August 17-20, Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Reunion, Lava Tubes, and More Adventures

Next, our summer travels in 2026 took us to Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, with Dan, Georgia, Isabella, Victoria, Grandma Anna, and me.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, located over 2,000 miles off the Chilean coast. It was formed as a result of volcanic eruptions and still has plenty of evidence of its volcanic past all over. 

First settled by Polynesian voyagers around 1200 CE, the island developed a unique culture famous for constructing massive stone statues called moai, carved to honor revered current leaders and the magical gifts that they brought to their people. Over-exploitation of natural resources, internal conflict, and eventual European contact in 1722 led to a dramatic population decline (down to just 111 inhabitants and the complete loss of their written tradition) and environmental transformation, leaving behind one of the world's most intriguing archaeological landscapes.

Dan and I were here 17 years ago. Based on our memories, we hadn’t done too much planning beyond booking a cave tour, which was something new we hadn’t tried last time. When we were here last, we simply rented a car and drove around the island, stopping at interesting places. At that time, we were only here for about a day and a half back then because, at the time, there were only two weekly flights to and from Santiago.

It looks like a lot has changed in terms of how things are organized. 

We saw that one of the big changes is that you can no longer go anywhere that’s a national park without a guide, which is why we booked the cave tour. What we didn't realize, was that practically the entire island is now a national park! 

Other than the main town of Hanga Roa and Anakena Beach, you can’t go anywhere at all without a guide and park tickets. While protecting this much-abused island's archaeological wonders and providing jobs for locals is a great idea in theory, the implementation could have been better.

On the day of arrival, Dan and I rented two small cars, the process seemed incredibly easy compared to anywhere else we’ve ever rented a car before. But as we started driving around, we understood why: every area is closed off with a ticketing office, requiring a guide and park ticket to enter. So on our first day, we sort of drove around, tried to sneak in at one spot, went to the beach and tried to sneak in to see some moai close to the shore, but were still turned back.

So it was a sort of "meh" start to the first day, and it was raining. Fortunately, we had our cave tour booked for the next day, and we managed to book a trip to see more moai with the same agency afterward. Even though it was unexpected, and the island authorities really could have provided more information upfront about how the park works now, we eventually figured it out.

Despite the hiccups, driving around that first day was fun in itself because of the rain. The roads were muddy, and the cars were maybe one step up from a go-kart, making them a blast to drive! The roads haven't been improved since 17 years ago, they are full of potholes, and made for an entertaining drive as cows, horses, and many, many chickens crossed our path.

We also visited the place I’ve been thinking about for so long: the perfectly round volcano crater lake (Rano Kau). It's a freshwater lake at the top with floating green mosses and pools of water that, when viewed from above, look like another planet or world. Last time we were here, it was truly magical with much more open water "oceans". Now, it's mostly overgrown with grasses, with only spots of water left. It’s still pretty amazing, though a bit less magical than 17 years ago. You hardly ever get to re-experience something years later, but I really wanted to see it again.

On the culinary side, the ceviche here is magnificent! Isabella picked a lovely spot for dinner on the first night that served ceviche pizza, the absolute best of the best. I’m sorry to say Nicky’s banh mi pizza will have to take a back seat now!

Exploring Lava Tubes & Cave Systems

The next day we had our cave tour. I’m not going to bother with the exact names of the places, they all sound like beautifully repeated names like Tiki-Tiki or Mono-Mono or An-Ah, so it’s really hard to remember!

Anyway, we explored several different lava tubes formed by ancient volcanic flows. It was awesome to walk around the surface checking out local guava trees before heading underground. We walked through one lava tube, and in another spot, walked through a cave that opened up into a sunken crater filled with lush vegetation, offering a magnificent view looking back up.

It was really wonderful to be with the kids again. We miss them so much when we're apart, so it was so good to have everybody together.

The Kari Kari Show

At night, we attended a traditional cultural performance by the Kari Kari dance troupe. Before the show started, Georgia, Dan, and I got our faces painted by two artists. One was a guy close in age to us and very funny; the other, who painted my face, was a younger, very built-out guy wearing a minimalistic loincloth!

The show itself was striking, featuring elements reminiscent of Hawaiian dance styles combined with the energy of a Maori haka. The dancers, especially the male ones, were in magnificent shape, and the dances were incredibly high energy, most of us were kind of jaw-slacked over the great show!

