As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.
One of the reasons that we took a cross Pacific cruise on Silversea's expedition ship, Silver Cloud, was because it offered two days on Easter Island.
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| Map of Easter Island - provided by ship |
Prior to visiting Easter Island I had thought there was only one group of Moai (those at Ahu Tongariki) the tall stone statues we often see on postcards and in magazines. Having visited Rapa Nui I discovered that famous one is just one many Moai there.
Our first sighting of a group of Moais was from the ship as we sailed towards the Island.
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Once on land we visited Tahai, the site we had viewed from the ship. There are three Ahus, ceremonial stone platforms, at the site.That was just our first site of our tour. I'll try to be frugal with further images lest this post becomes an epic.
Next stop was at the Rano Raraku quarry with its unfinished Moai statues in situ.
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| Tramping up the hill to visit the Moais |
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| Tourists are dwarfed by the Moais |
Then onwards we travelled to Ahu Tongariki, the site that we all know from tourist brochures and advertising.
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| The Magnificent setting of Ahu Tongariki |
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| I was overwhelmed by the aura and majesty of this place |
At the only decent beach on the island, Anakena, there were people enjoying music at the bar/cafe while others played in the sand or water or soaked up the sun. Overseeing all this frivolity is Ahu Nau Nau.
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| Anakena Beach |
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| Moais at Ahu Nau Nau |
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| Petroglyph resting at Ahu Nau Nau |
After zooming back to the ship by zodiac we were treated to a delish dinner up on deck. We were so tired but there was no opportunity to doze from our front row seats at the cultural performance by a local group.
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| Casual Dinner |
That was just our first day in Rapa Nui. The next chapter in this adventure will be published in the Onwards from Orongo post later this mmonth.
Other E Islands we have visited include Ediline Island
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