Easter & Pitcairn Islands: Marooned, Moai & Mutine

This large, modern port serves Chile’s capital, Santiago, a city with Spanish colonial charm and a vivacious spirit. Encircled by the Andes and the Coastal Range, Santiago is centered around the Plaza de Armas, with several of the city’s landmarks: the 18th-century Metropolitan Cathedral the Palacio de la Real Audencia from 1808, the City Hall and the National Museum of History. North of San Antonio lie the picturesque old port and university town of Valparaíso and the colorful seaside resort of Viña del Mar. In between the coast and the capital are valleys filled with some of Chile’s most famous wineries, all inviting you to come and taste.

The southeastern-most point in the Polynesian Triangle, tiny Easter Island in the South Pacific is one of the most remote places on earth. Even more oddly, it belongs to Chile, which lies 3,700 miles away over the eastern horizon. In fact, a large slice of the island is Chile’s Rapa Nui National Park, preserving the sculptural heritage of the indigenous Rapa Nui people, whose ancestors carved the huge human effigies called moai that give the island its renown and earned it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. These stylized sculptures stand on the slopes of the island, gazing implacably out to sea, often on stone platforms called ahu. They were apparently carved between the 13th and 16th centuries, for reasons that are debated. But the enigmatic effigies, the dramatic volcanic landscape, the Rapa Nui people themselves and the sheer isolation of the island combine to draw visitors from every corner of the globe to this speck in the world’s largest ocean.

The southeastern-most point in the Polynesian Triangle, tiny Easter Island in the South Pacific is one of the most remote places on earth. Even more oddly, it belongs to Chile, which lies 3,700 miles away over the eastern horizon. In fact, a large slice of the island is Chile’s Rapa Nui National Park, preserving the sculptural heritage of the indigenous Rapa Nui people, whose ancestors carved the huge human effigies called moai that give the island its renown and earned it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. These stylized sculptures stand on the slopes of the island, gazing implacably out to sea, often on stone platforms called ahu. They were apparently carved between the 13th and 16th centuries, for reasons that are debated. But the enigmatic effigies, the dramatic volcanic landscape, the Rapa Nui people themselves and the sheer isolation of the island combine to draw visitors from every corner of the globe to this speck in the world’s largest ocean.

The southeastern-most point in the Polynesian Triangle, tiny Easter Island in the South Pacific is one of the most remote places on earth. Even more oddly, it belongs to Chile, which lies 3,700 miles away over the eastern horizon. In fact, a large slice of the island is Chile’s Rapa Nui National Park, preserving the sculptural heritage of the indigenous Rapa Nui people, whose ancestors carved the huge human effigies called moai that give the island its renown and earned it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. These stylized sculptures stand on the slopes of the island, gazing implacably out to sea, often on stone platforms called ahu. They were apparently carved between the 13th and 16th centuries, for reasons that are debated. But the enigmatic effigies, the dramatic volcanic landscape, the Rapa Nui people themselves and the sheer isolation of the island combine to draw visitors from every corner of the globe to this speck in the world’s largest ocean.

Adamstown is the capital of, and the only settlement on, the Pitcairn Islands.

Die Inseln Französisch-Polynesiens werden als die schönsten im ganzen Südpazifik gepriesen. Auf der größten Insel Französisch-Polynesiens, Tahiti, liegt auch dessen Hauptstadt Papeete, eine überaus gefällige Mélange der Kulturen, deren Bewohner sowohl Französisch als auch Tahitianisch sprechen. Papeete kann mit „Wasserkorb“ übersetzt werden – hier kamen die Tahitianer zusammen, um ihre Kürbisflaschen, „Calabashes“ genannt, mit frischem Wasser zu befüllen. Heutzutage ist Papeete Hauptstadt und Tor zum Hinterland der Insel zugleich. Der Inselurlauber darf sich hier auf romantische Urlaubsorte, köstliches Essen in einzigartigen Restaurants, vor Leben pulsierende Märkte, Läden mit wundervollen Perlen und schicke Boutiquen freuen. Das bergige Inselinnere zeichnet sich durch tiefe Täler und malerische Wasserfälle aus, während die wildromantische Küste besonders der tropischen Flora und der sagenhaften Strände mit weißem und schwarzem Sand wegen einen Besuch wert ist.