We love, loved Rapa Nui. The people were so nice and helpful, and almost all local. There is a very different vibe here than other Polynesian islands; less laid back, less touristy, but still very proud. There was so much we didn’t understand about this place until we spent a week there. We left with a much different perspective on several things, including UNESCO.
Days on the Island: 5
Miles Driven: Not as many as it looks like, this island is small
Nights spent indoors: 4, all of them…
Things we weren’t expecting:
LATAM Airlines is an amazing airline, their service is really top notch, and we were in the normal section! Fun fact! Rapa Nui is not a tropical island at all. There was only one beach that had that Polynesian island look about it, and it was very small. The entire island is an archeological site. We didn’t realize this until our guide told us, which made it make perfect sense that we needed a guide to go most places. We rented a Jimny for the last day, and learned that there is no car insurance on the island, you just work out who owes who what, as needed. Speaking of vehicles, the locals don’t wear seatbelts, or helmets as a way to stick it to the mainland man.
We learned a crazy amount of stuff from our guide, he was well worth the money. He debunked several conspiracy theories about the island, and the culture which was great. The Moai were used for several different things, including marking safe harbors to land around the island, and big brother style social control. All the Moai on the island were knocked over (which is EXTREMELY disrespectful) during tribal wars. The ones that stand now are only standing because of restoration efforts. Moai are generally both sexes, with the front being male and the back female. There is a single female Moai on the island, but she’s in rough shape, so you would never know without a guide.
Things we didn’t enjoy:
Before we arrived, we weren’t excited about having to use a guide, but this ended up being such an amazing experience, that we decided we loved it. There are a couple of really cool places that you can only visit once per ticket, the quarry and the 15 Moai, the coolest spots. All the other sites we could see as much as we wanted. We found this frustrating. We learned that UNEASCO isn’t always helpful. Once the island was declared a heritage site, all restoration had to stop, and they are only allowed to do conservation now. This keeps them from resurrecting any of the remaining fallen Moai. The locals do not love this. The island is small, but it takes a while to get around because of the state of the roads. And there are horses everywhere. Our least favorite part of Rapa Nui was having to leave. This place was so incredible.
Some things we recommend:
Literally everything.
How we got here:
