to be environmentally friendly and allow forthe pleasant rest of our guests.

Designed by AATA Architects, the cottages in Easter Island are prefabricated and put on the terrain with the aim of transforming the land as less as possible. In it’s design special attention was given to sun light and cross ventilation to avoid the usage of mechanical systems to achieve thermal and luminance comfort.

The Cabins in Easter Island have a rainwater collection system which stores and treats the water for the re-usage in the cabins. Water from the network is only used in case this supply runs out . This avoids the over consumption of a resource which is rare on the Island. Hot water comes from solar heating tanks to the solar panels located on each cottage's roof, avoiding the use of gas or electricity (which in the island is generated from petrol) for this purpose.

Morerava Cottages are prefabricated, made with sustainable materials. Easter Island Accommodation tailored for the Island.

Spacious 60 interiors sq mt (646 sq feet) plus 17 sq mt (183 sq feet) of covered terraces. Allow a comfortable stay for 6 guests. This cosy cabin has an open plan living space for the kitchen, dining and lounge, especially designed to enjoy within the family or with friends.

Location

Located to the North West two kms from Hanga Roa village, in Tahai sector, going to “Aldea Educativa”, you can find the exclusives cabins “Mana Ora” (live energy), where the calmness and the nature are combined with the hospitality and confort.

Description

Full equipped, kitchen, living -dinning room with a spectacular view to the sea and the sunset.

Cottage 1: Has a room with  twin beds, TV, music, bath with hot water, and a sofa-bed (single)

Cottage 2: two rooms with twin beds, a berth and child-bed (single),TV, music, bath with hot water, too has a sofa-bed (single) Capacity for 6 or 8 people

Location

Attend by the owners; a Swiss man married to a local woman, you cannot miss the chance to enjoy a taste of the local life. The place is located 20 minutes away from the airport and town.

Description

HareSwiss bungalows not only offers you a comfortable place to stay, they also provide you a full holydays experience you will never forget. These authentic "hare" (Rapanui word for house) stand majestically on a beautiful and peaceful spot facing an amazing sea view offering a quiet retreat to their inhabitants. If you are interested in having a most unique experience during your time in Rapa Nui, you should stay in with them, even if you are only able to reserve the space for a portion of your trip. Take full advantage of the sunset access available directly outside of your front door. Hare Swiss offer to visitors beautiful and comfortable accommodations.

Location

Only a stone’s throw away from some of rapa nui’s magical stone moai, cabañas pikera uri overlooks the pacific ocean with a splendor you have to see to believe.

Description

Perfect for either a romantic getaway or a family vacation, this residence offers a tranquil and serene setting to start and end your day. Adding to the experience, breakfast is served as a family gathering with owners pantu and karin.

Just a few minutes walking from hanga roa town one of the most beautiful ceremonial centers of rapa nui is located, ahu tahai. Close to this rapa nui sacred place, you can enjoy the confortable and roomy pikera uri cabins, which also have a privileged sight over the pacific ocean's sunsets. While you get the privacy required during you stay at the island, the family atmosphere of pikera uri cabins will make you feel confortable, being attended personality and kindly.

Location

The Moais and Easter Island

In average, the easter island heads are 3.9 meters high and weigh 14 tons. They are human figures with a masculine shape, sculpted in volcanic hardened rough ashes. The islanders called them moai and they have puzzled ethnographers, archaeologists and other visitors since the first European explorers came to the island in 1722. Why did the first islanders make this colossal effort?

Meaning of the Moai

The Easter Island Heads and the ceremonial sites remain along the coast and are concentrated in the southeast coast of Easter Island. Here, the moai have a "standardized" design, and researchers believe they were sculpted, transported and lifted between the years 1400 DC and 1600 DC. They face away from the ocean, and most archaeologists believe they represent chiefs or other male figures that had important positions in the history of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, which is the name the indigenous islanders give the island.

The statues may have been created based on the image of several supreme chiefs. Allegedly, they weren’t individualized sculptures of a portrait, but standardized representations of individuals of very noble birth. The moai can also have a sacred role in Rapa Nui life, acting as ceremonial channels of communication with the gods. Researchers believe that their physical position between heaven and earth places them in the secular and sacred land: secular because of the representation of the chief and their ability to physically be heaven’s resting place, and sacred for their proximity to the divine gods. Thus, the heads mediate between heaven and earth, people and the chiefs, and the chiefs and the gods.

What is an ahu?

The word “ahu” has 2 meanings in Easter Island culture. First, an ahu is the flat base of the stone where the moai are supported. The height of the ahu is around 1.20 meters. The word “ahu” also refers to a sacred ceremonial place where there are various supports for the moai.

Number of Easter Island heads

• Total number of moai in Easter Island: 887
• Total number of moai successfully transported to their final locations in the ahu: 288 (32% of 887)
• Total number of moai still in the Rano Raraku mine: 397 (45%)
• Total number of moai outside the Rano Raraku mine: 92 (10%)

Less than one third of all sculpted moai finally completed the ahu into a final ceremonial site. Was this idea of finally placing the moai on the ahu related to the difficulties of their transportation? Were the ones that remain at the mine (45%) judged as not worthy of transportation? Were they originally designed to remain in place on the slopes of the mine or had the islanders exhausted the necessary resources to finish the herculean tasks of sculpting and moving the moai?

Height and weight of the Easter Island heads

The biggest moai:

• Location: Rano Raraku mine, named “The Giant”.
• Height: 21.60 meters
• Weight: approximately 145-165 tons.

The biggest head ever to be lifted:

• Location: Ahu Te Pito Kura, named “Paro”
• Height: 9.80 meters
• Weight: approximately 82 tons

The biggest fallen Easter Island head:

• Location: Ahu Hanga Te Tenga
• Height: 9.94 meters

The smallest standing moai:

• Location: Poike
• Height: 1.13 meters

Average statistical Easter Island head:

• Height: 4.05 meters
• Base width: 1.6 meters
• Frontal width: 1.48 meters
• Depth of the torso at the middle point: 92 centimeters
• Total volume: 5.96 cubic meters
• Gravity center: 1.36 meters
• Total weight: 12.5 metric tons.

A trip to a magical island filled with enchantment and tradition

When referring to the most western island of the Polynesia, with a surface of about 166 square kilometers and over 600 stone monoliths or moai scattered over the territory, one immediately thinks of Rapa Nui.

Some Characteristics of Easter Island

This small island, the furthest inhabited island away from any continent, lies 3700 km away from the Chilean coast. It is a volcanic formation where little over 4500 islanders live.

