As most of our family knows, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. So any hotel that has a stacked breakfast is my kind of place. The airport hotel had potato balls, chicken nuggets, fruits, yogurts, bread, pastries, cereals; you name it they had it. There were even a large selection of fun drinks so I had raspberry juice and chocolate milk. After our huge breakfast it was a quick 5 minute walk to our terminal where check in for our Easter Island flight went smoothly. On the plane I watched Free Willy (I was feeling nostalgic already for our time in Antarctica) and Valentine’s Day. They served the best in flight second breakfast of omelettes, oven roasted tomatoes, nectarine juice, bread, fruit, and potato. Our flight was about 5 hours and we landed around noon local time.

Once we got out of the airport, which was super cute and surrounded by beautiful greenery, we opted to walk to our hotel. I loved the views when we were landing, everything was so green. It was pretty hot outside so the walk was a bit rough. It reminded me of us walking from the airport to our hotel on our first island in the Philippines. To split up the walk we stopped for lunch at Makona Restaurant. We shared some ceviche and some tropical local fish. They both read like they’d be delicious but we were underwhelmed. Then I got nervous that all food on the island would be like that. Spoiler alert, that was our only bad meal, thank goodness. We eventually made it to our hotel and, after struggling to find the reception, got checked in. The receptionist could not believe we walked from the airport. It was pretty obvious from our many sweat droplets.

Our hotel was so cute, with just a handful of rooms. The ocean was directly in front of us and each room had their own private deck with chairs and a table. As much as I loved our hostels in Patagonia, it was a nice change of pace. There were flowers on the bed and everything we could need inside. We were also a 2 minute walk away from Ahu Tahai, an oceanside archaeological area with many moai, where we could wander without a guide. It was a popular spot on the island for sunset so it was incredible to be so close to it.

The island has put in efforts to protect the landscapes and historical artifacts so most places required a guide to explore. Our first guide picked us up at 4:30pm for our volcano crater hike. It was a short drive to get there and we hiked from 4:55pm to 6:30pm. I think we were more capable hikers than what he was used to since the hike was supposed to take 3 hours. The trail followed a dirt road gradually uphill to the crater rim. From there we followed the rim to the left all the way to the ocean where the rim had a steep decent. From there we could see small parts of Orongo village, a site we would visit on another day. Inside the crater was some water and vegetation. It was so stunning with the crater and ocean so close together. Our guide told us about how he used to plant pineapples inside the crater and would bring girls there to impress them when he was a teenager. After enjoying the views at our dead end we followed the crater back where we came from then continued more to the right until we were just past the center. It was nice to start off our time in Easter Island with a little activity.

Our guide also informed us, after Nick observed it and asked, that locals would never refer to it as Easter Island, rather Rapa Nui or another version of the name that we could not remember. So I’ll refer to it as Rapa Nui from here. After returning to our hotel just before 7:00pm we walked across the street for barbeque ribs, strawberry juice, and yummy desserts from Te Moai Sunset. The views of the ocean were beautiful and we were happy to leave the cold windy Patagonian weather behind us.

The next day was our first full day on the island. The day started off great with a huge breakfast tray being delivered to our hotel room door. Nick and I sat on our deck and enjoyed our bread, cheese, salami, fruit, cookies, tea, coffee, and strawberry juice. At 9:00am we got picked up by a car with our guide and one other tourist. We would be doing a small group tour of the main historic pathways of the island. As it turns out the group was so large that we didn’t all fit in the van, so much for ‘small’ group. But it was nice being in the car because we could ask more questions and get to know each other better. We were definitely missing a significant amount of information from the main guide, though, as he did a lot of his explanations while driving between stops.

First was a stop around an area with ruins of home foundations. We could see the outlines of the houses and the stones used as the bases to put the rest of the house on top of. The stones had holes in them to secure wooden poles. Our guide said there are not many of these remaining as people have resided on the island for a long time so many stones were repurposed and can be found in peoples fences, gardens, etc. There were many fruits trees and bushes including one called a Rose Apple. They were small and soft with a large seed inside. The taste was like eating an apple while smelling potpourri. I thought they were delicious. We also saw bananas, grapes, and guava, but none of those were ripe yet. The area also had several caves which used to be stable enough to go inside, but now were collapsing. There was a giant bee hive in one of them with a cool shape. Many cows and baby cows wandered the area as we did our tour.

