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Ahu Akivi
Ahu Te Pito Kura
This perfectly round stone has magnetic qualities (bring a compass to prove it). Scientists and archaeologists are at a loss for how the stone got to Easter Island, as it is not endemic to the island. Its name translates to “navel of the earth” and was considered the center of the island. Legend has it that this is the spot where Hotu Matu’a, the first man to set foot on Easter Island, landed.
Ana Kai Tangata Cave
Ana O Keke Cave
Anakena and Ovahe Beach
Boat Trips to the Motu Islands
Indagare members can contact our bookings team for assistance planning private boat trips to the beautiful uninhabited islands, home to the famous Birdman cult competition.
Boathouses and Chicken Houses
In the shadow of a great toppled moai sit remaining examples of how the Rapanui lived. Study the 13th or 14th-century hare paenga foundation (a house shaped like a flipped over boat); a puzzle-like stone chicken coop (built like an igloo from volcanic rocks without a visible entrance so that only the farmer knew which stone could be removed to reach inside) and protected walled gardens called manavai.
Caverna Dos Ventanas Cave
Father Sebastián Englert Museum
This small museum holds the island’s only remaining examples of the Rongorongo Tablets, the evidence of Easter Island’s original language. These tablets, made from a soft wood, were carved using a shark’s tooth. Interestingly, a culture developing its own alphabet from scratch has only happened five times in the world’s history (Mesopotamia, Mexico, Egypt, China and Easter Island).
Fishing Expeditions
Indagare members can contact our bookings team for assistance planning private fishing expeditions. Big eye tuna is the prize catch in the area.
Horseback Riding
Riding on horseback is an excellent way to see Easter Island, especially as it is home to 10,000 horses, many of which are wild. Guides can take riders to the top of Terevaka, the island’s highest point and where visitors can see the curvature of the earth. (Note that many of the horses have not been rigorously trained, so riding on Easter Island is recommended only for advanced riders.)
Iglesia Hanga Roa
This Catholic church hosts Sunday mass sung in Rapanui, a beautiful and mystical language. The church’s sculptures alone are worth visiting: the wooden carvings were done in Rapanui style (as seen in the moai heads), but represent the traditional Catholic iconography. Sunday mass is held at 9am but the church is generally open during the day.
Kari Kari
The Kari Kari traditional dance performances are energetic and fascinating, performing island songs and showing off customary celebratory costumes,
Orongo Village
The Orongo village was the site of the Birdman cult celebrations. Once a year, young men representing the important families of the island would run down the steep and perilous cliff, swim out to the ragged Motu Nui island, search for an elusive egg from the sooty tern (this could take to multiple weeks), and have to swim back without breaking the egg. The winner and his family would have the honor of reigning over the island for the subsequent year.
There are a series of restored stone houses on this site, depicting the low dwellings where the Rapanui people slept and sought shelter during inclement weather. Accessible only through the very short and narrow entrance, the houses weren’t even tall enough for people to stand up in. The views of the Motu Nui island are spectacular from the village. Don't miss the magnificent carved petroglyphs depicting mystical half man–half bird characters.
Ronu Kau Volcanic Crater
One mile in diameter, the vast crater that was once a volcano is a breathtaking site. Not only wide, it is also deep—it dips so low, it has its own microclimate at its base, which filled with reeds and water. The lip where the lava flowed into the sea is still apparent and makes a dramatic view even more spectacular. No one is quite sure how deep the water goes, but when the island suffered a recent drought, locals washed their clothes in the lake.
Ronu Raraku
The moai were all carved from this one extinct volcanic quarry, and the surrounding area formed a de facto outdoor studio. The statues that remain here were all meant to be moved elsewhere, and one of the island’s mysteries is why this transporting process halted. There’s no rhyme or reason to the way the 394 statues lie. They were all meant to be raised on ahus, explaining why they are scattered on the side of the crater, and many are haphazardly leaning. Some of the larger statues are partially buried, vertically, so that the craftsmen could reach to carve the statues’ faces, a rather ingenuous alternative to scaffolding.
Because they were in various stages of finishing, tools were left behind, evidence that the practice was abruptly interrupted. Once they get over the initial shock of seeing a sight of such poignancy and magnitude, visitors are welcome to walk up the path to see the statues up close, surrounded by beautiful orange and red milk flowers.
“The moai seem to be waiting their turn for transport…They conjure up a vision of scores of artisans at work and an eerie sense that the latter have just left, planning to return tomorrow. It is easy to imagine that their work ceased in a single moment, as if, as with Pompeii, some catastrophe occurred.”—The Statues that Walked
Indagare tip: Visit at the end of the day, before the park closes, around 5pm. This is when light is best and there are fewer people.
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving
With water hovering around 68°F, and the possibility of seeing green sea turtles, snorkeling or scuba diving is an excellent activity on-island. The owner of Orca came to the island with Jacques Cousteau and decided to stay.
Surfing Lessons
Indagare members can contact our bookings team for assistance planning private surfing lessons.
Tongariki
Located on the Hanga Hotulti Bay, the 650-foot-long Ahu Tongariki conveys a sense of a lost empire, reminiscent of Petra, the Acropolis or Mayan ruins. The iconic line of 15 statues, which soar as high as 22 feet, is best seen first thing in the morning or at sunset, where the light is great and crowds are smaller. (Rapanui won’t ever come after sunset because of superstitions, but seeing the statues by moonlight is a positively other-worldly experience). Each of the heads have different faces and styles, evidence that they had been created by different groups and might have been representations of the men they were depicting. “By having faces, they give life to the rocks,” my guide explained.
Fully destroyed in the 1960s by tsunami waves moving at 500 miles per hour, the ahu saw its 15 moai scattered around the island. It wasn’t until the 1990s when a Japanese group came in to restore the statues and return them to their original locations. The team of scientists and historians used extremely high-tech machinery that had been custom-made for the process. One of the moai wears his original topknot, or hat, made out of a different stone of a reddish color. (Replacing the other 14 topknots proved too difficult even for modern technology, so they sit on the grass beside the statues.)
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