Vacation On Easter Island
Easter Island is not a place you would just stumble upon. This island is known for several reasons, but it is the mysterious statues located here that seem to be the most intriguing. The island itself is a part of Chile and located in the Pacific Ocean; however, 3,500 miles away from the Chilean mainland. In fact, this South Pacific island is considered one of the most isolated inhabited places on earth. One of the most interesting things about this island is that nearly every side of it faces another country from east to west. The country can be spotted easily by seeing its smallest island which is just three square miles in size.
The very first time I heard about Easter Island, I was struck by its unique name, which is self-explanatory. The stone monoliths scattered around the island called Moai has also made a big impression on me. The beauty of this small island in the Pacific Ocean is such that it attracts lots of tourists each year.
Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888 and included in the Archipiélago de Juan Fernández until the territorial reassignment of 1995, it has no official capital. All modern human activity is concentrated on the island’s main town, Hanga Roa, located at the island’s isthmus. The island was most recently inhabited by a few hundred indigenous Rapa Nui people and had one of the world’s lowest population densities.
Easter Island – Rapanui In a recent World Bank study, Easter Island was ranked as the best place to retire, citing it’s beautiful scenery, affordable housing and active community.
With its mysterious, stoic moai watching over the island and craterous, seemingly barren landscapes that hint at a turbid, fascinating history, Easter Island** (aka Isla de Pascua as it’s known in Spanish or Rapa Nui as is its local name) captivates most travellers.
Vacation On Easter Island
In fact, the idea of visiting the staggeringly remote Easter Island is one that drives many tourists to Chile.
But it’s a notoriously expensive South American destination and one that it is commonly believed to be difficult to visit without spending a fortune.
COVID-19 update: Rapa Nui/Easter Island is currently closed to visitors. Commercial flights to the island were due to resume on February 3, 2022 but this has been delayed until at August 1st, 2022. Entry requirements for when flights begin operating again look likely to include proof of vaccination and to provide a negative PCR test 48 hours before flying and another one upon arrival.
Luckily, this isn’t true.
As I found out on my trip to Easter Island, there are plenty of ways that you can explore this 163 square kilometre-island without forking out thousands of dollars.
Know before you go: Easter Island
Where exactly is Easter Island?
Easter Island is located in the Pacific Ocean and the nearest land masses are the Pitcairn Islands, 1,931 kilometres west.
However, Easter Island officially belongs to Chile, even though it lies exactly 3,746 kilometres west of the country.
Strangely enough, the islands are part of the Valparaiso Region, even though they are geographically closer to the Atacama Region if you were to draw a line due west to mainland Chile.
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Do people still live on Easter Island?
Yes, Easter Island is still inhabited! Using radiocarbon dating, archaeologists now believe that the first colonists of the island, explorers from Polynesia, arrived on Easter Island sometime around 1,200 AD.
These initial settlers organized themselves into mata or tribes and survived through innovative agricultural practices until the arrival of the Europeans on Easter Sunday in the year 1722 – a date that explains the island’s English name.
Although estimates for the size of the population on Easter Island range wildly, from 1,000 to 17,500, what is known is that slave raids by Spanish-owned Peru and the introduction of diseases nearly exterminated the entire population of the island in the 19th century.
At present, population levels are around 7,000 and law changes have been introduced to make it harder for foreigners and Chileans to move to the island due to concerns about population increases and the environmental consequences of this.
When I visited Easter Island in June 2018, the most fascinating part of my trip was the chance to talk to the local Rapanui people.
Misconceptions have long plagued the history of this Pacific Island (a topic I’ll be covering in a future post) and arguably the best way to learn about the real history of its people is by talking to them.
