Andante Travels

Introduction

This is an adventure indeed - travelling across the globe to see some of the strangest rock art in the world in vast and remote landscapes with an international expert. Doing so involves travelling up the coast of Chile and into the Atacama desert before flying over the Pacific to a tiny speck of land, Easter Island.

We shall be discovering places little-known and seldom visited which our ancestors chose to decorate with huge earth pictures (geoglyphs) and complex rock art (petroglyphs). Some of the sites we see are extraordinary - their gigantic scale makes us ask why and for whom such things were undertaken, visible only from far away. The rock paintings at Taira are some of the finest in the New World and yet the surrounding landscapes of today resemble arid moonscapes, entirely inhospitable.  And what of the early people here?  We see the oldest artificially-made mummies in the world, far older than those of Egypt.

After a flight over the Pacific, we arrive on tiny, verdant Easter Island, surrounded by grass, trees, flowers, and pretty colonial houses. The only writing system in the Pacific was produced here and it possesses the richest rock art in this part of the globe. 

NB. We have limited the number of guests on this tour to 15, so book early!

Itinerary

Day One
Fly from London late afternoon.

 

Day Two
Arrive and drive to our hotel. Optional walk around Santiago or visit any of the city’s museums.

 

 

 

 

 

Day Three
Morning flight to Arica, then drive down the  barren Lluta and Azapa Valleys to explore the geoglyphs. The figures at Lluta include a frog, an eagle, llamas and humans. The San Miguel Museum houses the Chinchorro mummies, the oldest surviving yet found.
(A geoglyph is a work of rock art made either by moving dark stones to expose the lighter earth beneath, or piling up the dark stones into patterns, or both. All three kinds will be seen).

 

Day Four
An extraordinary journey through the lunar landscapes of rock and desert, stopping at Chiza to see the human and llama geoglyphs right next to the road. At Tiliviche we look across the valley to a vast herd of llamas depicted in stone. El Gigante del Atacama at Cerro Unita is the largest prehistoric depiction of a human being in the world. Continue to the atmospheric ghost town of Humberstone, abandoned in 1960 (World Heritage Site). Continue to Iquique.

 

 

Day Five
Boat trip from Iquique harbour out to sea to find pelicans, sea-lions and penguins. Visit to Regional Museum. Free afternoon.

 

Day Six
The geoglyphs at Cerros Pintados form a grand finale, stretching for miles along the hillsides (pictured below). Continue to San Pedro de Atacama, an oasis village in the heart of spectacular volcanic scenery. Visit the Museo Gustavo Le Paige, with the remarkable artefacts found in this rainless region.

Day Seven
Off-road adventuring to the petroglyphs at Yerbas Buenas, then return to San Pedro de Atacama for some free time. Late afternoon visit to the lunar landscapes of the Valle de la Luna to explore and watch the sunset.
(A petroglyph is the term for art made by carving, etching, incising, rubbing or pounding the rock surface).

Day Eight
Very few other people undertake the exciting journey at altitude (10,000 ft) through such remote landscapes (involving wading through a river) to Taira, but it is here that we see some of the best rock art in the New World, pictured below. Evening flight to Santiago (from Calama) and check into hotel.

Day Nine
To Viña del Mar to visit the Museo de Arqueologico e Historia Francisco Fonck, which specialises in Easter Island archaeology and Chilean natural history. Stop at Valparaiso for a walking tour of the old town.

Day Ten
Full day in Santiago, visiting the Museo Nacional de Historia with good Easter Island material and Museo de Arte Precolombino, with a world class collection of Latin American antiquities  Afternoon flight to Hanga Roa on Easter Island.

Day Eleven
Our first morning on Easter Island, and we meet our first moai at Ahu Tahai. The nearby Museo Antropologico Sebastian Englert provides the perfect introduction to the island’s culture. The capital, Hanga Roa, is the only settlement on Easter Island.

Day Twelve
The quarry for the statues at Rano Raraku has many unfinished moai still in situ; the longest line of standing statues is at Tongariki. We return via Papa Vaka to see rock carvings.

Day Thirteen
Morning visit to other moai sites around the south coast: Ahu Vaihu, Akahanga, Hanga Tetenga, Te Pito te Kura, Ahu Nau Nau. Afternoon at Anakena Beach.

