Mysterious Easter Island

Midway between mainland Chile and Tahiti, surrounded by the deep blue of the sea and watched over by its enormous moai, Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited land on Earth, is a place whose mysteries have drawn explorers across the ages. It is a speck in the middle of the ocean, with black lava cliffs battered by some of the clearest waters on the globe, home to 2,000 stone statues and 4,500 inhabitants.

The remains of Rapa Nui civilisations can be explored within Rapa Nui National Park, declared a “World Heritage Cultural Landscape” by UNESCO in 1995. In total, there are more than 20,000 archaeological remains. Ahu Tongariki holds the largest number of standing moai.

Hanga Roa is the place to find signs of life — a small, sleepy town facing the ocean. Low, colourful houses shelter the Rapa Nui, the island's first inhabitants.