Easter Island Extension for Vineyards of Chile

Outline Itinerary

Day 1. Wednesday 20 February
Morning transfer to Santiago airport for flight to Easter Island and Check into Explora Lodge.
The Lodge was the first in South America to receive the LEED US certification for its green design. It is on a hill in the Te Miro Oone area, overlooking the ocean. This is in southeastern Rapa Nui, 8 kilometers from Hanga Roa, the most populated part of the island.
All of the 30 rooms, which extend to the north and south from a central building, have excellent ocean views. The design is intended to have minimal impact on its surroundings. The lodge is built on a site which is inappropriate for agricultural use and has no archaeological remains. The flora surrounding the lodge has been maintained intact.

Day 2 – 5. Thursday 21 February – Sunday 24 February
Four full days of relaxing and/or exploring Rapa Nui, (the local name for Easter island)
There are more than 15 different explorations that are all included in the tour price. On foot or by bicycle, for a couple of hours or a full day, gentle or more physically demanding. The range of explorations enable you to get to know in depth the culture and geography of Rapa Nui with its ancestral, megalithic constructions and the special idiosyncrasies of its people. The explorations are groups with a maximum of 8 people, accompanied by an expert bilingual (Spanish – English) guide. Each afternoon, one of the guides will meet with you in the lodge bar to tell you about the explorations planned for the following day and help you choose between different options such as the following:
Visiting the archaeological centre of Akahanga, the Rano Raraku quarry where all the existing Moais were sculpted, with over 300 Moais in different stages of their completion, Ahu Tongariki, with its archaeological ruins of once the largest platform on the island until washed away by a tidal wave in 1969, Te Pito Kura, Ahu Ngau Ngau, including picnic lunch on Anakena Beach with its crystal-clear emerald-green waters. Lodging. Visit to Rano Kau volcano, (1,6 km in diameter), the ceremonial village of Orongo with the largest concentration of Petroglyphs with images of Tangata Manu, the birdman, gods Make Make and Komari, fertility symbols and Vinapu. Sightseeing tour of Ahu Akivi, site of the seven Moais overlooking the sea, the Caves of Ana Tepahu, among the largest on the island and Pun-a-Pau quarries on the slopes of a volcano and where the reddish topknots were sculpted.

Day 6. Monday 25 February
Depart from Mataveri for return flight to Santiago. Current flight times are outbound at 09.15/land 13.10 – Return depart 14.10/ land 20.55 but subject to schedule change. Please call for flight details to ensure connection with your onward intercontinental flight – or we can arrange for an additional night in Santiago if you prefer (extra night non included in tour price).

We arrange flights from Santiago as it is where the Vineyards of Chile Tour finishes. There are two alternative extensions to Patagonia and the Atacama Desert.