Tourism in the Easter Island

On April 5th, 1722, a Resurrection Sunday, the island was discovered and baptized by the dutch lientenmant Jacobs Rogeveen. In 1774, the English captain James Cook visited the place and, in 1786, it was also visited by the French captain Laperouse.

Since then, it became a landing point for the trips to Oceania.

Between 1862 and 1863, slave ships transported more than one thousand natives to work in the Peruvian guano fields. The illnesses carried by them killed hundreds of inhabitants and leave only 111 islanders.

The origin of the Easter Island dates back to the 7th century.

The stratified society “Rapa Nui” were conformed by series of family groups ruled by a king. Each social unit -mata- occupied a piece of island territory and a section of the coast where the religious, political and social centers were situated. On the altar -alm-, their ancestors were worshipped and represented by statues of stone called “moai”. There was a square for the activities of the community. Groups of houses across the altar were inhabited by people of high social standing. There were fireplaces and other cult-related structures.

Currently, almost all inhabitants -the pascuenses- live in the town of Hanga Rea.

This Magical Island called Rapa Nui can only be reached by plane. The island is formed by three extinct triangular shaped volcanoes, 160 Km wide.

General Information:

Climate: Subtropical with rains the most part of the year. July and August are the coldest months. The temperature average oscillates between 17 and 23 Cº.
Tourism Information of SERNATUR: It is situated on The Tu´u Maheke Avenue.
Telephone: 100255.
Schedule Attention: From Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 19:00 Saturday: only from December to April, 8:30 to 13:00.
Activities and Events: The main traditional festivity of the island is the Tapati Rapa Nui, a two weeks party. It takes place on the last week of January and the first of February.

Access:

By plane:

LanChile: Airline that flies from Santiago to the Easter Island.
The approximate cost of the ticket is 340 $ (return). Duration: 3 hours and a half.

By sea:

There are few chances to get to the island by boat due to the irregularity of the trips.


Town of Hanga Roa. The Town of Hanga Roa is inhabited by around 3000 people. In the downtown area, the post office, the telephone company, the court and the bank are situated.

The Hanga Roa cove. It is a center of permanent activity that is placed next to some boats which represent valuable remains of the “alm” or altar.

Farther to the south, near to the Hanga Roa Hotel, the cove of Hanga Piko is situated. This is an ideal place for hiking and water diving.

It is interesting to visit too:

- The Church
- Handicraft Market
- Museum of Anthropology R. P. Sebastián Englert


Aldea Ceremonial de Orongo
This ceremonial village is located 6 km from Hanga Roa, on the western edge of Rano Raraku volcano, and is set in some of the most beautiful landscape on the island. This place occupies a narrow strip 250 meters wide between the crater of the volcano and a cliff which falls into the sea. All this consist of 53 structures with walls made of slabs of basalt. The walls inside each structure are painted with symbols of government, oars for ceremonial dances and figures of birds, with red and white predominating.

Precisely this was where the election of the Tangata Manu (man bird) was held for between 100 and 200 years. The rites were carried out in honor of the god Make Make and the Water god, who brought the birds from Motu Motiro Hiva.

Orongo has been incorporated in the "One Hundred most endangered sites, 2000" of World Monument Watch. There it is confirmed that: "Recent measurements of the petroglyphs indicate that they have slipped two meters since the last measurements were taken thirty years ago. The continuous erosion caused by the rain, accentuated by visitor traffic, is undermining the stability of these huts. If not rainwater is redirected by the construction of a terrace to stabilize the site, and tourist access is controlled, Orongo could collapse into the sea." Anakena

Mauna Terevaka
Mauna Terevaka is the highest peak on the island, reaching a height of 509 meters, and from the top there is a view to the three corners of the island. At the southern extremity of the peak is the Rano Aroi volcano. Access is by Ahu Akivi or Vaitea. The most recent activity occurred some 1,000 years ago and the last lava flow about 2,000 or 3,000 years ago. Most of the island is formed of lava from this volcano.


Anakena
Anakena is located about 30 km from Hanga Roa, a beautiful wide beach with white sands, palm trees and turquoise water. Here according to the legend, was where the kings and the royal family lived. This beach is guarded by seven nostalgic moai, with their hats restored. The biggest ahu here, known as Nau Nau, was restored between 1978 and 1980 by Sergio Rapu.

Just on the ahu stood five complete moai, four of them with pukao (a representation in red lava of the bun into which the ariki bound their hair) also as two broken moai. The backs of these statues are finely carved. It was here that the white coral eye, with a red lava pupil, now in the Museo Antropológico, was found.
We can find another series of ahu nearer the beach, with no statues, which are probably older.

Península de Poike
Resting on this peninsula stands the Poike volcano, the oldest on the island, three million years old. About geological terms, this is the part of the island which has existed for longest and where there has been the least volcanic activity, despite the three cones which stand up in the landscape. Highlights three places of archaeological interest: Vai a Heva, Papa ui hetu u’ and Ana O keke.
Vai a Heva is an enormous head carved under a natural pool; Papa ui Hetu u, the second, two sites with petroglyphs, from which the islanders used to observe the stars; and the third is a cave where virgins used to come to make their skin white.

Over the peninsular is placed the Poike ditch, supposed site of a battle between the Hanau eepe (“fat people”) and the Hanau momoko (“thin people”). According to tradition, the “fat people” lived in Poike and had dug a ditch which they filled with combustible material, but despite this the “thin people” attacked them by surprise and killed them almost to a man, burning the dead in pits. To this day the place is known as "the curanto of the fat people” (curanto is a technique where food is cooked in a pit using pre-heated stones). From a geological point of view, however, the ditch is a natural effect of the volcanic formation of the island.

Vaihu
This platform of well-worked stone is located 10 km from Hanga Roa. It consists of eight statues lying where they fell and eight pukao scattered about nearby. In front of the ahu there is a circle of stones for the paina ceremonies in which death was honored.

Trips to the archaeological place: The National Park Rapa Nui:

· Visit to Thahai – a ceremonial center. The trip has to be made by foot at noon.
· Circuit to Puna Pau. Ahu Akivi - located 22 kilometers away. The trip takes half a day by car.
· Circuit to Vianpo, Rano Riku and Anakena - located 46 kilometers away. The trip takes the whole day.
· Circuit to Rano Kau and Orongo - located 9 kilometers away. The trip takes half a day by car.