Easter Island: Poike Loop

When circumvolving Rapa Nui, the eastern side of the island is to the right. To the tour around Poike volcano, we can add a visit to the Tongariki moais, typical of the island, or an excursion to the picturesque white sand beach of Anakena.

The part of the tour that goes through the southern side of the volcano comes to be a unique experience due to the Tongariki moais and the panoramic view of the Motu Martiri Island. A very special challenge awaits the urban visitors, since in this tour they will never be alone: cows and parrots will be constant companions, which with their distrustful facial expressions will not let an eye off the tourists; even though this could also be applied to most of the impressed visitors.

How to get there

LAN flies twice or three times a week from Santiago to Hanga Roa. From Hanga Roa you follow South on a paved road some 25 km passing by the famous Tongariki moais, and then there is a fork to the right, which will be the starting point of our tour. This will be obvious to everybody since in this place there is a house and in front of the paved street there is a corral. The hiking trail was originally an all-terrain road, however after it was recognized as part of the national Park it was closed to vehicles.

Description

From the starting point - the wooden house - we continue through the old road. Since nowadays hardly any vehicles circulate here, nature is slowly taking back its property and little by little is transforming the tire marks into green paths. After a smooth 45 minutes climb we arrive to a point to the left of which there are three magma domes and to the right, the highest elevation.

Following the smooth descent we get to a forest of eucalyptus, where normally all the hiking maps of Easter Island end. However, we will not let this stop us and we continue on our excursion, since, even though a lot of vegetation has grown on the trail, its path can still be seen. After some 30 minutes, we arrive to a forest that runs along the coast like a seam. After crossing the forest, we arrive after a few minutes, to a strongly eroded coast with red stones. We continue along the coast, slightly uphill, and we enjoy a captivating view of the Pacific Ocean, and after another 30 minutes, we approach the abrupt coast with a view to the cupulate island of Motu Marotiri.

Walking on the meadow along the abrupt coast, we should cross after 30 minutes a barbed wire fence, which really is not a problem because of the wide separation between the wires. A short while after, we have a spectacular view of the moais of Tongariki and the Rano Raraku quarry. The abrupt coast ends here and continues to the North as a steep cliff. Following it, we arrive after approximately 30 minutes to our starting point in Poike Loop.