Post #336359 by Tiki Trotter on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 11:54 PM

Hello. I went to Easter Island less than a year ago and toured the South Pacific for 3 weeks mainly to go to Easter Island. I saved $$$ by taking care of most of the arrangements myself. Since I wasn't sure of accommodations on EI, I found a great travel agency to help me with that. John Bell at Travel Portfolio in Sherman Oaks, CA (818) 907-7981 set me up with the Hotel Otai. Very reasonable, a nice breakfast and right off the main street. The accommodations and price also included a few days with a tour group which gave me an overview of the island. After that, I rented one of the little Subaru jeeps on the island ($50.00/day) for the rest of my stay in which to explore the sights in greater depth. The roads are rugged, but driving
around in the little Samurai was great fun. The hotel made the arrangements to have the jeep dropped off
for me which was even more convenient.

The Hotel O'tai is one of the better hotels, more quaint, yet still modest regarding American standards which didn't bother me a bit. Nikko and family run the hotel and I don't recall needing anything that they couldn't provide. Very nice people. The hotel also has some Moai props from the movie Rapa Nui around the premises which are cool to see and a great Tiki find to brag about with pictures.

There are plenty of resources which I'm sure you have found and I might be able to offer a few more
tidbits not always published.

All of the tour groups leave the Rano Raraku crater in the afternoon, so its not uncommon to be alone with the Moai at sunset which is awesome. Free-ranging horses also are common and meander around the Moai all over the island. I found the late afternoon 5-7pm very serene and soulful on the crater.

The bank has limited hours and the only cash machine (found outside the bank) only accepts Mastercard. That could have changed in the last six months, but I would recommend exchanging your money before you get there. American dollars and euros are accepted, yet I found it easier to have local money.

Since I live on the East Coast of the US, I was able to book my flight from Atlanta to Santiago to Easter Island to Papeete, Tahiti with lengthy stopovers in each. I enjoyed more places for the same price it would have cost to leave for EI from the West Coast. Delta/Lan Chile.

I can't guarantee this b/c I mainly bought bottled water to drink, but the locals told me the bottled "Rapa
Nui" water is the same as the island tap water and both come from the same water filtration plant on the island. I never did get sick when I drank tap water and thought it was fine.

Definitely take some sort of windbreaker and hat to the island. The winds can be fierce anytime of year and
I'm sure even the most diehard sporters and hikers would agree such garments dramatically improve the sightseeing experience.

Since there are many many Moai lying face down on the island from being tipped over (tribal warfare?), I found it interesting to see where the topknot to the statues went. Often the topknot, made from red lava which greatly contrasts the darker color of the Moai, is not in close proximity to the statue. The topknot can often be found further down a hill or in the ocean where it rolled away when the statue was toppled. It can be very interesting trying to put the pieces together by surveying the whole area versus just concentrating on a moai.

The locals are looking for larger-sized clothing not easily accessible to them.

Food is very expensive, but plenty of restaurants abound. Next time, I'll take more energy bars
and snacks that will save mucho money rather than eating out.

Anyway, I could go on, but will stop for now. If you have further questions, I will be more than happy
to be of assistance. I'm going back in 2008 for a month long stay so am planning again myself.