It is dominated by 3 big volcanoes: the Maunga Terevaka is the highest with 511 meters, the Poike reaches 370 meters and the Rano Kao is 400 meters high. There are also about 70 other smaller craters, among them the Rano Raraku, the Puna Pau, the Maunga Orito and the Rano Aroi.

The climate is typically maritime and subtropical, with a relative humidity of 77%. It rains all year, and the annual average is 1140 mm. The rainiest month is May and the driest is September. The yearly average temperature is 20.6ºC.

Arrival to the Island

After descending from the plane at Mataveri International Airport, tourists are received by the staff of their respective hotels with a necklace made from natural flowers. Before going to their accommodations, most of them usually pass through Hanga Roa so that the tourists can find their way through the capital. There are 3 main streets, so this usually takes around 6 minutes.

The Moai

Evidently, the moai are a must. Originally, they were placed on the ahu and faced the center of the island. Although nobody knows for sure, they were allegedly sculpted by Polynesians in order to represent the deceased and to project their mana, supernatural power, over their descendants. Only 7 moai face the ocean. These are the moai from Ahu A Kivi, and people believe they look towards the constellation of Orion.

Although it is true that the moai were knocked down from their ahu during the 17th century, they have undergone restoration since 1965. One of the biggest mysteries is how they were transported to their final destination.

Rapa Nui: The Navel of the World

Te Pito Kura, on the northern coast of the island, has the biggest moai ever to be successfully transported and lifted. It is 11 meters long and weighs around 80 tons.

In this place there is also a perfectly round stone known as the “navel of the world". People say that placing your hands on the “navel” gives you renovating energy for the body.

Anakena Beach

The beach of Anakena is considered to be one of the best beaches in Chile, with white coral sand and turquoise transparent waters. There are a few palm trees lined up along the coast, and more of them can be seen in the inner part of the island.

Anakena was the housing center of ancient governors and the school of ancient Maori or masters, who preserved the teachings and wisdom of their culture.

Suggestions

We recommend this trip for all those who want to live and feel a special experience. The ideal way is to rent a SUV, since tourism attractions are far away from Hanga Roa. This also gives you the freedom of not having to rely on a tour guide.

It is best to stay at least 5 days in the island, so you can visit everything with time and enjoy a day at the beach without any hurry. The best time of the year is summer, which is less rainy. If you visit in February you will enjoy the Tapati. More than a traditional celebration, the Tapati is a cultural expression that Easter Island has had every summer for over 3 decades.

Without any doubt, Easter Island or Rapa Nui is one of the best and most exotic destinations in the world. The volcanoes, beaches, the culture, and mainly the mysterious moai are unique. For this reason, when you go to Easter Island there are some attractions you must visit. Don’t kid yourself, despite the smallness of the island, there are infinite attractions. We have made a list of the places we believe YOU MUST VISIT. They aren’t the most special places, but the essential ones.

5. Terevaka: This place is on the list not because of its beauty or the moai you may see, but for the view. The Maunga Terevaka is the highest point in Rapa Nui, which means that you can see almost the entire island from the top. The landscape is really amazing. To get there you can walk or ride a horse, and it is completely worth it.

4. Rano Kau Volcano and Orongo: The Rano Kau is amazing for his creator and the cliff around it, but the most attractive part is the historic role it plays. The ancient inhabitants of the island ran through this place in order to reach the sea and compete for a reign that lasted a year. On one of the sides of the crater lies the Orongo village, where there are many houses that were used for ceremonial purposes. From this place you can also appreciate the Motu (islands where the bird-men nested), which was the competitors’ destination.

3. Ahu Tongariki: The tongariki ahu is one of Easter Islands’ postcards. They are 15 statues in a row. It is the ahu with more moai in Rapa Nui and it amazes tourists with the beauty and art of their presentation, as well as their impressive size.

2. Anakena Beach and Ahu Nau Nau: This beach is one of the places you must visit in Easter Island. Not just because it is a beautiful white sanded beach with palm trees and turquoise water, but because there you can admire the moai of the Nau Nau ahu in the background, which is one of the best preserved ahu (the statues have the red hats). The experience of Anakena is one of a kind.

1. Rano Raraku Quarry: If Anakena isn’t our number one place, it is because of the Rano Raraku, which not only is a volcanic crater with a lagoon in it, but also the quarry where the moai were manufactured. For this reason, it is where most of the statues of the island are concentrated. There are hundreds of them, of different shapes and sizes, finished and half-finished. If you want to see and understand the moai, this place is a symbol of Rapa Nui.

Chile is a wonderful country. The long coast has many beaches and other coastal attractions. It has historical sites where people interested in the past can enjoy. As for those interested in entertainment, the capital city of Santiago offers a wide range of entertainment options.

However, many few countries can claim to have access to dark and mysterious places that only a few lucky ones can visit. Chile is one of them.

For those not familiar with Easter Island, it is a Polynesian island of the southeastern Pacific Ocean, located on the southerner point of the Polynesian triangle. It was first annexed by Chile in 1888 and became part of this country’s territory.

The island is particularly famous for its 887 existing statues called moai, created by the Rapa Nui people. It was declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO, and a great part of the island falls under the protection of the Rapa Nui National Park.

Nobody knows for sure why the people of Easter Island created these statues, but many experts believe that each one of them represents a former chief or an important historical person.

Particularly, Easter Island has an ecosystem that characterizes for the extinction of many ancient species. The over-exploitation of resources accounts for the failure of this ecosystem. Strangely enough, the inhabitants of the island have survived. They survived hunger, slave raids, civil war and epidemics, but the ecosystem did not. These facts and the island’s isolation make it surprising for people to continue living there. Actually, there is only one way to go to Easter Island, and that is flying. Only Lan Chile serves flights to the island, both from Tahiti and from Santiago. You can even take a circular flight from Santiago to the island to Tahiti and vice versa, although this can be more expensive.

Like almost everything in Easter Island, the practice of the Bird-man ritual has a mythical origin that accentuates the romantic character of this enigmatic and amazing land. Tradition says that, in the beginning, there were no birds on the island. A witch called Hitu was sitting in Hotu Nui when she saw a human skull on a rock. When she was about to grab it, a wave swept it into the sea, and the witch went after it. Despite swimming as far as she could, the sea currents and the waves did not let her reach the skull, and before she could notice, the strength of the ocean had swept her away from the island. She swam all night in order not to sink, and the next day she saw that she was near the motu Matiro Hiva (Sala y Gómez) islets. The skull was still ahead of her, and when it touched the land it became Make Make. He helped Hitu get out of the water. In the island lived the god Hava, who took them to his house and fed them for a few days. The island was full of birds, and Make Make asked Hava to give him one in order to populate Easter Island.

