I would like to start by saying us going to Rapa Nui was a very last minute decision and because its so expensive, plus that fact we had to to be in Mendoza on a specific date, we only went for 2 nights. Looking back, it may seem mad for somewhere a 4.5 hour flight away but honestly, although most people we spoke to were spending 4-5 days, 2 was all we needed to see the main sites. Also, there is only 1 flight there a day (from Santiago with LATAM) and it arrives before lunch, and the flight out leaves in the afternoon so you will always have a couple extra half days.

Due to the crazy price of the flights, we went super budget for the accommodation, staying at a campsite (Mohevia Camping) a 30 min walk from the town (we did stay in the dorm room and not a tent, thank god). The accommodation itself was fine, although the humidity is crazy and there was no fan or AC in the room. If I was to go again I definitely wouldn’t stay more than a 10/15 min walk from the main town, Hanga Roa, as we were 30 mins away and there are basically no taxi’s on the island so your only option is to walk or hire a bike or a car.

As I mentioned in my Santiago post, we also brought a lot of food from Santiago to cook as it’s much more expensive on the island and we didn’t have any problems, although some people were getting randomly searched on their way in so make sure you don’t have any fresh fruit & veg with you!

After we had arrived and checked into the hostel, we got our swimmers on and walked into town to a small bay/large rock pool near the centre of town. To our amazement, there were 3 huge turtles just chilling in the water and you could just swim around them! Once I could feel myself getting sunburnt (even factor 50 couldn’t protect me here), we grabbed coffee at Nena’s Speciality Coffee and then walked up to see where the festival stage was.

The Tapati festival was the other reason we just couldn’t turn down the opportunity of going to Rapa Nui. This festival is on for 2 weeks in February each year and is a celebration of local talents and traditions, all shows being completely free. There is a stage with seating, food stalls and shops. There are events on throughout the day but we went for the evening show which was supposed to be an accordion competition and then dancing. We didn’t even make it to the dancing, after 6 bad accordion players we gave up…Saying that, the sunset from the festival was beautiful although its crazy that the sun doesn’t set till 9pm. I felt as if I was putting on sun cream to go to bed!

The next day was the main event, we had booked a full day tour with Hahave to see the Moai (the big heads!). If you’re on a tight schedule I would recommend a 1-day tour, we saw everything we wanted to see and they took us to what is supposed to be the most beautiful beach on the island for a couple of hours at the end (Anakena). I really enjoyed learning about the history of these huge figures. They were representations of strong/important men in a village once they had died, with their bones being buried near them. They were built to act as protectors – that’s why they always face into the island towards the village they are protecting and not out to sea. Once we understood the ‘why’, the tour took us to the mine/factory to show us the ‘how’. It’s a really interesting part of the island, probably my favourite place on the tour. There were so many Moai in different stages of development and you can see the process they used to carve them out of the rock and transport them around the island. That evening we went out for a delicious meal at Le Frits – I had a ceviche empanada and a couple of margaritas. It was a great day!

On our final morning in Rapa Nui, we got up early before to beat the heat and hiked up the Rano Kau crater. The hike up only takes about an hour and the view of the crater is well worth it, created when a volcano exploded and now hosts a rainfall fresh water lake. After our hike back down we made the rest of our food and got ready for our flight back to Santiago. As I mentioned, it was a flying visit and there is so much more you can do on the island but we didn’t have time – also I needed out the sun for a couple of days!

Rapa Nui Summary

• Length of stay: 2-4 nights
• Where to stay: anywhere near Hanga Roa so you can walk easily to places. Hostal Vi’eroto looked good and was in a central location.
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Explore town, Day 2 – day tour round the Maoi, Day 3 – beach/diving day, Day 4 – walk/hike to the crater or hire a bike and visit more Moai
• Top tip: If you are there in the summer it is really hot, wear factor 50 and carry a mini fan with you wherever you go! If you are staying out of town, hire a bike for the duration of your stay, there are lots of places near Hanga Roa. Also, bring food from Santiago so you can cook here for cheap. The restaurants are quite expensive, just be careful with fresh fruit and veg as Chile is really strict.