Easter Island

Of all the places I’ve visited on my travels, Easter Island, Isla de Pascua or Rapa Nui as it is otherwise known is by far the most magical.

It’s remoteness, the fact that nobody knows for sure why the Moai, huge monolithic human figures carved from rock were erected and then subsequently toppled, all add to the islands mystery and maybe goes someway to explaining why I loved it so much.

Camping Mihinoa complete with reproduction Moai - My tent is the one on the far right.

The seven sea-facing Moai at Ahu Akivi.

Ahu Tongariki, the largest on Easter Island with fifteen Moai was one of my favourite locations. The site was restored in the 1990s after the Moai were first toppled and then washed further inshore by a 1960s tidal wave.

Ahu Tongariki.

At Ahu Tongariki with the Suzuki jeep I hired.

Rano Raraku, the quarry from where the majority of the Moai were carved and transported is a truly astonishing site and another of my favourites. 397 Moai remain strewn across the mountainside in various stages of completion, some awaiting transportation to their final destination whilst others are still attached to the rock from which they were carved.

Moai strewn across the mountainside at Rano Raraku.

Standing amongst the Moai at Rano Raraku.

Rano Raraku.

The island is a difficult and expensive place to get to and extremely expensive once there. I stayed for seven nights which truth be told was a couple too long. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a visit to the island to anyone.

Moai, some complete with their top knots at Anakena Beach.

Mota Nui as seen from Orongo with bird petroglyphs on foreground rocks.

Easter Island, with the exception of another couple of days in Santiago marks the end of the South American leg of my travels. I have visited some truly amazing places, witnessed some remarkable sights and met some really great people. And although I didn’t visit all the places I hoped to when I set out, the last three months have been unforgettable.

Sunset at Ahu Tahai.

I leave Santiago on Friday evening and fly to Auckland, New Zealand.