The god returned to the island and let the birds out near the Poike peninsula. When he returned during rearing season, he saw with disgust that the islanders had eaten all the eggs, so he decided to take the birds to another part of the island. The same thing happened. After several attempts, one of the eggs fell through a gap of the Vai a Tare zone and escaped human predation. It became the first Manutara (sacred bird) of the island. In order to prevent men from eating the eggs, Make Make decided to restrict the area of the eggs to the islets in front of Orongo, where the manutara greatly reproduced. That is why the men must swim to Motu Nui to search for manutara eggs.

The Collapse

The immediate fate of liberal capitalism, which plunges into a free fall towards the implosion of a black hole boosted by the constant growth of a systemic crisis and that is inevitably attracted by the sucking maelstrom of an ominous global collapse, shows fascinating similarities with the sudden extinction of the moai culture that took place in Easter Island. Of course, I am talking about the famous giant statues (around 900 in total) that tourists admire in a lost, arid and almost deserted moor thousands of kilometers away from the coast. Well, the impressive moai were built with ceremonial purposes by a blooming civilization that embarked in a process of accelerated growth with a peaking zenith that was reached during the 17^th century of our era, in order to fall from there (1680) into a whirlpool of collective self-destruction that was the end of the islander civilization just before the arrival of European colonizers.

The best story of this cultural tragedy is included in the book Collapse (2005) by the evolutionist geographer Jared Diamond, which uses it as a pedagogical illustration (among other analogue extinctions, such as the Mayas of Yucatan or the Vikings in Greenland) to explain how the intensification of the competition for resources can lead to the collective suicide of the competitors. In order to do this, Diamond uses the so-called “tragedy of the commons” proposed by biologist Russell Hardin in 1968, which predicts the exhaustion of ecosystems from a certain threshold of exploitation. But the originality of Diamond resides in that, despite being a well known ecologist, he deducts that the ultimate cause of the collapse is not biological, but social. What makes a system unfeasible and forces the collapse is not the lack of resources (as in the Malthusian argument), but overexploitation, and the effects can only derive from escalated social competition. The diverse clans of Easter Island embarked in a collective game of ostentatious prestige, where everybody strived to beat the others in the construction of the moai. For this purpose, they did not hesitate to exhaust the forest where they extracted the wood in order to transport the stones used. Upon the scarcity of wood, they stopped building the canoes used for fishing, their main source of protein. Nonetheless, they continued building taller and taller moai until they could not do it anymore. Then there was a coup, civil war exploded and Easter Island bled until the end.

The parallel I propose with the current drift of the global crisis is transparent: The moai are the speculative bubbles erected by our state and entrepreneurial clans. They are moai built on financial and real state speculation that, upon an intensified competition, will not take long to exhaust the productive resources of our real economy.

Don’t tell me it is not depressing to see those empty cities of the Mediterranean coast (Manilva) or the outskirts of Madrid (Cesena); they are authentic deserted moai abandoned after the burst of the housing bubble. Just like the islanders who got into debt and exhausted their sources of livelihood in order to build the moai, our islanders of liberal capitalism have done the same in order to build their leveraged speculative pyramids. They have sucked on public soil, solvent credits, productive labor and the entrepreneurial web, leading the system to a collective collapse.

How can we stop and reverse this self-destructive drift?

What escape scenarios can we imagine for this constant escalation of the global crisis? Jared Diamond points out that when we enter a spiral of intensified competition, there are only two ways of avoiding the collective collapse: the self-limitation of the competitors or the rationing imposed by public powers. These two solutions are equal to the self regulation of markets and the Keynesian intervention by the State. But one excludes the other, so we still do not know which one will prevail in the long term. So let's make some science fiction and speculate about the four possible ways out of the crisis.

The first one is the liberal escape proposed by global financial powers, backed by international organizations such as the UN, the IMF or the OECD: an intense crisis that will last only 2 or 3 years until the deleveraging process is completed, with very high social costs, after which a slow recuperation will take place that will give place to a new self-sustained, stable growth process, eventually subject to open new business sources that can become moai (pyramids or speculative bubbles). This cyclic scenario means not changing the current market system, where the Keynesian State is merely decorative, servile and temporary, but whose exceptional intervention will restore the absolute domination of the global market. The chances of this escape are uncertain because the light Keynesianism “Barack Obama style" seems to be destined to fail, since free markets cannot be governed as they are a spontaneous order. The invisible hand of the State can regulate them, changing their incentive structure, but it cannot impose any executive regulations. When it tries to do so, the invisible hand of the market reacts, generating a spontaneous mess like the current one.

Thus, we come to the second predictable way out of the crisis, which is the definite collapse of the markets after the failure of light Keynesianism, forcing the State to a hardcore intervention through massive bank and bankrupt enterprise nationalization and the possible closing of stock markets. This escape implies the suppression or the suspension of free markets, which will be replaced by a mercantile protectionism (Colbertism) of Chinese style and Prussian inspiration. However, with this, the virtuality of economic cycles will be annulled, and the crisis will stop being an inflection point between recessive and ascendant phases in order to become a state of stable stagnation in the shape of an L (descendant falling branch followed by a long lasting lateral depression).

But if the depression perpetuates itself, the state or protectionist escape will aggravate the climate of social conflict. Then, a third exit will be possible, and maybe probable, which can be violent, warlike or even revolutionary. In the end, the collapse of Easter Island became a bloodbath. The same thing occurred with the economic depression of the 1930s, which ended with the decline of the protectionist gods.

Let’s hope that historic memory can teach us to prevent the worst and allows us to learn how to pursue a less self-destructive way out. What could it be? There is a fourth escape, at least a theoretical one. As improbable as it may be, it is to convert the current crisis into a real systemic crisis eventually capable of giving birth to a new model of society. A sustainable society no longer based on the neoliberal capitalism predator, which from cycle to cycle and from bubble to bubble is leading the planet to an imminent collapse like the one in Easter Island, which is now massively amplified to a global scale.