Our second stop was an archeological site with 7 moai in a row. The place had many purple flowers, a homemade outdoor gym using rocks (very inventive), and a large area around the moai for walking. The moai were still on their original platform and there was plenty of space to walk all the way around them. The third stop was an area with big stones used for carving things. I was uncertain about the full details of it as it was windy and hard to hear. We had views of the ocean from up there, which was nice.

In the middle of the day we had a 1.5 hour long lunch break. The place they took us to wasn’t open for lunch, which was kind of funny. The group had to divide and conquer and find their own place to get food. That worked out great because we had amazing strawberry juice, tuna sashimi, garlic shrimp, brownie sundae, and mango ice cream from Kanahau. That restaurant was also on the ocean so we got to watch surfers while eating. In hindsight, if I had known how beginner friendly the waves were there I would’ve scheduled us a full day dedicated just to that. Next time. There were also many sea turtles swimming near shore, which I loved.

Fourth stop of the day had many moai faces that were broken. They were laying down on the ground or half buried. We also got to see perhaps one of the only female moai, which had originally had two heads. A priest said that was not the work of god and ordered the heads to be removed. This moai likely represents a siamese twin. It was sad to hear about how many moai were destroyed by people during civil war. Most of them we could see were partially buried. It was great when we could see ones that had been fully unburied and put back onto their platforms.

The fifth and final stop was Orongo village on the Rano Kau volcano crater rim. That was the village remains we could (almost) see from our hike the day before. The area had a small museum that had great information about the island and a few of their traditions, some of which they still do today and others ended after the civil wars did. There was a short loop that showed old homes and replicas with views of the crater to the left and ocean to the right.

We made it back to our hotel by 4:15pm, then had dinner at the same place we got lunch. We had tuna sashimi, seafood pasta, crème brûlée, and ice cream. It was such a good way to end the day. We were originally supposed to meet the same group at 9:00pm to do the star gazing night tour, but that got cancelled due to clouds and wind. That was really too bad because no other night was good for it and from the spot they go to we would’ve been able to see the milky way behind some moai on the beach. It would’ve been beautiful!

The next day was the schedule of Nick’s nightmares: fully booked day from 5:00am – 11:30pm. We tried rearranging with our tour company, but many things were weather dependent so it was not possible to arrange for something better without risking not being able to do one of the activities, like what happened the night before. Our hotel was kind enough to pack us to-go breakfast which we could take with us for our 5:00am pick up. It was at least a private tour, which was nice. We took a short drive to Ahu Tongariki, where we walked down the beach path in the dark. With our flashlight we could see many palm trees, several moai lined up, and hear the sounds of the ocean. Once our eyes adjusted we could look around without the flashlight since the moon was so bright. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy, but even without a clear sky I thought it was still pretty cool.

Our second stop was Tongariki, where we walked around the archeological site in the back first to see engravings on the stones. Then we watched the sunrise over the long line of moai statues towering on their platform with the ocean in the background. It was gorgeous and many people were there. After the sunrise we went back to the first beach we were at in order to see the moai in the daytime. It was a completely different vibe being there then. There was a mom and her two daughters dressed up in traditional outfits doing a photo shoot in front of the moai. Nick and I picked a spot on the grass and had a picnic with our to-go breakfast bag. We shared our fruit with our guide who was happy to get a snack. After eating we walked along the beach enjoying having the space to ourselves.

Third stop was an area where we walked along the ocean. Our guide showed us rocks that were piled in a circle with a particularly smooth and round one in the middle. He said this was the worlds belly button. The area also had remnants of what used to be chicken coops, village ruins, and other artifacts. The chicken coops were cool and I never would’ve guessed that’s what they were used for. They looked like large stone houses with no entrances. According to our guide only the farmer would know which stones to move to allow the chickens to be let out during the day. That protected them from theft.

Our fourth stop was close to where we had watched sunrise in the morning. We visited the quarry where they made the moai. That was our favorite stop, it was so interesting to see it all. It helped understand better the immense scale of the moai and how important they were for the people at the time. There were moai shapes cut from the hillside, moai half burried in the ground, and a line of laying down moai stretching across a long distance in a straight line. That was referred to as the moai highway which was used to transport moai to their final platforms. There were so many there and even more suspected to be buried out of sight.