Day Fourteen
The quarry at Puna Pau source of the top knots, huge red cylindrical stones that were raised onto the heads of some moai; lava tunnels at Te Pahu; Aku Akivi, one of the few inland moai, and other sites.

Day Fifteen
Ana Kaitangata ‘cannibal cave’, Hanga Piko, Rano Kau, Orongo ceremonial village and birdman petroglyphs (the off-shore rock to which competitors in the annual birdman race swam is pictured below). Free afternoon.

Day Sixteen
Free morning before an afternoon flight to Santiago.

Day Seventeen
Another chance to visit some Santiago museums before climbing by funicular railway at Cerro San Cristobal for great views of the whole city before your afternoon flight to Madrid

Day Eighteen
Arrive in Madrid and then fly on to London.

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights Scheduled flights London / Madrid / Santiago; Internal flights Santiago / Antofagasta / Arica; Calama / Santiago; Santiago / Hanga Roa (return).
• Local Travel Private a/c coach and minibus; boat.
• Meals All meals included except for lunch on days 5, 7, 15 & 18 and dinners on days 12 & 13; drinks (except water) are not included.
  

• Guide Lecturer Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that.  They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Paul Bahn, please click his name.
• Tour Manager We never know how best to call the very special people whom we choose to accompany you on your tour.  They are usually employed in this capacity only by us, and have been trained to do things in the Andante way - unobtrusive, friendly and quietly efficient.
• Local Guide
• Fieldnotes written for the tour
• Entry & tips Entry to all sites in programme; tips included.

Flights & Visa

Airline: Iberia and LAN
International flight details: Not available yet
Domestic flight details: Not available yet
Check in opens 3 hours before and closes 1 hour before flight departure
Hold baggage allowance on both international and domestic flights: 20 kilos
Hand baggage allowance: 20 kilos
Meals: Included on long haul flights
Please remember security restrictions are still in place at UK airports. Please phone 0870 000 0123 for Heathrow airport, or visit www.heathrowairport.co.uk for further information.

Visa and Passport Requirements

Note: You must hold a passport valid for at least 6 months after your return home.  Visas are not necessary for European or US Citizens travelling to Chile, however, for some nationalities, including those who hold a US passport, please be aware that Chilean immigration will charge you for entry into the country, which at the time of writing is US$135.00 per person (please contact your local Chilean embassy for advice). For British passport holders there is no entry fee.

Hotels

1+2+1 nights in a comfortable 4* hotel in central Santiago;
1 night in a hotel right on some isolated beach just south of Arica;
2 nights in a hotel built on the rocks beside the ocean in Iquique;
2 nights in a hotel in San Pedro de Atacama, in stylish adobe huts with wonderful views over the surrounding volcanic landscape;
6 nights in an attractive family-run hotel in Hanga Roa set in lovely gardens.

Map

Comments

What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?

"An excellent tour. I have had Easter Island on my wish list for a long time and my only worry was that I might be disappointed – it exceeded all my expectations". Guest November 2008
 

"It's impossible to single out individual parts of the tour as it was the amazing variety of activities and experiences that made it the perfect holiday. The guide in the north of Chile, complimented Paul's expertise of geography and modern history. There was the excellent boat trip, the adventure of Taira, wine tasting, city tours, museums, site visits, swimming at Anakana beach, good food, sunsets, seascapes and the remarkable endless, unbroken horizons surrounding Easter Island". Guest November 2008

"On Easter Island it's impossible to pick out a particular highlight, it was just wonderful to be there - the statues, the hotel, and just the general atmosphere of the Island". Guest November 2008

Reading List

There is no archaeological book on the relevant regions of mainland Chile, and articles on the geoglyphs would be impossible for people to find, except for one in "Antiquity", which I cite. For Easter Island, I give you the four best titles.

Chile:

Briones, L. 2006. The geoglyphs of the north Chilean desert in archaeological and artistic perspective. Antiquity 80: 9-24.

Easter Island:

Fischer, Steven Roger 2005. Island at the End of the World. The turbulent history of Easter Island. Reaktion Books: London.

Flenley, John & Bahn, Paul 2002. The Enigmas of Easter Island. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

McLaughlin, Shawn 2004. The Complete Guide to Easter Island. Easter Island Foundation: Los Osos, California (2nd edition 2007).

Orliac, Catherine & Michel 1995. Mysteries of Easter Island. Thames & Hudson: London.