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Everyone loves a good sunset, but a sunset on Easter Island can be on another level, with kaleidoscope skies silhouetting wide platforms of moai. Similarly, if you’re a morning person, the same can be said for sunrises. There are two perfect places to start and end your trip to Easter Island where you’ll enjoy skies ablaze with colour behind the silhouettes of magical moai on the cliffs with the moai behind. It’s breathtaking. Here are the details – don’t miss out!
The Tahai Complex is just north of the town of Hanga Roa, around a 25-minute walk, or a short taxi ride. You don’t need to visit this site on a tour and so you can easily plan to visit under your own steam on a trip to Easter Island.
The Tahai Complex comprises:
Hare Moa – a flat stone structure which was a house to protect the islanders’ chickens during inter-tribal warfare. There are small openings at the bottom of the chicken house where the chickens would enter, which would be closed with a stone at night to keep the chickens safe inside.
Ahu Ko Te Riku – a single moai on a platform with a red topknot and restored eyes of white coral.
Ahu Tahai – a small platform with a small moai in the middle of the site, next to a ramp for canoes to go down to the water.
Ahu Vai Uri – an ahu with 5 restored, upright moai.
Older moai head – a crudely carved stone head was discovered behind Ahu Vai Uri during excavations which might be one of the earliest human representations on the island.
Face-down moai – there is a moai face-down on the ground to the left of the Ahu Vai Uri which is thought to have been the 6th moai from the platform, but one which was so badly damaged that it was sadly left to the side.
Hanga Paenga – an elliptical shape made of stones in the grass which marks where a Rapanui house would have stood. Some of the stones have ridges in them showing where branches would have stood, tying in the centre to form a wooden frame like an upturned boat. A replica version of a boat house was on display at Ahu Viahu.
The three platforms in the Tahai Complex were restored by the American archaeologist William Mulloy in the late 1960s. The site is an excellent way to start meeting the moai of Easter Island.
This complex is not a restricted part of the Rapa Nui National Park, and so you don’t need to show your park pass to enter; however national park rules still apply in relation to respecting the elements of the site.
There are rangers patrolling the site who will blow their whistles if you step over the boundaries of the Ahu. As the edges of the Ahu are denoted simply by stones, rather than fencing, then you do need to watch your step here. Several people (not us) inadvertently crossed the line and were whistled at; one had even stood on the stones to get an extra 10 inches higher for a photo. Don’t be that person on a trip to Easter Island!
The setting of the Tahai Complex around a natural amphitheater – a curved hill of grass leading down to the cliffs – overlooking the ocean is perfect for watching the sunset. Pick your stop on the slop, sit back and relax as the sun sets behind the moai set out below you, before slowly slipping behind the statues into the ocean.
If you’re lucky enough, one of the local dogs will come and sit with you on your trip to Easter Island and the Tahai Complex. I left Ricardo for 20 minutes whilst I took some photographs, only to return and find that he had a canine friend cuddled up against him. As soon as I sat down, a second dog came and sat next to me. They didn’t want anything, just company.
As we sat quietly watching the sunset, strangely we both felt the presence ‘of others ‘and so started referring to the dogs as our ‘spirit dogs’. Day One on a trip to Easter Island and Rapa Nui was already getting to me!
My advice on a trip to Easter Island would be to go an hour before sunset so that you can walk around the site and have a look at all the artefacts whilst it is still light. Then, once you have seen everything, pick a good spot and wait for the oranges, yellows and blues to fill the sky and silhouette the moai against the colourful night sky. Stunning!
The Tongariki site is a 30–minute drive from the town of Hanga Roa. It is on the coast, in front of the Poike volcano and Rano Raraku, the quarry where the moai were carved. It is very probable on a trip to Easter Island that you will visit Tongariki on one of your day tours of the island, particularly if you visit Rano Raraku. However, it doesn’t matter if you visit twice, as visiting at different times of the day offers completely different experiences.
As you enter the site at the National Park office, to the left is A Vere (‘The Travelling Moai’).
