Easter Island, Chile with Luxury & Style (6 Days): A Sample Itinerary

ID #: DT-C-6-4-5-10-RAIJ

DavidTravel Itinerary Highlights include:

• View up close the massive Moai statues that stand guard over Easter Island

• Learn from local experts the dark tale of the rise and fall of life on Easter Island

• Enjoy the unique, environmentally friendly Explora Rapa Nui, your hotel on Easter Island

• Explore the sites of the vibrant city of Santiago

• Visit an authentic Chilean craft center

• Photograph the scenery of Rano Raraku, the most iconic area of Easter Island with dramatic Moais

Overview:

Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands on Earth. Early settlers called the island "Te Pito O Te Henua" (Navel of The World).

Officially a territory of Chile, it lies far off in the Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway to Tahiti. It is most famous for its enigmatic giant stone busts, built centuries ago, which reflect the history of the dramatic rise and fall of the most isolated Polynesian culture.

The English name of the island commemorates its European discovery by a Dutch exploration vessel on Easter Sunday in 1722.

Ever since Thor Heyerdahl and a small party of adventurers sailed their raft from South America to the Tuamotu islands, far to the north of Easter Island, a controversy has raged over the origin of the islanders. Today DNA testing has proved conclusively that the polynesians arrived from the west rather than the east, and that the people of Easter Island are descendants of intrepid voyagers who set out from Taiwan thousands of years ago.

In brief, the prehistory of Easter Island is one of supreme accomplishment, flourishing and civilization, followed by environmental devastation and decline. Although it is not agreed when people first arrived on Easter Island (with estimates ranging from several hundred to more than one thousand years ago), consensus seems to be that the first peoples arrived from Polynesia. Rather than being inhabited by mistake or chance, evidence has suggested that Easter Island was colonized deliberately by large boats with many settlers -- a remarkable feat given the distance of Easter Island from any other land in the Pacific Ocean.

The first islanders found a land of undoubted paradise -- archaeological evidence shows that the island was covered in trees of various sorts, including the largest palm tree species in the world, whose bark and wood furnished the natives with cloth, rope, and canoes. Birds were abundant as well, and provided food for them. A mild climate favored an easy life, and abundant waters yielded fish and oysters.

The islanders prospered due to these advantages, and a reflection of this is the religion which sprouted in their leisure, which had at its centerpiece the giant moai, or heads, that are the island's most distinctive feature today. These moai, which the island is littered with, are supposed to have been depictions of ancestors, whose presence likely was considered a blessing or watchful safekeeping eye over each small village. The ruins of Rano Raraku crater, the stone quarry where scores if not hundreds of moai sit today, is a testament to how central these figures were to the islanders, and how their life revolved around these creations. It has been suggested that their isolation from all other peoples fueled this outlet of trade and creativity -- lacking any other significant way to direct their skills and resources. The birdman culture (seen in petroglyphs), is an obvious testament to the islanders' fascination with the ability to leave their island for distant lands.