British scientists discover the origin of the crowns worn by the enigmatic statues

British scientists have finally explained part of the mystery of the red crowns worn by the moai of the Puna Pau quarry in Easter Island (Chile), thanks to the discovery of a road that was used to transport them. Today, Professors Sue Hamilton of the University College in London and Colin Richards of Manchester University said the crowns were made of volcanic rock from an ancient volcano in the area, and that they were manufactured by the Polynesian inhabitants of the island between the years 1250 and 1500.

According to a press release from Manchester University, the way in which the inhabitants carried these rocks of several tons in order to place them on the moai remains an enigma. Hamilton and Richards directed the first British team to visit the island since 1914, and they were the first archeologists allowed to conduct an excavation in Puna Pau. "We now know that the crowns were rolled along a road built with a cement of compressed red slag dust with an elevated side", explained Richards, who said that “probably, they were pushed by hand, although it is also possible that wooden logs were used.”

Hamilton pointed out that Puna Pau lies inside the crater of an extinguished volcano, and that “one third of the crater was used to produce these crowns.” “Until now, we have located over 70 crowns in the ceremonial platforms and along the road. Many more may have been broken and incorporated to the platforms,” he added. They also discovered an obsidian ax with a 17 centimeter blade, possibly owned by one of the workers in charge of transporting the crowns. Allegedly, he abandoned the blade as an offer to the gods.

According to the British researchers, the ax and the way in which the broken crowns are aligned along one of the sides of the road suggest the road was a ceremonial avenue that led to the quarry. “It is clear that the quarry was sacred, but also industrial,” said Professor Richards, who recalled that “the Polynesians saw the landscape as something alive, and considered that after sculpting the stone, the spirits became part of the statues”.

Richards said that, initially, the inhabitants of the most remote place in the planet (the island lies 4000 kilometers away from the Chilean coast) built the moai with different types of local stone, and that it wasn’t until the years 1200 and 1300 that they stopped making the statues and started manufacturing crowns. The investigation set to last 5 more years also offers details about life in Easter Island 500 years ago, where people "lived in a successful and well organized society, in a well managed vital context."

"70% of the island was transformed into open gardens and agricultural land, where a complex system was used in order to keep the surface moistened,” he said. As for Puna Pau, they concluded that it was a secret place that could not be seen from other parts of the island and where the production could not be heard, since it took place within the crater. Everything seems to also point out that different teams worked in the quarry and competed in order to have their own areas of production within Puna Pau, says Richards.

The Mystery of the Red Hats of Easter Island is Solved

In Easter Island (Rapa Nui), over 300 giant heads sculpted in volcanic stone called moai are scattered around the island. Around 750 years ago, the islanders started placing heavy and mysterious red hats on the statues. Archeologists Sue Hamilton of the University College in London and Colin Richards of Manchester University have just proved they were “rolled along a road” built with cement made of compressed red slag in the slope of the ancient Puna Pau volcano, “maybe manually or using tree logs”.

For the moment, over 70 crowns have been localized in the ceremonial platforms and along the road, though many more may have been broken. In order to build all the hats, the natives apparently used a third of the lava from the crater of the volcano.

However, the new study does not answer the biggest enigma about these hats, that is, how the islanders were able to place them on the giant statues scattered around the remote island. Richards and Hamilton, co-directors of the project "Paisajes de Construcción de Rapa Nui" (Construction Landscapes of Rapa Nui), will keep working in the island over the next 5 years in order to solve this mystery and find out the exact date in which the moai were built.

Make-Make, God of Necessity and Providence of the Rapa Nui People

Rapa Nui mythology was hardly forgotten, maybe due to the scarce relationship this civilization had with the rest of the world, and because very little of it survived the tribal wars. But the truth is that, as Zeus or Hunab Ku were gods in Greece and Yucatan, the Rapa Nui people soke comfort in the legend of Make-Make, the creator god of all things.

Easter Island is the most remote island of the Polynesian archipelago, but this does not mean it lacks any gods. Faraway, the gods Tangaroa, creator of heaven and earth (according to Samoan mythology) and Haua, god of the wind and the birds, were compared to Make-Make.

Make-Make seduced Rapa Nui people because he was a warrior god and a fertility provider. The ancient civilization was always short of food, so the prayers to the gods became directed to him. Make-Make sighed and created the earth, but he felt something was missing. After deep lucubration and impressive events, he was looking at his own image reflected in the water enclosed in an old pumpkin. At the same time, a bird settled on his shoulder and, as he saw some similarities, he created his firstborn in an intermediate morphology. But in spite of creating this feathered creature, he felt the urgency to craft a creature in his own image. So he spread the oceans with life and fish were created. Not satisfied with this, he fertilized a somewhat reddish stone and the first and lonely man was born.

Make-Make was responsible for leading a group of Polynesians through the deadly waters of the Pacific to the uninhabited island (Easter Island), so they could build a different kingdom there, maybe a utopia for a dreamy god.

The Rapa Nui people

The descendants of the first men who inhabited the island stayed there for centuries. The people were fulfilled from so much promised land, so much fertility. The Rapa Nui mythology vindicates the idea of a civilization compromised with their religion. It questions any detachment from the gods because their origin, development and later arrival to the island happened thanks to the deities.

It is impossible to know the reason that drove the construction of the moai, ancient or divine sculptures. Whatever the motives that generated these wonderful sculptures were, the ironic part is that they were responsible for attracting the eyes of the modern world to the events of a lost civilization, hidden among the blue waters of the Pacific.

A flash visit to Easter Island

They say that the Rapa Nui people, the ethnic group that originally inhabited Easter Island, descended from Polynesian sailors of the early last millennium. It is also said that, in spite of temporary or organizational differences, this people had a direct similarity with the rest of human kind, since they experienced situations not very different to the ones in today’s global society.

Owners of a rather small world, they organized in tribes, worked the land, exploited the ocean, chose their leaders, worshiped gods, and created monuments and sculptures of reverence: the moai. The moai are the only survivors of this age, just like the Pantheon remains firm in the Olympus mount, the Roman coliseum or the Egyptian pyramids. Art outlives time, and it is the only thing that makes us immortal.

Description

The numerous moai were carefully and precisely carved in volcanic rock. Experts believe the sculptures were made by the first Polynesian inhabitants of the island in order to honor or represent their ancestors. Some sculptures are over 20 meters long and weight more than 80 tons. There are several theories regarding the methods used to transport these monsters, but nothing is certain. For the moment, it could be more appealing to leave these issues to imagination. The moai originally surrounded the whole island, and their eyes focused on the center of the island where the tribes lived, like great parents watching over their children, gods who provide wisdom or works of art distressed over the presence of human activities.

