Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Santiago - Easter Island. Reception at Mataveri airport, where you are greeted by our local guides. Transfer to Hanga Roa, a small township where Easter Island's 2.500 people all live. Here you find your family-style hotel (or up-graded hotel depending on your selected option). Welcome cocktail to meet your guides and discuss the itinerary and some other aspects about the trip.
Day 2: Hanga Roa - Rano Kau – Orongo – Vinapu - Vaihu (4 hrs riding). Early in the morning start the horse riding throughout the island that during 6 days will lead you over hundreds of years of history. Ride to Rano Kau volcano, the biggest on the island, whose enormous crater is now a fresh water lake with floating green fields of totora reeds. This site offers an exceptional view of three tiny and craggy islands Nui, Motu and Kao-Kao where the bizarre "bird man" ritual took place. Here we also find the ruin village of Orongo, perched in this sublime location, which shows 48 oval buildings built out of overlapping stone slabs. Over the cliffs you see an amazing string of "bird man" petroglyphs. The tour continues to Vinapu where we find Ahu Tahira Ahu, one of the first Ahus constructed. Tahira is a key element in Thor Heyerdahl's theory that the islanders came sailing from South America since it contains a wall of perfectly carved and fitted stone blocks that is strikingly similar to the work of the Tihuanaco culture (Bolivia) and the Inca walls in Cuzco (Perú) Camping near Vaihu. Includes (B, L-, D).
Day 3: Vaihu – Akahanga – Tonkariki – Rano Rarku (4hrs riding). Horseback to Aka Anga, settlement of the last clan, the clan of the Miru, direct descendants of king Hotu Matua, The legency says that the head of the king is buried there. Visit the houseboats where they used to live, some remains of their houses and nearby caves. Then continue southwards to visit Ahu Tongariki, recently restored after a tidal wave washed the statues dozens of meters away from their original setting in 1960. Optional trekking to Rano Raraku.
This might be the most impressive site on the island: 70 standing sentinels, embedded up to their shoulders in grass on the south slope of the volcanic crater Rano Raraku, leading the way to the quarry or "nursery" inside of the impressive crater rim. Here the Moai (enormous, 100 tons basalt statues) were cut from volcanic tuff, and some 150 figures, still left there, in all stages of completion, are mute witnesses of the mystery that suddenly stopped all work. In Rano Raraku we set up camp. Includes (B, L-, D).
Day 4: Rano Rarku - Poike - Bahia de la Perousse – Te Pito Kura – Ovahe – Anakena (5 hrs riding). We start riding towards Poike Peninsula where once a mystical war took place among the so called "long-Ears", who carved the Moai, and the newcomers known as "Short Ears", who were kept in a inferior class and helped in manual labor. Although there are many contradictory versions of the legend it is said that the Short Ears rebelled and slaughtered all the Long Ears. We follow the coast road along the Bahía de la Perousse onwards to the east of the island where we find the largest Moai ever transported. It is named Ahu Te Pito Te Kura (navel of light) and boasts of 9.8 m/ 32 ft in length.
Ahu means sacred place and describes the rectangular stone platform on which the Moai statues were erected. Continue heading to the north to Ovahe beach, a small bay nestled beneath a cliff of volcanic rock with pure and golden sands and magnificent clear water, a true South Pacific paradise. Spend some time there swimming and relaxing. Later reach Anakena beach, the legendary landing place of Hota Matua, the founder of the island. Overnight camping. Includes (B, L-, D).
Day 5: Anakena - Hanga O´Teo – Omohi – Terevake – Ahu Akivi – Tahai – Hanga Roa (4 hrs riding). After breakfast start riding to Hanga O´Teo a beautiful beach with an incredible sight to Maunga Tereva. We pass the Omohi geoglyphs and Terevake, the highest point on the island. Terevaka lies 500 meters above sea level. It is the youngest of all the volcanoes on the island, dated at 240,000 years old, compared to the volcano at Rano Kau, near Orongo, which is about one million years old. Continue to the ceremonial center of Ahu Akivi where you find seven standing Moais that represent the sons of a Maori sorcerer sent to search for Rapa Nui, the home for King Hotu Matua.After lunch, ride back to Hanga Roa. Overnight Hotel. Includes (B, L-).
Day 6: Easter Island - Santiago. Morning free to relax. Later transfer to the airport to take the flight back to Santiago. Includes (B).
* Group Size and Guiding Staff:
18 maximum plus our staff. Guide to client ratio: 1/10.
* Accommodation:
While camping, nights will be spent in 2-person tents. In town, nights will be spent in the selected hotel.
* Weather:
Each expedition dossier contains fully detailed information, however remember that temperature varies from 15°/4C to 28°/4C in summer (Dec-Feb). Although May is the wettest month, tropical downpours can occur in all seasons.
* Physical Demands:
Flat terrain secure good chances for cantering or galloping. The riding abilities for this trip are basic and no previous experience is required.
* What you need to bring:
Sleeping bag (comfortable to 0°/4C), full length sleeping pad, day-backpack and trekking boots, rain proof gear.
* Equipment:
Standard equipment includes 2-person tents, kitchen/dining tent, tables and stools, cooking equipment and utensils, first aid kit, etc.
* Participation:
The participant will be asked to carry only a day-backpack containing personal belongings, water and the box-lunch. The cooking, the cleaning and the camp setting will be responsibility of the guiding staff.
* About the Itinerary:
The numbers in brackets (time-hrs) are approximated and refer to the riding portions exclusively. In general the itinerary submitted and the estimated of time is reasonable for well-fit passengers, considering also good weather conditions and occasional stops for sightseeing and pictures
* Itinerary Modifications:
We reserve the right to change the order of the days in any itinerary under the sole discretion of the trip guide and based on operational considerations. The trip guide can also modify, change or eliminate part of the itinerary based on safety/weather considerations
* Additional Information and References:
Once you book the trip we will send you a pre-trip Information booklet with useful and detailed information about your trip with us.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Season 2008-2009:
* Option Hotel O'TAI (standard)
- 2 People: USD 1,589 p/p
- 3-5 People: USD 1,383 p/p
- 6-8 People: USD 1,205 p/p
- 9-11 People: USD 1,055 p/p
- 12 + People: USD 994 p/p
- SGL Supl. USD 48
* Option Hotel O'TAI (superior)
- 2 People: USD 1,611 p/p
- 3-5 People: USD 1,405 p/p
- 6-8 People: USD 1,228 p/p
- 9-11 People: USD 1,077 p/p
- 12 + People: USD 1,016 p/p
- SGL Supl. USD 106
Price Includes:
- All transportation throughout the island
- 2 nights accommodation in the selected hotel
- 3 nights camping accommodation on a sharing basis
- Personal horse
- Meals as mentioned in the itinerary: B=breakfast L=lunch L- =Box Lunch D=dinner
- English speaking guide
- Orongo entrance fee (currently there are no other entrance fees to be paid on this trip, but this is subject to change)
* Price Excludes:
- Air transport
- Meals not indicated on the itinerary
- Insurance
- Sleeping bag and mattress (could be rented in place).
Also see tour packages in:
South America
Chile
Horse Riding
Island Vacation
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