Explora en Patagonia & Rapa Nui

11 days /10 nights
From $6,402 per person, double occupancy for 2011

All meals and excursions included. Domestic air not included.

Day 1: Santiago de Chile
Airport reception and transfer to your hotel. Overnight deluxe accommodations at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago, breakfast included. This luxurious hotel is located in Santiago's most prestigious and refined neighborhood, just half an hour from the international airport and within walking distance of exclusive boutiques and restaurants. The hotel has 205 luxurious guestrooms including 49 Club Level rooms and 3 Club Suites, 12 Executive Suites, and a Ritz-Carlton Presidential Suite; a spa and fitness center with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Andes and the city, meeting and conference space, a grand ballroom, four restaurants and lounges and 24 hour in room dining. The rooms and suites are distributed among 14 floors crowned by a glass dome housing an indoor pool and Jacuzzi.

Guanaco grazing in Torres del Paine

Day 2: Santiago - Punta Arenas - Torres del Paine
Hotel pickup and transfer to the airport for your flight to Punta Arenas. Airport reception and transfer to Torres del Paine. You'll be driven across the windswept Patagonain steppe, passing guanacos and cara caras. Check-in at the first-class Explora Lodge. Take advantage of the tours offered for guests such as hiking to the Peninsula of Lago de Grey, to the Alturas del Lago Toro or to Mirador del Toro, navigation to Grey Glacier, barbecue in Quincho at Laguna Azul, horseback riding to Laguna Verde, and trekking to the base of Torres del Paine. (B,D)

Days 3 - 5: Explora Patagonia
Enjoy the variety of guided excursions to see Los Cuernos, Grey Glacier, and the Torres del Paine peaks in the Cordillera Paine range. (B,L,D)

Day 6: Explora - Punta Arenas - Santiago
Return transfer to Punta Arenas for your flight to Santiago.

Upon arrival, proceed to the Holiday Inn Santiago Airport, located adjacent to the terminal. Opened in July 2007, the hotel has a modern and beautiful design with high quality standards. Located in front of the airport, the hotel has easy and direct access to several areas of the city. The hotel offers 100% Wi-Fi access (for a fee), restaurant, bar, business center, parking, and a very nice indoor swimming pool, sauna, and Jacuzzi. All rooms (114 + 2 suites in 5 floors) are wired and have Wi-Fi high speed internet. (B)

Day 7: Santiago - Easter Island
Proceed on your own to the airport. Check in for your flight to Easter Island. Upon arrival to Easter Island, you will be greeted by Explora staff and transferred to the Explora Lodge on Easter Island - Posada de Mike Rapu, which have been adapted to the Explora style. Located on mythical Easter Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the hotel - Posada de Mike Rapu - is situated on a hill in the Te Miro Oone sector on 9.6 hectares of land, 5.6 km from Hanga Roa, the only town on the island. The hotel has 30 guestrooms that spread out from central areas that house reception, living areas, a bar, kitchen and services. Next to the common areas is the Casa de Baños Hare Vai, with a swimming pool, massage salon and open-air Jacuzzis. Volcanic rock, native to the island and always used by the island's inhabitants in construction, and wood from the mainland are the principal materials.

Facing the immense ocean, the hotel will be your base for exploring this attractive and mysterious island, home to a culture whose origin and evolution have yet to be deciphered. Your accommodations are in a Varua room. All meals and beverages are included - 4 nights. (B,D)

Days 8 - 10: Explora en Rapa Nui
Spend your time in this isolated place taking part in daily easy to difficult walks for groups of 8 people maximum with bilingual guide and equipment that will slowly reveal the secrets and beauty of the island. The walks are combined with picnics and Explora-style meals on the rocks or the shore of the sea, or in sites with a great deal of magnetism.

Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and home to a culture whose origins are still unknown, Easter Island is a place of magnetism and mystery. An agreeable climate year round allows travelers to walk along its coastline and visit the numerous ahus that contain the gigantic moais sculptures.