Dreams of the Moai

Today, over 3500 people live in Easter Island. Their means of support are fishery and the raging tourism. Nowadays, these sculptures represent a different perception of humanity: they face the ocean, Orion's belt and the Pleiades, they are arranged according to the equinox or solstice, and some keep facing towards the center. During their reconstruction and restoration, they were probably reconfigured in their essence. When the first westerners visited the island in the 18th century, they found the fabulous statues were fallen, ruined and neglected. Apparently, the tribal wars were responsible for these actions.

In the centuries previous to the “discovery” of the island, there allegedly was a pernicious overpopulation among the Rapa Nui, which led to the shortage of supplies and to wars. The moai, silent and thinking, are the only witnesses of the civilization's collapse. The dreams of the moai are those of any god: to enjoy the splendor of the civilization that created them once again. Perhaps they will moan for eternity the terrible destiny that the people of the Pacific suffered.

The Moai Watch Over the World

A symbol of ancient societies’ way of thinking, these sculptures can be wise because they have seen the end of humanity on a small scale. Hopefully science fiction will invent a way to make the moai talk so they can tell us how society in itself can be the only cause of all ills. Surely, under the faint light of the stars or the captivating reflection of the moon, the dreams of the moai are calmer than the ones described in this article. Inevitably, they are inanimate beings, and fortunately, they remain silent.

The Park

The park makes up the whole surface of Easter Island. The main village is Hanga Roa, and it is located in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean, 3,700 kilometers away from the Chilean coast. This makes the island the most isolated territory in the world. Easter Island (called Rapa Nui by the islanders) was declared a National Park and Historic Monument in 1935 with the purpose of protecting and preserving the archaeological treasures that have given the island a universal renown.

It has a surface of 6,666 hectares and a mild maritime warm climate, with rains throughout the year and subtropical characteristics.

The flora is defined by the only typical species: the toromiro, which is currently extinct in its natural form. These specimens can only be found in botanical gardens. Most of the island is covered by an herbaceous steppe conformed mainly of ferns. Some plant species are the hau, the makoi, the mahute, the ugaho, the ti. The forests are made up of imported species such as the eucalyptus, the miro Tahiti or paradise tree, the acacia and the cypress.

There are five species of land birds brought in from continental Chile. They are the common tiuque, the sparrow, the diuca finch, the partridge and the cock pigeon. Marine birds are of cultural and scientific interest as they are widely represented in archaeological objects. The most frequent figure is the makohe or frigate bird. Another very important bird in the islander culture is the manutara or sooty tern. The autochthonous land fauna is extremely scarce, although rodents are abundant.

The park’s main focus of attraction is the moai. A particularly interesting site is the ceremonial village of Orongo, center of the “bird-man” ritual. There are some beautiful beaches with fine sand that contrast with the hard geography of the island. Many nautical activities can be practiced in them, such as rowing, swimming and fishing.

Migration control

This issue sums up the current problems of Easter Island. Population has grown over 35% since 2002, and this density has intrinsically led to more crime, vehicles, pollution, overcrowding and bad habits. These are some of the aspects that greatly concern the islanders, since they have caused enormous impact on their quality of life.

The solutions proposed are greater migration control both for Chileans and for foreigners at Mataveri airport, raising the admission charges to the National Park, regulating the cruises that come to the island, monitoring long stay visitors, etc.

The leader of the movement “Parlamento Rapa Nui” (Rapa Nui Parliament), Mario Tuqui, said that the National Forestry Commission is not qualified to manage the island’s park and cannot control the damages caused by visitors. Although the leader acknowledges that tourism is good for the island, when it is not controlled it becomes a risk for the archaeological heritage and the inhabitants.

Migration control in islands is not something new. It was done in the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and in the Pitcairn islands that belong to the British colony, where a maximum stay of 14 days was established for “short term” tourists.

How Were These Enormous Statues Sculpted and Why?

Easter Island belongs to Chile. It is located in the area of the Polynesia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This island of 163.6 km² has become an important tourism attraction, especially due to the mysteries that surround the ancestral culture that inhabited it, the Rapa Nui ethnic group. This etymology also gives the traditional name to the island, Rapa Nui, which means “Great Island” in the language of the ancient sailors from Tahiti.

Although this great islet is practically an outdoor museum due to its ceremonial places and petroglyphs, the moai, the giant heads sculpted in stone, are undoubtedly the main attractions.

The Construction of the Moai

We know that the giant effigies or moai were sculpted, probably during the 12th to 17th century, in volcanic rock from the inactive volcano of Rano Raraku. Around 300 statues were made within the walls of the crater and were later transported through the slope.

In the crater there were also another 400 unfinished statues found. Some had just been started, while others were almost ready to be transported. Near them there were also chisels and axes made of obsidian. These tools show that the craftsmen intended to return and finish the monoliths, but for some unknown reason they never could.

Along the path descending from the volcano there were also dozens of these statues found, already finished, that were scattered for 40 or 50 meters. Most of them weighted 30 tons and were around 4 meters long, but one piece was discovered, still unfinished, that reached 30 meters and weighted 50 tons.

The Mysterious Transportation System

The exact way in which the giant and heavy moai of Easter Island were transported is still unknown. The hypothesis that they used tree logs as rollers has been discarded. However, some scientists consider that the disappearance of the palm tree woods was caused by indiscriminate felling by natives who used them to transport the statues. It was proven that no tree in the island has the necessary magnitude to transport the statues.

The theory of dragging or swinging them with ropes has also some gaps. In 1986, the Czech engineer Pavel Pavel, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki Museum proved that 20 people and some ropes were enough to transport a statue of 9 tons. Nonetheless, most statues far exceed this weight.

The most recent study conducted in the year 2000 by a U.S. archaeological team suggests that the natives used complex machines manufactured in the island centuries ago. The construction of this heavy machinery may have partly caused the current deforestation of the island.

¿What Happened to the Rapa Nui?

According to all signs from ancient colonization, in its origin, Easter Island was inhabited by several thousands of people. From the drawings found in the island we can deduct that many social strata existed among them. The people with great ears represented in sculptures may have been the rulers, who managed to prolong their lobes with weights. Another theory states that the moai represent deceased ancestors.

The population growth and the shortage of food may have caused the destruction of several ceremonial altars and the abandonment of the quarries where the moai were sculpted.

