The fantastic trip to Rapa Nui

When entering the airport to head to Easter Island, you already feel something special will happen. Even if it’s still Chile (the only existing flight is going from Santiago de Chile), you have to pass special customs. You need an ESTA-like VISA, you need approval, and you pass an extra security just for flying to Easter Island.

But it’s worth it that five days have been one of the highlights of my world trip! But let’s start with some basics.

First of all, the locals do not call it Easter Island. It’s Rapa Nui, which can be translated as Big or Great Island. The first explorers named the place “Easter Island” as they arrived there on Easter. Second, even if it is part of Chile (South America), the island is geographically Oceania, as it’s at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania.

Fun fact: during the 2nd world War, Chile tried to sell the island to Russia, the UK, the US, and Germany, but they all refused. And, from a business standpoint of view, that was a good decision. On that island is NOTHING (besides the famous statues). Chile would be fine if they went independent as having that island with its approx. 10.000 inhabitants is a negative business.

Every day, one airplane takes a 5-hour flight from Santiago, and 2 hours later, that airplane flies back. On two days a week, there are two airplanes. Thats it. Pre-Covid, more flights have been established, even from Tahiti to Rapa Nui. What is the effect of one flight a day? A huge price tag of 899 USD for a return fight. Also, the hotels are not really cheap there, and as everything needs to be imported from the mainland (besides fish/beef/cheese and fruits/vegetables), it’s also expensive to eat.

But was it worth it? Even if I am not diving? It turned out that this is a big thing there! I can tell you: HELL YEAH!

Easter Island’s iconic statues, known as Moai, are shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Here’s a summary of their key points:

Numbers and size:

Around 900 moai were carved, mostly between 1100 and 1650 AD.
They range from 2.5m (8 feet) to a massive unfinished exceeding 20m (70 feet).

Carving and location:

Most moai were carved from volcanic tuff at Rano Raraku crater, a dedicated quarry.
They were transported to coastal platforms called ahu, often facing inland towards the villages.

Meaning and purpose:

Moai are believed to represent ancestors, especially chiefs, who were seen as intermediaries between the gods and humans.
They were likely erected to honor these ancestors and seek their blessings for fertility and prosperity.
Their imposing presence may have also served as a symbol of power and authority.

During three tours on Rapa Nui, I had the chance to dive deep into the history of the island and the Moai. It’s a very fascinating story. I will likely buy a book about it to dig deeper into it. There are many places on the island where I could see the Moai.

One place I want to talk in particular: the volcano Rano Raraku. This place is the place where the statues have been carved out of the volcano. I could see statues in all different stages, from just starting carving until they were finished and ready to be delivered. Sadly, some of them were the deliveries started but broke after hundreds of meters in many pieces, so it was most likely hard to start carving again. Almost 500 hundred Moai are there, and I was impressed to walk around there.