Chile Easter Island Plan

March 12 – March 15, 2016: Fly from Calama (Chile) to Santiago (Chile), and then transfer to another flight from Santiago to Easter Island, Chile. Fly back to Santiago 3 days later.

There are plenty of travel agencies on the island, Easter Island Travel is highly recommended with a lower price ($170USD per person per day), but I think we should rent a car (80 USD - 220 USD per day).

March 13, combine Birdman tour and Akivi sunset tour by start Birdman tour later to hit Ahu Akivi at sunset.

Birdman tour:

1) Ahu Akivi: The only monument with moais that are looking out towards the sea.

2) Hike to caves: Walk 30 min through nature to reach the area with highest concentration of caves at Easter Island.

3) Ana Te Pahu: This cave is part of a several kilometers long lava tube. It has the luxurious attribute of having a several meters high ceiling, as opposed to having to crawl around inside.

4) Puna Pau: Small volcano where the red scoria stone was quarried for the moai statue topknots - the so called pukao. All of the moai statue pukaos come from this place.

5) Tahai: The tribesmen of this village were remarkably ambitious and hard-working. They raised several statues at three different monuments. A ramp was made to enter the ocean from within the area.

6) Vinapu: The most perfectly fit rock wall, Ahu Tahira, is found in this area. It was engineered with such skill that many draw conclusions on contact with the Inca Empire.

7) Rano Kau: Visit one of the world's most beautiful volcanic craters in this tour. Its sweet water lake served as a drinking water resource in ancient times.

8) Orongo: Ceremonial stone village dedicated to the birdman competition, located at the ridge of volcano Rano Kau.

Akivi sunset tour:

Enjoy the sunset by the only statues that face the ocean - Ahu Akivi. This site is quite unknown as a sunset spot, so expect less people. The seven statues of Ahu Akivi are the only moais that face the ocean instead of looking inland. They are rumored to do so since they represent the seven navigators first sent by king Hotu Matu'a to find this land a thousand years ago, and that they look back towards Hiva, where they once came from.

March 14, combine Tongariki sunrise tour and Megaliths tour by start Megaliths tour earlier to visit Ahu Tongariki at sunrise before continuing with the rest of the tour.

Tongariki sunrise tour:

There is no better way to start the day than to enjoy the breathtaking spectacle of seeing the sun rise behind Ahu Tongariki - the largest and most impressive monument.

Megaliths tour:

1) Hanga Poukura: This is a beautiful coastal area of interesting, rough lava rock formations has several unique features. Several statues are in a strange and mysterious manner buried in a line, with only the backs being visible. The ahu is one of the most well-made ever with blocks that are cut for a better fit.

Hanga Poukura area also has an amazing natural phenomena that has been occurring constantly since this these areas were created by lava flows almost a million years ago - a blowhole. The blowhole of Hanga Poukura is one of the best ones, and when the ocean is right, water will spurt up into the air as waves come in.

2) Hanga Mai Hiku: After the deforestation of Easter Island, the islanders had to work harder to keep the humidity in the soil. Examples of the two plantation techniques that were widely used by the ancient people to help plants grow can be seen here.

3) One Makihi: This amazing site has a couple of statues in a great environment, beautifully decorated with the Rano Raraku volcano in the background.

4) Rano Raraku: The volcano that was converted into a mass production factory of gigantic megaliths. Virtually all statues were carved here. One day the workers stopped, and the hundreds of statues that were left behind haven't moved since.

5) Ahu Tongariki: The biggest and most impressive monument made with its 15 mighty moais.

6) Anakena: Have a swim in the Pacific Ocean at the largest beach. In the sand stands a monument with the best preserved restored moais of the entire island. Quite recently they were dug up after centuries of having been buried in the sand.