This moai was taken to Japan in 1982 to appear in an exhibition in Osaka, after which he was returned to Rapa Nui. Following this, the Japanese government and a Japanese engineering firm collaborated on the reconstruction of Ahu Tongariki (see below).
A Vere had another moment of glory in 1986 when it was used in an experiment with ropes to test out the ‘walking moai’ theory. With less than 20 people, and well-attached ropes, the group managed to move A Vere (4 meters tall and weighing 9 tonnes) forward a couple of meters by rocking it side to side. This led to the acceptance of the walking theory in relation to how the moai were moved from the quarry around the island.
Do not miss Ahu Tongariki on a trip to Easter Island. It is without doubt the largest and most impressive ceremonial platform on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), with 15 moai standing upright on the Ahu.
Ahu Tongariki was re-erected by a team working for archaeologist Claudio Christiano in 1994. They used a crane capable of lifting 55 tones, the capacity of which was stretched trying to upright the largest moai at Tongariki which weighed 88 tonnes. This is fine until you stop to think that the Polynesians didn’t have cranes, or any other mechanical tools, just human muscle.
Nothing can prepare you for the size and scale of Ahu Tongariki. At a width of 220 meters, it is awe-inspiring. I loved the fact that the moai are all different shapes and sizes, just like real people!
7 topknots – which could not be re-added back to the moai due to damage to their heads.
A moai lying on the grass – sadly this one didn’t make it onto the platform, as it must have been broken in transit from the quarry.
Petroglyphs – viewed from wooden platforms.
Ahu Tongariki is a designated site in the Rapa Nui National Park, so you need your national park tickets with you. Pack them in your bag the night before, so that you don’t forget them when you alarm clock goes off very early for the sunrise!
Whilst you do need to be with a guide to enter the walled off area around Ahu Tongariki as it is part of the Rapa Nui National Park, you can watch the sunset from outside the site walls by the side of the road. You will just be further away but should still have a good view.
Note – be aware of horses on the road if you are driving along the south coast road in the dark.
However, on a special trip to Easter Island, you will no doubt want to be as close to the action as possible. In which case you need to visit the site with a guide.
If you’re on a guided tour to see the sunrise at Ahu Tongariki, then your guide will tell you the correct time to leave the hotel to arrive in time for the sunrise. I think we arrived 45 minutes before sunrise when the sky was already shapeshifting with colours.
Your guide will set you up with camping chairs in their favourite spot to watch the sun rise and hopefully provide the coffee. Our guide set us up on a raised hillock to the right of the platform.
In summertime, the sun rises directly behind the statues, while in winter it rises from behind Poike volcano on the left-hand side, so bear this in mind for your seating depending on the time of year for your trip to Easter Island.
If it’s cloudy or rainy when you wake up in Hanga Roa, don’t panic as the weather can vary quite a bit across the island – you might still get a good sunrise at Ahu Tongariki and sometimes rain clouds can make the sky look mean, moody and dramatic (in a good way).
Once again, the ‘spirit dogs’ joined us for our experience. Our guide explained to us that they are fed by the Park Rangers in turn for chasing horses and cows away from the moai. So, technically, the dogs are Rapa Nui National Park employees!
It was difficult to put into words just how special this experience was, watching the colours and the light change, the clouds move, as everything started to wake up – all accompanied by the sound of the ocean waves crashing and birds tweeting.
We stayed on at Tongariki for a while, after the sun had come up and after most people had left. During this time long shadows of the moai cast on the ground looked cool and made for great photos. So, stick around – don’t rush off or you’ll miss that!
The best introduction you can have to Rapa Nui on a trip to Easter Island is to enjoy sunset at the Tahai Complex, and the best lasting memory of the island can be gained by watching the sunrise at Ahu Tongariki. Anything that happens in-between is a bonus!
You will feel connected with nature and with something else, more spiritual and powerful, by partaking in these experiences. It’s difficult to fully explain, so you’ll have to plan a visit to Easter Island yourself to see what I mean…..
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