Wild Hiking Easter Island National Park in 1 day
Today we will go hiking easter island national park. We will start with the Te ana trek that ill bring us to Ana Kakenga, Ana Te pora and Ana te Pahu. From there we will reach the seven Moais called Ahu Akivi and reach the Terevaka Volcano to have a panoramic view of the island.
Table of Contents
Introduction
You don’t need to be early bird in the Easter island. We woke up around 7am and were thinking is 4am or so… it was still dark outside. The sun raises quite late here, and as there seems to be more cloud at night and early morning, it didn’t help. That were the conditions in July 2019.
After a nice breakfast, and a long coffee enjoying the view of the island, it is time to get serious and prepare sandwiches for lunch. The only place with a shop/restaurant was in Ahu Akivi (the seven Moai) that we reach around 1:30pm or so knowing that we left around 10am.
We started our full day hiking Easter island national park by following the cost until the entrance of the national park. There is a small check-point there to control your ticket (check our Easter Island review for more information) but nobody was there to control us. Once over the control, the trail is quite easy as you just need to follow the road and for each point of interest, there will be a sign and explanation about the site.
Along the way hiking Easter island national park we made 3 stops, the first one was “Ana Kakenga” the two windows cave. A 50m long volcanic tube formed thousands of years ago when the liquid lava was still flowing underground. It was mainly used as a refuge during difficult time between clan living on the island in the past.
The entrance to the cave is really narrow and in order to go in, there is only a little hole in the ground.
At the end of the cave there is a small separation as the cave is like a Y where there will be two holes open to the cliff/sea.
Ana te pora
The second stop of our hiking Easter island national park was “Ana te pora” the cave of the reed canoe. Which is a lava tube characterized by a roomy arch with a very smooth surface. It is believed to be a shelter and a ritual location.
Ana te pahu
And the third stop of our hiking the Easter island national park was “Ana te pahu” the banana cave which is the biggest of the 3 caves we visited. It takes its name from its entrance that is located in a massive hole where Banana tree are growing. The entrance is accessible by stairs.
While walking in the cave you will come across light holes where the ceiling collapsed. Do go until the last one. (Totally 2)
The cave appeared from solidified lava and the real translation of its name could be “the cave of the drum”. As the biggest cave, it was used not only for shelter, but also as a water reservoir.
Once out of the cave, we sat nearby it for lunch (it was around 1pm).
Ahu Akivi
We kept on until the end of the national park. You can’t miss it as there is again a checkpoint. From there we followed the road straight in front of it until the next checkpoint, 5min further and from which we would access Ahu Akivi, the 7 Moai.
Ahu Akivi is a sacred place, the Moai (statue) are all looking toward the ocean and are of similar shapes and sizes. It was also used as an observatory.
Interesting fact is that during the Spring equinox, all the Moai are facing the sunset and have their backs to the sunrise during the Autumn Equinox
terevaka
From Ahu Akivi you can hike up to the island highest mountain and viewpoint. We started it at 2pm and reached “almost” the Terevaka volcano summit 1h15min later. “Almost” because we stopped at a smaller volcano right in front of Terevaka.
The road doesn’t have stairs, but it does go up, and every time you reach the top of a hill another one is waiting behind. It gives an original taste to the hike as the end can’t be seen.
We didn’t go until Terevaka itself because we started to be tired and saw a few groups going to the viewpoint horse riding. But it would take another 15min to get there.
Nevertheless, our spot was incredible, and we were all alone. We stayed a while there laying on the grass and admiring the view before going down. We were back Ahu Akivi around 4:15pm.
As soon as we got started on our way up, it became really windy.
If you are interested in horse-riding, you can book it in advance online: Terevaka Horse Excursion
shortcut out
Our day hiking Easter island national park was over, and we had to get back. The shortest way was to go back the same path we used. While in the national park we made a shortcut in order to win 3 or 4km.
We don’t think that we were really allowed to do it, but it is just hiking through the land. A local saw us and came to ask where we were going and what we were doing here. We kept on off tracks until we reached the trekking path and arrived back home at 5:45pm after a good 25km day.
While you shortcut, if you do so, be really careful as the island is a volcanic island there are a lots of rocks and as the vegetation is long you could easily injure yourself.
And at 6pm, rain started after an amazing sunny day hiking Easter island national park. What a luck. We loved hiking Easter island national park and would recommend it.
what to bring hiking Easter island national park
A torch or a headlamp to see while you are in the caves or still out after nightfall.
Sweater/jacket for the Terevaka hike.
Packed lunch made at home and 1 to 1.5L of water per person.
Where to stay on the Easter Island
As you probably know, there isn’t too many option to stay on the Easter Island, but some of them are unbelievable. You will need a good place to stay after hiking Easter island national park
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert
