This program appeals to the less active traveler who enjoys soft trekking in the outdoor and cares about comfort throughout the trip. During the whole tour we stay in the same, family-style hotel in Hanga Roa and do day trips that combine walking and transportation by car to explore Easter Island and its fascinating ancient culture.

Day 1: Santiago - Easter Island

Upon arrival at Mataveri airport your local guide will meet you and transfer you to Hanga Roa, the small township where Easter Island's 2.500 people live. Check in at your family-style hotel (or up-graded hotel depending on your selected option), where you will stay for the next four nights. Over a welcome cocktail you will meet with your guides to discuss the itinerary and some other aspects regarding the trip.

Day 2: Rano Raraku - Tongoriki - Akahanga - Vaihu

Early in the morning, after breakfast, you will be picked up to start your tour of the island, which for the next 5 days will encompass a journey through hundreds of years of history. Your first sight today is the volcanic crater of Rano Raraku. This may well be the most impressive site of the island: 70 sentinels, embedded up to their shoulders in grass stand on the southern slope of the volcanic crater Rano Raraku, pointing the way to the quarry or "nursery" inside of the impressive crater rim. This is the site where the Moai (enormous, 100 tons basalt statues) were cut from volcanic tuff and some 150 figures, still left there in all stages of completion, are silent witnesses of the mystery that suddenly stopped all work. We continue our tour and visit Ahu Tongariki, which has recently been restored after a tidal wave in 1960 washed the statues dozens of meters away from their original setting. Later we will pass a similar site, 'Ahu Akahanga' with four such statues, as we continue our way to Vaihu. (B, BL)

Day 3: Rano Kau - Orongo - Vinapu - Tahai

Today Today our first stop is Rano Kau volcano, the biggest on the island, whose whose enormous crater is now a fresh water lake with floating green fields of totora reeds. From here you'll have an exceptional view of three tiny, craggy islands Nui, Motu and Kao-Kao, the site of the bizarre "bird man" ritual. Perched on the side of the mountain you'll also find the ruins of the sacred village of Orongo with its 48 oval buildings built with overlapping stone slabs. Over the cliffs you see an amazing string of "bird man" petroglyphs. The tour continues to Vinapu, where we find 'Ahu Tahira Ahu', one of the first Ahus ever constructed. Tahira is a key element in Thor Heyerdahl's theory that the islanders came sailing from South America since it contains a wall of perfectly carved and fitted stone blocks that is strikingly similar to the work of the Tihuanaco culture (Bolivia) and the Inca walls in Cuzco (Perú). Later we drive to Tahai and the cave of the Petroglyphs. (B, BL)

Day 4: Te Pito Te Kura - Ovahe - Anakena

We begin our tour driving along the coast road to the largest Moai ever transported It is named Ahu Te Pito Te Kura (navel of light) and boasts an impressive 9.8 m/ 32 ft in length. Ahu means sacred place and describes the rectangular stone platform on which the Moai statues were erected. We continue, heading north to Ovahe beach, a small bay with pure golden sands and magnificent clear water nestled beneath a cliff of volcanic rock, a true South Pacific paradise. We rest a while, swimming and relaxing at this beautiful bay. Later we continue to Anakena beach, the legendary landing place of Hota Matua, the founder of the island. (B, BL)

Day 5: Ahu Akivi - Puna Pau

This day you start with the ceremonial center of Ahu Akivi where seven standing Moais represent the sons of a Maori shaman who were sent to search for Rapa Nui, a place the old shaman had conceived of in his visions as the new home for King Hotu Matua. From here we continue to Puna Pau, a former Moai 'factory' where once upon a time the Moais were built before being transported to their respective platforms. The site is marked by a multitude of volcanic caves which can be explored. The most impressive ones are the cave of the two windows and the cave of the banana (B, BL).

Day 6: Easter Island - Santiago

Enjoy the morning to relax. At the appropriate time you will be transferred back to the airport for your return flight to Santiago. (B).

Rates per person valid from Oct 2008 - April 2009

Minimum number of participants: 2
Departures: Private departures only/All year
5 day itinerary also available, please inquire

Included:

5n hotel (breakfast incl.), private transfer airport/hotel/airport, welcome cocktail, 4 full day excursions box lunch incl, English Speaking guide and Orongo entrance fee

Not Included:

Dinners, flight Santiago/Easter Island/Santiago

Rates may change without prior notice. Lower rates available for larger groups. 5 day itinerary also available.

For further information and booking inquiries please send us and e-mail.