The key to all these enigmas is possibly related to a Peruvian dealer from the 19^th century, whose name remains unknown. Apparently, he captured more than 1,000 natives, among them the last king and the sorcerer of Rapa Nui. The fate of the captives remains unknown, although it is possible that some of them returned to their island carrying some type of disease, which may have caused the extinction of the rest of the population.

With them, the last possibility to discover how this primitive people raised a whole army of giant monoliths with human faces has disappeared.

The Dream

Everyone dreams of visiting heavenly places that are well-known in the rest of the world as destinations touched by a divine hand. Well, the natural beauty capable of taking their breath away is not located on the other side of the world, but in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and it is called Easter Island.

Known as the “navel of the world”, Easter Island combines beautiful beaches with inactive volcanoes, as well as the mystical presence of millenary stone statues scattered around the island: the moai. There are more than 800 stone statues buried in the island or located along the coast facing the sea. Some of them have hats and defined torsos, and one of them (only one) has painted eyes.

The island’s charm is all about these statues made of stone, which appear throughout the territory. Researchers are unable to determine who ordered their construction, with what purpose or how they managed to reach the coast of Rapa Nui. The mystery and the beauty of the landscape around the moai makes Easter Island a must for any traveler who calls themselves one.

Places to Visit

Easter Island is formed by volcanoes that emerge from the seabed and shape Rapa Nui as a triangle. The island is conformed by 166 km of green mountains, beaches, sacred sites and places to walk around, all below the blue sky of the South Pacific.

It is easy to get to the island, since all the airlines have flights that go there, although some stop over in Santiago de Chile and then continue their trip until they reach Rapa Nui. Nonetheless, the island’s main activity is tourism, so access is available throughout the year.

Once in the island, the options multiply. The hotel and gastronomic infrastructure is varied and of excellent quality. There are international restaurants and, of course, all of them offer delicious typical dishes made with the best fish of the Pacific and vegetables grown in the island. There are also hotels and guesthouses, camping areas and other places to sleep that offer comfortable and safe facilities surrounded by native vegetation.

Once established in the island, it is time to explore it. Easter Island is not very big, so it is easy to get by on foot or by car. There are places where you can rent cars, jeeps and horses, and there are also tour guides to visit sacred places and all the interesting corners of the island.

The main attraction is the moai. These stone structures can be seen in all Rapa Nui territory, but the most important place is the Ahu, where seven moai can be seen on the coast, facing the sea. It is a sacred place, so it is recommended to enter carefully and with respect and not to talk. The moai are millenary structures, and as such, they are fragile and demand extreme care. Another important place is Anakena, the most famous beach in Easter Island. It is a place of unmatched beauty, with turquoise, warm, still waters, white sand and an ideal temperature for sunbathing and resting. It is located on the northern side of the island, near Hanga Roa (the capital), and it is possible to surf.

The island also has hidden treasures. One of them is a beach beyond the area of Ahu Vaihu that doesn‘t even have a name and it is much bigger than Anakena. This beach has enormous cliffs and it is recommended to get there on foot.

Under the surface, Easter Island offers a unique landscape. Away from the beaches and the South Pacific wind, the tourist can visit the caves near Ana Kakenga. To enter the land and discover its mysteries through a tunel of naturally interconnected caves is simply a movie-like activity, and it can be done in Easter Island, the navel of the world.

New Wonder

Easter Island was one of the 20 world destinations in the race to become one of the new wonders of the world. Considering that the pyramids of Egypt are the only attraction of the ancient wonders that still stands, the organization New Open World Foundation held a contest at the end 2008 for the public to choose seven new destinations. In the end, Easter Island was not chosen among the new wonders, but to be considered among the 20 is a real honor.

The Easter Island sunset

12►

O'tai Hotel was founded in 1968 by Nicolás Haoa and Rosita Cardinali, at those times under the name "Residencial Rosita" and with only 4 rooms. In the year of 1986 it was enlarged and renamed as O'tai Hotel, which nowadays has 41 rooms with capacity for 80 people and distinguishes by it's cosy and homely atmosphere. With the years passing by the hotel has specialized in giving personal attention to the guests, who take with them a pleasant memory of Rapa Nui and their stay in our hotel.

Description

O'tai means "In the Coast", in the Rapanui language. As its name indicates, the hotel is just foot steps away from the coast line and at the same time, in the centre of Hanga Roa village, near all the most important services. When you arrive, the hotel staff will be waiting for you with our traditional reception of flower's necklace and welcome drink made by typical fruits from the island and provide with the transfer from and to the airport.

The reception is ready to attend all your needs from 7:30am to 23:00pm. The laundry service is available from Monday to Saturday. You can leave your cloths in the indicated bag and afterwards receive it in the reception.We also have at your service a small library with variety of books from the world and of Rapa Nui. The Hotel has an international restaurant specialized in typical dishes of Rapa Nui.

The Hotel also has available for your use a TV lounge, conference room and parking.

The Standard rooms include:

• International Direct Dial (IDD) Telephone
• Bathroom fully equipped
• Balcony
• Available for your service, we have as well ventilator, hair drier, umbrellas

The Superior rooms include:

• Safe
• Air conditioning
• International Direct Dial (IDD) Telephone
• Bathroom fully equipped
• Balcony
• Available for your service, we have as well hair drier, umbrellas

Location

Tripadvisor

Located just a few minutes from downtown Hanga Roa, The Manutara Hotel has a long list of amenities that put you in the right mood to enjoy this enchanted, mysterious island, swimming pool, tropical gardens,bar, and coffee shop. Its 25 rooms include singles, doubles, triples all with private baths and views of the tropical garden make this ideal for the single traveler or family.

Description

The Manutara Hotel has all the facilities that the passenger need at the moment you arrive: a beautiful swimming pool, refreshing tropical gardens,

The comfortable rooms are surrounded by a calm and intimate environment that gives you at the same time, rest and proximity to all interesting spots. All the passengers can enjoy hot water, television and telephone. Additionally, a wide list of services gives you the options to enjoy the Island with complete freedom.

The Hotel location is an important advantage for the tourist: its few minutes from Hanga Roa Main Street and next to the airport, which allows you to maximize the precious time of your stay at the island.

Rooms: Single, Double, Triple or Quadruple: in Manutara Hotel you will find all the combinations and the mayor flexibility, with the same high quality for all the guests: private bathroom, TV and telephone in each room.

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

Excellent central location in the town of Hanga Roa, steps from anything you need: comfortable rooms with a Polynesian feeling and refreshing pool in the middle of the tropical gardens, children’s play area, souvenir shop.

Description

It is one of the most typical hotels in Eastern Island, Hotel Manavai is named after the ancient constructions mde of stone that were used to protect plantations on the Island and that were often places near the big family houses.

Hotel Manavai is surrounded by native vegetation, with a wonderful view to the Island itself, where the colors of the grass mix with the green mountains and beyond, to the blue shades of the ocean and the sky.

It has twenty-five rooms, in a typically polinesian building. It is in the center of the city, but going into Manavai means going into a different world, where you can breathe all things relaxing and comfortable. It is an oasis, where you can spend the afternoon walking around the island or by the swimming pool, with the proper weather to do any of those activities.

Rooms

All rooms have private bathroom, color television, frigobar, telephone with local and international calls and a terrace that includes a hammack. The hotel offers single and double rooms, suites and joint rooms for families.

Restaurant

For the complete experience in Rapa Nui, hotel Manavai has its own restaurant and bar, where you can enjoy typical meals, prepared with fresh fish from the Ocean. At the same time, you can taste preparations made with fruits from the island or have your own BBQ on the terrace.

Location

Tripadvisor

Description

The Gomero Hotel invites you and your family to enjoy the comfort of its rooms and personalized attention from the owners to make your stay an unforgetable experience. The services offered by the hotel include rooms with a private bathroom, minibar, telephone, safe and hair dryer.

The Hotel offers a swimming pool, tropical garden, restaurant and bar, tourist agency, laundry, parking lot, airport transfers, among others.

Location

Tripadvisor

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, transfer to hotel. Ahu Vinapu - Anakena
• Day 2: Half day excursion Rano kau – Orongo
• Day 3: Full day Rano Raraku - Anakena
• Day 4: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half  day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half  day excursion Ahu Vinapu – Puna Pau)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Regular  Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, transfer to hotel. Ahu Vinapu - Anakena
• Day 2: Half day excursion Rano kau – Orongo
• Day 3: Full day Rano Raraku - Anakena
• Day 4: Half day excursion City tour, Museum, Ana Kai Tangata cave
• Day 5: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half day excursion Ahu Vinapu – Puna Pau)
• Half day excursion (City Tour)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Regular Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 2: Half day excursion Rano kau – Orongo
• Day 3: Full day Rano Raraku - Anakena
• Day 4: Half day Ahu Vinapu - Te Peu
• Day 5: Half day excursion City tour, Museum, Ana Kai Tangata cave
• Day 6: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half  day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half  day excursion Ahu Vinapu – Puna Pau)
• Half  day excursion (City Tour)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Regular  Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, transfer to hotel
• Day 2: Half day excursion Rano kau – Orongo
• Day 3: Full day Rano Raraku - Anakena
• Day 4: Half day Ahu Vinapu - Puna Pau
• Day 5: Half day excursion City tour, Museum, Ana Kai Tangata cave
• Day 6: Free day
• Day 7: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half  day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half  day excursion Ahu Vinapu – Puna Pau)
• Half  day excursion (City Tour)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Regular  Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, Trekking Rano Kau
• Day 2: Trekking Ara O Te Moai
• Day 3: Trekking Anakena - Terevaka
• Day 4: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Trekking Rano kau)
• Half day excursion (Trekking Ara O Te Moai)
• Half day excursion (Trekking Anakena - Terevaka)
• Private Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, half day excursion Rano Kau – Orongo
• Day 2: Trekking or Horseback ride Poike
• Day 3: Full day excursion Rano Raraku – Anakena
• Day 4: Trekking Ava Ranga Uka
• Day 5: Half day excursion Costa Oeste - Terevaka
• Day 6: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half day excursion (Trekking or Horseback ride Poike)
• Half day excursion (west coast)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Half day excursion (Trekking Ava Ranga Uka)
• Private Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, half day excursion Rano Kau – Orongo
• Day 2: Trekking or Horseback ride Poike
• Day 3: Full day excursion Rano Raraku – Anakena
• Day 4: Half day excursion Costa Oeste - Terevaka
• Day 5: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half day excursion (Trekking or Horseback ride Poike)
• Half day excursion (west coast)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Private Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

12►

Set on a property of 1.5 ha the hotel has a panoramic view of the shoreline on one of the world’s most unique destinations, Altiplanico Easter Island is designed in the style of the traditional Easter Island boathouse, with luxurious gardens, a beautiful swimming pool viewing the sea and large open spaces to relax after encountering the seductive mysteries of the island.  The deep blue of the Pacific Ocean will permeate your stay as well as the warmth of the Easter Island culture, with its music, art, history and architecture.

Description

Rooms

Rooms are independent units, linked by exterior corridors of stone, sand, or grass, each has a private terrace. Internal distribution is simple, privileging view and opening to the outside. With the goal of making the room more private, they were surrounded by manavais of different heights diameters planted with vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees. The bathroom shower opens to the exterior to feel nearer to nature given the climate is very warm. Decoration is simple but careful; each is different to personalize the experience. All are spacious and comfortable opening to the view of the sea. The objective was to encourage visitors to live in more outdoors, enjoy the view and the landscape and thus feel Easter Island’s unique energy.

Restaurant

The restaurant is open at night, along with the bar in which every day there is happy hour and good music to relax after encountering the island. A single menu consisting of hors d’ovre, main course, and dessert, all served with delicacy and elegance is available to eat. The menu varies daily, weekly. The food is a mixture of inspiration of Peruvian, Chilean and above all Rapanui roots. The result is a meal of high quality surprising variety and above all very original. The island offers splendid sea fishes, highlighting among them, tuna fish, the sierra, the Pisces, kana-kana and the lobster. It also includes typical fruits and vegetables, such as the manioca, the taro, purple sweet potatoes, guayaba and mangoes. Impossible to have bad food particularly if accompanied by a good wine and mango sour of the island!

Facilities

The hotel has sixteen spacious and elegant, double, and triple rooms that adapt to the particular style of the Altiplánico hotels. Following our line of boutique hotels coupled with nature, in this in particular we wished to emphasize the concept that combines personalized first rate service, privacy and the feeling of Rapanui life. It is located in a property of 15000 square meter park, overlooking the sea and at 10 minutes walk from Hanga Roa. It has, moreover, outdoor swimming pool, extensive gardens, free internet, free parking, laundry service, safes, 24/7 front desk and gourmet cuisine.

