{"id":110,"date":"2020-01-19T01:32:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T01:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?p=110"},"modified":"2020-01-19T01:32:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-19T01:32:36","slug":"rapa-nui-easter-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/19\/rapa-nui-easter-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapa Nui (Easter Island)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What an unforgettable place! I\u2019m so glad we made this a priority to explore. We gave ourselves 2 and a half days and I\u2019d say it was pretty perfect with very full days and thankfully the weather cooperated. There\u2019s only one flight in and out of Rapa Nui a day, so we arrived on the one at 11:30 am on Wednesday, checked-in and promptly went to get a scooter so we could around the island. I highly recommend this mode of transportation. We considered getting bikes (the island isn\u2019t huge, after all) but in order to see everything, we opted for the scooter. It was also cheaper getting one scooter than two bikes, so that was a win win! Steve the scooter allowed us to get everywhere we wanted, easily find parking at all the popular spots and gave us that \u201coutside\u201d feeling rather than being stuck in a car.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"126\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=126\" class=\"wp-image-126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7188.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Sunset at Ahu Tahai<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"129\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=129\" class=\"wp-image-129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7161.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Birdman huts at Orongo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"122\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=122\" class=\"wp-image-122\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2278.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Rano Koa Crater<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The first afternoon we grabbed lunch on the water and scooted up to Orongo and the crater Ranu Kao because they were very close to Hanga Roa, the town. There were incredible views from the top and the crater provides the island with a lot of biophilic diversity since the island has been stripped of resources since human arrival. This is also the location of the Birdman cult that preceded the worship of the Moai statues. We caught sunset at Ahu Tahai which is right in town with 5 Moai\u2019s on the water. There were a bunch of people scattered along the lawn watching sunset. It was quiet and nice because there was plenty of room for everyone to have their own spot.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"769\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324-1024x769.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"120\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=120\" class=\"wp-image-120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7324.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\"><br>Anakena Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"121\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=121\" class=\"wp-image-121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7305.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Rano Raraku Quarry<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"123\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=123\" class=\"wp-image-123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284-768x1025.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284-1151x1536.jpg 1151w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7284.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Rano Raraku Quarry<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"114\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=114\" class=\"wp-image-114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7318.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Rano Raraku Quarry<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On day 2 we woke up early for a 30 min scooter ride to Ahu Tongariki to watch the sunrise behind the 15 Moai\u2019s. This was to beautiful! There was a crowd, but everyone seemed to be respectful of others getting their photos. They&#8217;d to up close, take a photo\/ selfie and then get behind the crowd for others. I felt very small next to these large figures as we walked around. To see so many together and the different characteristics of each was pretty awe inspiring. It\u2019s believed each is made as a deity, honoring someone who has died. We then went to the quarry Rano Raraku where all the Moai\u2019s on the island where made. This was our favorite spot by far. You get to walk right alongside so many of the heads that are randomly sticking out of the ground in different phases of completion, and they all have bodies buried in the ground! That you can&#8217;t see! This is because the Rapa Nui people would start carving the faces\/ bodies out of a large piece of stone, then carve off the back, stand the head up and bury it so they could finish carving details into the back. So fascinating! We did a little hike inside the crater and saw a beautiful pasture with horses grazing alongside more Moai heads sticking out of the ground (they roam freely on the island, a lot. Everywhere). This was such a beautiful, quiet place that only one other person briefly came to check out. It was like being in a mystical land and probably my favorite part of the day. We also made friends with a nice horse who wouldn\u2019t stop following us after some pets, and the little white dog, Falcor with his floppy ears, flowed us everywhere! The only disappointment I have about the quarry is there was very little information as you walk around, so we still had a ton of questions, thankfully they were mostly answered at the museum we went to later on. If you plan on going to Easter Island, I would recommend getting a tour (possibly a private tour so you can go at your own pace) especially for the quarry. We stopped at a couple other spots along the road as we made our way to Anakena Beach. This is where the first boats arrived on the island and is such a beautiful spot! A few more Moai heads are on the beach as well and dogs taking themselves to play in the ocean. On our way back to town we stopped at Ahu Akivi to see another set of 7 Maoi heads. Whew! The island is small so we were able to see a ton without feeling like we were being rushed at any one place. We ended with dinner at a nice little restaurant by the water and had the best ceviche of my life!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"117\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=117\" class=\"wp-image-117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_2529.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Lava Tube near Ana Kakenga<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"116\" data-full-url=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362.jpg\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/?attachment_id=116\" class=\"wp-image-116\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_7362.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Ana Kakenga Cave<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The last day it was supposed to rain so we planned to play in some caves, but thankfully it didn\u2019t rain! And we still found some awesome caves\/ lava tubes at Ana Kakenga to crawl around in that had remnants, carvings and rocks placed in certain areas signifying that people used to live in them. This was a lot of fun and not many people there so we liked it even more. It also offered some nice walking along the coast with the waves hitting the lava cliffs. We went to the museum before heading back to town and filled up on more information. We hung out in town after returning Steve that afternoon and watched some high school kid&#8217;s soccer game and (what we assume) the equivalent to the rec center putting on a native dance class for everyone. It was really fun to watch! The culture of Rapa Nui is Polynesian and is more similar to Hawaiian culture than Chilean so they&#8217;re trying to preserve their culture as much as possible since they&#8217;re a province of Chile and have a lot of influence from them. We grabbed dinner, which consisted of more ceviche from 2 different restaurants and hung out at the local Art and Culture festival watching kids and adults perform until the rain finally came. But considering we thought it was going to rain the majority of the day, we completely lucked out!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A59A9BAA-A64E-4F18-B647-BFB80A0F5999-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A59A9BAA-A64E-4F18-B647-BFB80A0F5999-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A59A9BAA-A64E-4F18-B647-BFB80A0F5999-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A59A9BAA-A64E-4F18-B647-BFB80A0F5999-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A59A9BAA-A64E-4F18-B647-BFB80A0F5999.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Moai heads at Ahu Tongariki <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This place was everything I could have hoped for, expected and so much more. Everyone was very nice, broken Spanish got us by just fine. It is on the touristy side, but that&#8217;s a given. We did feel completely safe everywhere we went. In order to get into any of the sites you need to purchase a National Park ticket that lasts multiple days but it is a little pricey. It set us back $80 each. But we figured it was worth it. We have no problem supporting national parks, especially when it goes to something this unique. We also don&#8217;t mind since we&#8217;re a guest at this island and since tourism is taking a toll on the island, we will happily pay to keep the island and the national park running while still being able to visit such a place. Oh, and make sure you have an International Driver\u2019s License that calls out you can drive scooters! But don\u2019t worry if not, it\u2019ll be fine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What an unforgettable place! I\u2019m so glad we made this a priority to explore. We gave ourselves 2 and a half days and I\u2019d say&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[11,16,17,15],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-chile","tag-easter-island","tag-national-park","tag-rapa-nui"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anniandtom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}