Who made these sculptures, and when and why were they made? It is an unsolved mystery, yet it is presumed that the island was inhabited from the beginning of the first centuries of our time, and that the moais are hundreds of years old. It is also known that numerous tribes lived on the island during a time when they fought amongst themselves, destroying the territory, though it is not known why they destroyed the majority of moai. Today visitors can share with the descendents of this ancient culture and who preserve their ancestral customs in the face of the advancement of civilization. (B,L,D)

The following is a menu of excursions offered by Explora:

Walk to Hanga Oteo
Duration - 4.5 to 5.5 hours. Walking 4 to 5 hours. Length - 13.5 km.
Walk along a trail that borders steep cliffs and offers spectacular views. Visit natural bathing pools, cross locally owned fields and view numerous archeological sites. Arrival at Anakena Beach. Picnic on the beach. Level - Medium.

From the Te Peu ahu to Hanga Roa
Duration - 2 to 3 hours. Walking 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Length - 6.5 km.
Walk along a trail that borders steep cliffs and offers spectacular views. View Motu Tautara and the astonishing Las Dos Ventanas cave. Arrive at Hanga Roa, first passing Tahai and ending at Pea. Numerous archeological sites along the way. Level - Easy.

Ara O Te Moai, the moai route
Duration - 3 to 3.5 hours. Walking 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Length - 7 km.
Walk along Ara O Te Moai, the trail once used to transport the moai sculptures; view numerous overturned moai along the way. Climb to Rano Raraku, the moai stone quarry, with views of the interior of the crater. Walk along the volcano's edge and arrive at the natural rock pools at One Makihi. Picnic lunch. Level - Easy.

Alturas del Poike
Duration - 4 to 4.5 hours. Walking 3 to 4 hours. Length - 8.5 km.
Walk along an upward sloping trail (300 meters) that borders a steep cliff, and pass through Maunga Parehe and the Maunga Tea-Tea. View the Vai Aheva fountain. Climb to Puka Katike and then walk down to Tongariki to view 15 moais. Level - Medium.

Climb to Tereveka
Duration - 3 to 4 hours. Walking 2 to 2.5 hours. Length - 6 km.
The walk begins at Rano Aroi, then climbs from Maunga Kuma to Maunga Terevaka to appreciate spectacular views of the island from its highest point. The trail continues northeast toward Anakena along high coastal ridges that gradually descend to the beach, where guests may swim. Level - Medium.

The Tangata Manu Route
Duration - 2 to 3 hours. Walking 2 to 3 hours. Length - 7 km.
View Ahu Tahira. Walk along a trail that borders ascending steep cliffs (250 meters), arriving at the edge of the Rano Kau crater. Spectacular views of the ocean and the interior of the volcano. Walk along the crater to Orongo. Visit the significant ceremonial site of Tangata Manu (Bird Man) worship. Level - Easy.

Te Pito O Te Henua, the navel of the world
Duration - 3.5 to 4.5 hours. Walking 3 to 3.5 hours. Length - 9.5 km.
Walk along a descending trail that borders the northern coast of the island. View Ana Okeke, Maunga Parehe. Fishing cove "La Perousse," with villagers and archeological sites along the way. Arrive at the Ovahe beach. Level - Easy.

Walk to Te Miro Oone
Duration - 2.5 to 3 hours. Walking 2 to 2.5 hours. Length - 6.5 km.
Walk along a trail that offers panoramic views of the southeast side of the island. Climb along Maunga Kahurea and continue along Ara o te Moai. Numerous moai along the trail, arrive at Hanga Te Tenga ahu. Level - Easy.

To Te Miro Oone by bicycle
Duration - 2 to 3 hours by bicycle. Length - 18 km.
Travel to Te Miro Oone on bicycle, along the principal route that crosses through pretty forested sections of the island. Descend toward the southern coast, with views of various motu and archeological sites, following the coastal route until reaching Tahira. Level -: Easy

Day 11: easter Island - Santiago - Int'l departure
Return transfer to the Easter Island Airport for your flight to Santiago. Upon arrival, proceed to the international terminal for your flight home. (B)

Contact us to include the Explora Lodge in Patagonia in a customized itinerary of travel in Chile.