Architecture

Rapanui roots are present at all times in the hotel, starting by the concept of a Rapanui boat house to the drawings of the exterior walls. The rooms are distributed in three semi-circles, linked by a network of trails across through the gardens. Green areas and crops constitute one of the most important objectives of the project; they generate a lush, cool, colorful and shaded alive space to relax from the stunning sun. Archaeological assessment evidenced the presence of several small archaeological sites. Design envisaged as one of the main objectives, not only care of the sites, but also including them in the experience of the visitor to the hotel. They were surrounded by stone low fences for protection also enabling the visitor to see them. The concept includes that the guests feel, understand and learn to respect the island as the archaeological-cultural monument it is and thus participate in its care during their stay.  Outside the hotel is painted with motifs of the island, privileging black as the color used in traditional objects.

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

Explora Rapa Nui, which opened in December 2007, was built on 9.6 hectares (23.7 acres) of land situated on a hill in the Te Miro Oone area, overlooking the ocean. This is in southeastern Rapa Nui, 8 kilometers (4.9 miles) from Hanga Roa, the most populated part of the island.

All of the 30 rooms, which extend to the north and south from a central building, have excellent ocean views. The lodge has welcoming indoor spaces, which integrate aspects of the local culture.

The design is intended to have minimal impact on its surroundings. The lodge is built on a site which is inappropriate for agricultural use and has no archaeological remains. The flora surrounding the lodge has been maintained intact.

Description

The Explora lodge was the first in South America to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the United States Green Building Council. The Hotel was built on 9.6 hectares (23.7 acres) of land situated on a hill in the Te Miro Oone area, overlooking the ocean. This is in southeastern Rapa Nui, 8 kilometers (4.9 miles) from Hanga Roa, the most populated part of the island.

Rooms

Explora hotel has 30 comfortable rooms, all of them designed to maximize silence and privacy. The sophisticated design uses pinewood and earth-colored concrete for the floor. Each room has a small living area, hydro massage bath and beds designed for deep, pleasurable sleep after a day of exploration. Finally, the hotel provides you with a unique treat: the rooms are television-free.

Services

Swimming pool and Hare Taheta massage room

A few meters from the lodge you will find an open area with swimming pool, solar-heated jacuzzi and bar. To one side and connected with this area by a walkway is Hare Taheta, a place where you can enjoy various types of massage, such as relaxation and therapeutic, using different essential oils. All this in addition to fantastic views of the expansive Pacific Ocean.

Shop

In the lodge shop you can purchase a variety of products, special clothing and gear for exploring as well as books, handicrafts and jewelry.

Food

Luxury of the essential is the concept behind the food we prepare. The hotel seeks to enhance the original flavors of selected ingredients, avoiding excess and alteration. The cuisine offers pure flavors based on the best-quality ingredients, many of which are produced locally. It is healthy and well balanced, ideal for people going trekking or on explorations by bicycle or at sea

Excursions 

Explora Rapa Nui offers more than 15 different explorations. On foot or by bicycle, for a couple of hours or a full day, gentle or more physically demanding. The range of explorations enable you to get to know in depth the culture and geography of Rapa Nui with its ancestral, megalithic constructions and the special idiosyncrasies of its people.

More extensive explorations include open-air picnics. The explorations are safe and made up of groups with a maximum of 8 people, accompanied by an expert bilingual guide. All our guides speak excellent Spanish and English and some also speak French and German.

Each afternoon, one of the guides will meet with you in the lodge bar to tell you about the explorations planned for the following day and help you with the challenging task of choosing between different options, all of them exciting. The hotel guides hold substantial knowledge about the area and all have Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification, which ensures that they have the expertise and skills necessary to provide assistance to people in remote places.

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

Thinking only of your contort, the hotel is located just a few minutes from town and offers you a different style of vacationing. They provide their guests with a special place to recover energies lost at any time of year. The Iorana Hotel will take care of you with warmth and hospitality and do everything possible to make you stay a pleasurable experience.

From any point of the Hotel you can delight yourself with the beautiful sunsets that take place in this mysterious land. See this spectacle from the dinning room, the living room, the bar, your room or from any of the pools.

Description

Iorana Hotel has 52 rooms equipped for your comfort and with views to different Rapa Nui Landscapes. You can enjoy the sight to the Pacific Ocean, to the volcanic stone that borders the coasts, to the green hills, to the gardens or to the pools of our Hotel (one of them, natural).

All of our rooms have telephone, security box and fully equipped private bathroom, to give you the comfort that you deserve

Location

Tripadvisor

12►

The Hotel Taha Tai was built on the sea shore from which it adopted its name. The hotel is located a mere 5 minutes from the urban centre of the town Hanga Roa. The hotel also has a bar and restaurant from which it is possible to enjoy the island amazing sunsets.

Description

1500 years ago, King Hotu Matu'a and his people began one of the most extraordinary cultures on the planet, on this same seashore, leaving the world hundreds of archaeological sites.

Rapa Nui, declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995, opens its doors to visitors from around the world, proud of its culture and traditions.The Taha Tai Hotel is located just five minutes from the urban centre of the town of Hanga Roa, the starting point for discovering the marvels of this island.

Rooms

The hotel has 40 modern rooms all equipped with air conditioning, telephones, Internet, and room service. The hotel staff is dedicated to offering you with the best in personalized service.

Location

Tripadvisor

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, half day excursion Rano Kau – Orongo
• Day 2: Full day excursion Rano Raraku – Anakena
• Day 3: Half day excursion Costa Oeste - Terevaka
• Day 4: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Half day excursion (Costa Oeste – Ahu te Peu)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Private Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome at Mataveri airport, half day excursion Rano Kau – Orongo
• Day 2: Full day excursion Rano Raraku – Anakena
• Day 3: Free morning, Transfer to Mataveri airport.

Itinerary

2012 rates / *Discount Included

• Package price per person base on room type and hotel

THE RATE INCLUDES

• Shuttles airports/hotels/airports in all destinations
• Accommodation in all hotels listed in itinerary.
• Administrative expenses.
• Half day excursion (Rano kau – Orongo)
• Full day excursion (Rano Raraku – Anakena)
• Private Services with Spanish / English guide
• Breakfasts

THE RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Tickets to parks, museums, ruins for the excursions and visits included in the itinerary.
• Personal expenses such as laundry
• Costs associated with obtaining passports or entry visas
• Flights
• Meals, except breakfast
• Alcoholic beverages at lunch or dinner
• Personal, medical costs and last-minute requests
• Tips
• Services not mentioned

Map