Such a dream came true last year – we set foot on Easter Island! Also named Rapa Nui by the Polynesian people, this tiny island is nothing but a drop in the Pacific Ocean, but such a special one and famous for its enormous moai.
We arrived from the lip-chapping cold of the Andes, skipped a night due to our stopover in Santiago and the long flight to Hanga Roa and on top of that I still felt that wine of the vineyard tour in Mendoza hanging around in my head – so all in all the sunshine and that tropical climate with its accompanying flowers and a Polynesian necklace upon arrival made for a pretty neat welcome.
We dwelled on the island for five days which is quite a lot of time if you consider Easter Island’s size is only 164 sq km (63 square miles) – (if you’re Dutch: it’s the size of Terschelling). This amount of time gave us the chance to see all of the highlights, during all the different weather conditions. After all, we discovered that the weather changes super fast in here. Sometimes it even felt more like we were driving around Ireland rather than a Polynesian island as you can see below.
So have a look upon Rapa Nui – I selected our best photos for you in here! Lava tunnels, sacred volcano craters, tropical flowers, wild horses, Polynesian petroglyphs, dreamy sunrises, the little town of Hanga Roa, a pristine beach, rainbows, a bit of wildlife and of course an enormous amount of moai; it’s all in here!
And don’t worry, more articles about where to go on the island, what Moai to see and how to do Easter Island on the cheap are in the making!
The airport of Hanga Roa. This airport has been developed by NASA, as a hub for them to find their astronauts after they'd been tossed back through the stratosphere to earth :)
The island as seen from Pu o Hiro
Ahu Tongariki
A small harbour in the north of the island
Anakena beach in the north of the island
Sunrise as seen from the volcano crater of Rano Kao
Hawk on the volcano crater rim of Rano Kao
Moai
Flowers at Rano Raraku
One of the many lava tunnels
Driving along the eastern road of the island with a view on Ahu Vinapu
Driving along the eastern road of the island
Sunset at Ahu Tahai
Driving the central road of the island
Beach Anakena in the north
The cave of Ana Kai Tanata
View from Ahu Vinapu. Moai are shattered around the island and often you find them like this. Without a lint around it that is.
Driving along the northern road of the island
Most of the moai are to be found at Rano Raraku, the place where they were created
Another rainbow as seeen from Rano Raraku
View of one of the lava tunnels 'Cueva De Las Dos Ventanas'. Literally translated 'The cave with the two windows'
Bee on the volcano crater rim of Rano Kao
The small island in front of the volcano crater of Rano Kao
Sunset at Ahu Tahai
