After a night on the benches of the Santiago airport we boarded our jet and sped off towards the middle of the pacific ocean. After 6 hours a tiny island loomed out of the airplane windows, which were calling home for the next 4 days.

Rapa Nui, to give it its traditional name, is an anomaly on this earth. A tucked away, remote isolated haven where rugged terrain, magical vistas, folklore and tradition meet in a mythical melting pot of Polynesian and Spanish culture.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the kind staff of Mihinoa camping who had 4 laia’s ready and waiting for us. Donning our new flower necklaces we set up in our hostel and planned for the next few days. The campsite located in the town of Hanga Roa was fantastically situated a stones throw from the sea with its crashing light blue waves battering the rocky shoreline.

On one of the evenings we got a taste of Polynesian history and culture when we attended the Kari Kari show. It was a show full of traditional dance and songs where the audience got the chance to participate albeit not by their own choice. The performers on the show would come off the stage and go hunting for potential prey to dance on with them. Sitting at the back of the audience provided no safety net as me and Kev were eagerly targeted for a showdown on stage. Infact, what seemed daunting thing, turned out to be a great laugh where we got to dance with some pretty Polynesian girls and receive a huge round of applause from the audience.

Easter Island is well known for its beauty and Moai statues dotted all over the island which would take a long time to see if on foot. So we hired a small jeep which we affectionately named “Jimmy” after the name of its model. With our new friend Jimmy, we took to the road and visited Orongo village which gave us some information about the history of the inhabitants of this island thousands of years ago. We then went on to Rano Kau Volcano which hosts a vast amount of Moai statues of all shapes and sizes.

Before we went on to see the spectacular Tongariki statues (picture below), we chilled out on Anakena beach until it started to rain. We finished off the day by watching the sunset at Ahu Akiri, where we shared the stunning views of red skies over the big blue sea with 4 other Moais.

The island is also a hiking haven. We were recommended a long hike around the coast of the island. The starting point of this hike was about 20km away at Anakena beach and by then we had no longer had Jimmy. Fortunately, The island is hitch-hiker friendly, and we managed to grab a free ride on a back of a lorry. Along the hike we got to see the beautiful natural coast lines and the many strange rock formations and old rock structures from previous inhabitants. On the final part of the hike we got a little miserable as we veered off the track and got lost inland. Then it got more miserable when it started to rain heavily. We got back to the campsite after about 7 hours of solid walking. That never put us off a little more hiking the following day where we saw the Ana Kai Tangata caves and a few more Moai statues along the coast, closer to our campsite.

We spent the final days chilling out, enjoying the sun and our sea views, playing volley ball with the campsite owner’s children and reading some of the books that we have managed to hoard since we started traveling.

We leave this small gem of an island after four fantastic days after the owners kindly see us off at the airport where we leave for our next slice of paradise that is Tahiti.