At some point, the dancers began calling people from the audience to join them on stage. That’s when things got terrifying for a moment! I think they were scanning the crowd for people with face paint, assuming those were the adventurous ones ready to perform. We were ready for adventure, but maybe not that ready!

Fortunately, we didn't get picked. Most of the people called up initially were either relaxed tourists trying to get into the groove or locals dancing with relatives in the cast. Then they called up anyone celebrating a birthday. Finally, they invited everyone up to take photos, which is when most of the audience—including us—went on stage. It was awesome!

Local Insights, Fresh Uni, and Final Thoughts

On our final day before heading to the airport, we took a tour with Yeni, Alberto's cousin (our guide from the day before) and the sister of the guy who painted Georgia's and Dan's faces and leads the dance troupe. With around 7,500 people living on the island, everybody knows each other, and most people are related! We even met one of the dancers from last night on his tour, Yeni's nephew,  and he did a little number for us on ukulele with her singing along.

We started early for the sunrise tour at Ahu Tongariki (the famous 15 moai site), arriving at 6:30am. We joined a ton of other people lined up and gazing out at the 15 massive statues, waiting for the sun to rise behind them. It was really pleasant to watch the sky slowly transform through a spectrum of changing colors against their silhouettes.

Afterward, Yeni took us around the site, pointing out astronomical petroglyphs carved into the surrounding rock and guiding us through the stone outlines of the ancient village houses that once stood there.

From there, we visited Rano Raraku, the quarry site, to learn how these Moai were actually built. They originally started as relatively modest statues, but every subsequent generation tried to make them taller and grander than the last. 

We were surprised to learn that these statues were carved for living leaders to lock in their magic and protection. When a leader died, they brought the old moai down and replaced it with one for the current leader—sometimes even recycling pieces of the old statues into the foundation platform (ahu) beneath the new ones.

Next, we visited the "royal" moai at Anakena Beach, and finished at Orongo, the ceremonial volcano village, learning about their intense cultural "Olympics"—the famous Birdman (Tangata Manu) competition—and seeing the sacred birthing stones. It is truly an amazing culture and an incredible island.

Throughout the day, we got to know Yeni much better. She moved to the US at 18 to attend college and ended up staying for about 30 years, mostly in Wyoming. After her divorce and her father's passing, she moved back to Rapa Nui and became a tour guide. Since she used to be a teacher in the US, she was extremely well-spoken, with better English than us, and had very interesting stories to share.

At times, it felt like she was trying a little too hard to project a strict local authority. In particular, I disliked the practice of being inhospitable toward tourists who accidentally wandered near closed or restricted areas. Being on the inside of the tour, it felt like we were awkwardly and unwillingly a part of that hostility toward others.

They really could organize and broadcast information better. Traveling here is expensive—it costs more to fly to Easter Island from Santiago than it does to fly from New Jersey to Santiago, and LATAM has a monopoly on the route. Because it’s so pricey, visitors really need clear information upfront to budget properly for local guide requirements so they can actually see the archaeological sites of value.

At one point, Yeni pulled over, walked right down into the water in her hiking boots, and retrieved a live sea urchin (uni). She smashed it open using her car keys and gave us a bite right off the shell. It was easily one of the best unis I’ve ever had in my life. 

Later in the afternoon after our tour, we flew back to Santiago, and that brings us to where you find us this morning! Dan, Isabella, Victoria, and Grandma Anna are going to stay in Santiago for the next few days. They decided not to go to the high-altitude desert that Georgia and I are heading to. So she and I are going to spend the next few days in San Pedro de Atacama, while the rest of our gang has some good times planned: doing a tour of the markets, a day trip to Valparaíso and local wineries, visiting a big sand dune, and catching up with Lorenzo (Dan's friend) and his kids.

Of course, no major trip comes without its unexpected hiccups. Right on our first day in Chile, Grandma Anna’s cell phone broke and went out of commission. In today’s connected world, losing your main link to photos, messaging, and comfort  can really be frustrating. It seems to have cast a bit of a dark cloud over her overall experience, which rippled through the rest of us as we tried to help navigate it, but we did our best to push forward and make the most of our time together. All in all, seeing the moai again was wonderful, and it was a really fantastic trip!