Fifth was another ruins of a village with fully intact toppled moai. There was also a cave there. At that point in the afternoon all the sites were incredibly busy so we were happy to be on a private tour. That allowed us to be more flexible with our visiting. Our guide added a bonus stop at another small village with ruins. We made it back to our hotel by 11:50am. We walked to Vai Manu Surf/Cafe/Food Experience, where we got poke and ice cream. Nick tried a whole pineapple, which a woman was selling from the back of her truck. It was pineapple season and we could buy a whole one for about $1. They were little, but Nick said super delicious. After that we happily took a nap to get ready for our evening excursion.

The long day continued with a 7:45pm pickup for our dinner and dance show. We did the Te Ra’ai one. It seemed like there were a few families on the island who do a show like that certain nights of the week and then maybe one bigger show done for the cruise ships. We were happy with the one we chose as it still felt small and intimate. It felt less over-produced than some of the other larger productions we had been to in other places. When we arrived they painted our faces and gave us head pieces to wear. There were welcome drinks so I had a pisco sour and Nick had the pineapple and banana juice.

After taking some photos we participated in the ceremony of unveiling the meats that had cooked all day underground. We were sat with a nice couple from Colorado right at the front of the stage. There were hours of amazing live music and dance performances from men and women. The food itself was okay but the highlight was the dancing for sure. The show ended at around 11:30pm and we were happy to crawl back into bed just before midnight. It was an amazing but long day.

The next morning’s breakfast was more strawberry juice, tea, coffee and a variety of fun foods. We got picked up at 9:30am by the same guide we had been with twice already. We parked at 10:05am for our Poike hike. That was on the right side of the island where there was restoration occurring and another crater. Our hike started along the ocean on a cliff. The views were great up there. Most of the landscape was tall grasses, but with one small area of trees. Our guide took us on the side of the cliff where we got to crawl inside a lava tube cave. Inside we could see many old paintings.

After the lava tube cave we made our way to the highest point, the Rano Raraku. We passed some older moai and discarded shellfish shells. Once at the top we enjoyed a much needed lunch break while sitting on a ‘rock sofa’ as our guide called it. We enjoyed some sandwiches we made from our breakfast haul. Our guide took a phone call and Nick and I walked around the entire crater. It was much smaller than the first one we went to. We also went down inside of it since it was so shallow. It was full of tall trees and other vegetation. It was almost not even recognizable as a crater. The way back to the car was down the crater and zig zagging through erosion created ditches. Our guide had a blast and ran down them. We were done by 2:00pm and back at our hotel by 2:30pm.

Nick was happy we ended up having a free afternoon after our hike. The hike was estimated to take around 7 hours but we were done in 4. There was a local swim spot we had walked past several times over the last few days we wanted to try out. It was a short walk from our hotel. We took turns swimming in the protected area. There were many families there enjoying the sunny weather. On our way home we got maracuya ice cream and Nick got another whole pineapple. Dinner was at my favorite place again for another round of tuna sashimi, garlic shrimp, passion fruit juice, and mango ice cream. Since it was our last evening we even sat out on the grass in front of the moai by our hotel and watched the sunset with a crowd of other people.

Our last breakfast at the hotel was an incredible one. We got waffles with dulce de leche and sprinkles, raspberry yogurt with cereal, bread, butter, jam, salami, cheese, and juice that was a blend of strawberry with orange and papaya. We had a relaxed last morning and checked out. We made our way over to the poke spot for an early lunch. There were two art galleries we checked out to split up our walk back to the airport. They were both interesting to walk around, but had limited pieces. I loved a painting we saw at our dance show so I was hoping to find something by that artist. Although I found similar pieces, nothing stood out to me. On our walks we saw more flowers, fruit trees, and a baby horse.

Checking in to the flight was an interesting process. The airport didn’t seem big enough for the number of people that were flying. The line was incredibly long and cramped to get through into the waiting area. It went all the way inside the bathrooms. On the flight back to Santiago I watched the Princess Diaries and Freakier Friday. After how delicious the breakfast had been flying to Rapa Nui I was eager to see what our food would be. It was not similar at all, unfortunately. It was plain white rice with plain dry white chicken. I told Nick it felt like I was a gym bro. We landed during sunset with the mountains surrounding Santiago all glowing orange. It was stunning. After landing and checking in to our hostel we took a short stroll in the green spaces along the river. It was a successful travel day to our last international destination of our world trip. Crazy!