The Easter Island Moai Statue Nursery

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it's referred to by the locals, is an archeological wonderland with hundreds of Moai statues scattered over the tiny speck of land. Although many of these structures are now face down in the dirt, a small refuge near the eastern corner of the island, known as "The Nursery." The technical name for the nursery is Rano Raraku and it is the actual location where the inhabitants carved the moai statues out of the mountain. If you are looking for the most spectacular, preserved statues on the entire island, you need to check out Rano Raraku.

You have two main options for accessing Rano Raraku. The first is through one of the many tours of the area. This ensures you have a tour guide, but you are left with a dozen or more other tourists, and are forced to follow their pace. The second option is to rent a car. This is surprisingly inexpensive, for how pricey everything is on the island (for eight hours you can find most hotels rent vehicles for under $40 American).

If you decide to rent a car, follow the road out of town to the east. This is the only main road, which eventually turns to gravel. It turns with the curves of the island, so passengers always have a view of the ocean. When you reach a fork in the road, take a left to be brought directly up to the Rano Raraku entrance. Park your vehicle and head up to the main gate. Make sure you have cash on you (either Chilean pesos or American) as it does cost a whopping $60 a person to enter the site. This is rather steep, as there are possibly three individuals at work throughout the entire site(the majority of the funds goes straight back to the Chilean government on the mainland).

After entering the site you are informed of the two different routes in the Rano Raraku site. To the left, you are able to hike up the now dormant volcano, which instead houses a small lake and greenery. To the right is the location of the actual statues. Most of these statues are now only half exposed, leaving only the heads above the ground (shoulders down to the feet are covered by earth). You are even able to see moai statues that never reached completion and remain in the side of the mountain, waiting for its former inhabitants to return and finish the work.