Easter Island tour
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We have carefully selected a hotel with a clear environmental policy in Hanga Roa. Rapa Nui roots are present throughout the 4-star Hotel Altiplánico Rapa Nui, from the concept of a Rapa Nui boat house to the drawings of the exterior walls. The rooms are distributed in three semi-circles, linked by a network of trails across through the gardens. Green areas and crops constitute one of the most important objectives of the project; they generate a lush, cool, colourful and shaded space to relax from the stunning sun. Archaeological assessment evidenced the presence of several small archaeological sites. Design envisaged as one of the main objectives, not only care of the sites, but also including them in the experience of the visitor to the hotel. They were surrounded by stone low fences for protection also enabling the visitor to see them. The concept includes that the guests feel, understand and learn to respect the island as the archaeological-cultural monument it is and thus participate in its care during their stay. Outside the hotel is painted with motifs of the island, privileging black as the colour used in traditional objects.
The hotel has a water treatment plant, solar panels to generate electricity and most of its staff belongs to the Rapa Nui ethnicity.
In addition, we take the following precautions to minimise the environmental impacts of our trips:
• We only organise trips for small groups (up to 12 people) to avoid overloading local infrastructure of the places we visit, particularly those that are environmentally sensitive.
• We dispose of litter responsibly, carrying our own trash bags on each trip and recycling rubbish accordingly once the excursion is over.
• We give guidelines to our clients on how to act in the natural environment and respect wildlife. For example, we urge them not to feed wildlife, not to buy products made from endangered species, and to stay within the defined trails to avoid trampling vegetation and soil when visiting natural areas.
Community
We operate our trips in a way that encourages positive cultural exchanges. Through our excursions, our clients get to interact with locals and spend enough time with them to learn about their way of life, customs, traditions and interests. We attempt to give an insight and understanding of the host culture and community to our clients so that they can gain more from visiting them. In addition to the pre-trip information we send about the destination, our guides –who are all Chilean- are always ready to provide in-depth explanations about the people our travellers encounter and to translate for them any questions they may have for their hosts.
In this tour, the accommodation and attractions visited are locally-owned businesses, thus you will be contributing to sustaining jobs for local community members who hire local Chilean workers. The restaurants we go to offer traditional Chilean cuisine and have prepared special menus for our travellers that highlight typical Chilean ingredients in their plates, avoiding foreign produce.
We promote typical Chilean handicrafts through our tours, taking our travellers to places with shops offering high-quality authentic products. One of our principles is fair trade. We advise our clients about local bargaining customs and give guidelines to reasonable prices.
We encourage travellers to respect the local culture and to try to learn as much as they can from the people they interact with. We advise our clients to ask for permission before taking photos of people. We do not promote giving money for photos as it can encourage a begging culture.
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