Located 2,300 miles due west of Santiago lies a remote speck in the Pacific Ocean known as Easter Island. This strange place is also known as Te Pito, Te Henua and Rapa Nui. It is an irregularly shaped, 45 sq. mile, volcanic isle, which packs a wallop far out of proportion of its size. It has a visual impact few places in the world can equal.

Photography cannot prepare you for the overwhelming sensations that the monoliths engender. It has been said of the volcano from whose inner and outer slopes the moai (statues) rise - "... a spectacle without parallel anywhere else on the globe - a vast hillside populated with strange, gaunt, eyeless giants of another world. To see their immensity this close up, actually touching their pockmarked bodies, is a mind-boggling experience."

These giants are not idols but "Aringa Ora" or living faces, resembling and commemorating certain illustrious ancestors who were believed be endowed with supernatural powers or "mana" which protected their kinfolk. To perpetuate mana after death, a moai would be erected on an Ahu (altar) with the head bones of the deceased buried underneath. The tour starts with a morning visit to the "Ahu Tahai", the local museum and the "Ahu Vinapu" - with its incredible stone walls similar to those built by the incas. In the afternoon, a tour to the Rano Hau Volcano and the ceremonial village of Orongo with its impressive view of the islets of Moto Nui, Monto Iti and Motu Kao Kao. Afterwards, a visit to the famous Aku Akivi where the seven statues overlook the sea.

The following day, an excursion to Anaquena Beach, picnic lunch included. Tour package includes transfers, excursions and accommodations at the Hotel Hanga Roa. Also available 7D/6N tour.