Last day in Easter island, our budget and our loves

It’s our last day in Rapa Nui and we are pretty happy to be honest. We have conquered everything that was on our list, mother nature treated us really well with the weather and overall, we have had a wonderful time. Getting to spend Easter in Easter Island is by far a once in a  lifetime experience.
In this post I’ll write about our budget slightly as we get asked a lot as well as the last bits and bobs we did on the island.

BUDGET: - disclaimer, Easter island is bloody expensive due to the fact it is remote (very remote) everything is imported and the island relies on Tourism. However, we did it as cheaply as we could and ended up not bad. I have added our budget below:

• First accommodation that we booked 6 months ago and hated: $484NZD
• Car : $160NZD for 2 days, we hired from Moira’s car rental run by a beautiful, little old lady  which is very authentic and local (essential to speak Spanish and have international driving permit)
• Petrol for said car : $20NZD , we hired a Suzuki Jimny and they are really economical
• National park fees : $200NZD ($54,000 pesos pp)
• Dinner per night : $16-20NZD for 2, this was for a big empanada and some stir fry veges. One of the nights we made omelettes.
• Lunch : One of the girls left a whole heap of food including a box or porridge, so I had this for lunch each day and on the hikes we just ate bread. Overall costing $5NZD for both of us per day.
• Second accommodation : $625NZD (5 nights accommo, private room, en-suite and breakfast) Would highly recommend 10/10. Marcella and Kori the hosts are beyond brilliant and we loved our time at Casa Del Kori!
• Drinks : $16NZD – 2 x Pisco Sours on the beach. The water from the tap is drinkable but horrid - just a wee tip. It is best to buy bottled water. Leo didnt mind it, but it is very alkaline and the taste made me sick twice.
• Fruit and Veg : $25 for the week -  a variety of plums, tangerines and bananas.
• Eating fancy on the first night at a restaurant : $65NZD 

​Overall, for the week in Easter Island this cost us $1720NZD – split down the middle is really cheap and if you take away the second accommodation it works our just over $500NZD per person for a week in Easter Island plus food, drink and activities. 

We would give Easter island a 7/10. The Island itself it amazing, the beaches are awesome, the Maoi’s are overwhelming and the archaeological sites are some of the most interesting I have ever seen. The biggest let downs for us were the people and the government corruption. I did not feel safe here. I felt we, as tourists were being watched, scammed an had the feeling that we were not welcome. Whereas, looking back to last week in Tahiti, the people could not have been more welcoming and friendly.

With both of us working in a Tourism background , it blows my mind that for an Island that solely relies on this, they make it very difficult for tourists. The sheer lack of information regarding the entrance to the National park (being the only reason anyone would ever come here) was outrageous and even with Leo speaking fluent Spanish which helped tremendously, it was still a struggle. For those who do not speak Spanish at all I would recommend learning the basics before arriving.
We met a lot of travelers who come here for the weekend, if so then you can easily see and do everything in a couple of days. We stayed 6 nights and was overkill but we expected that as we wanted time to chill, relax and take into consideration the weather and how it changes dramatically all the time.
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One of the coolest highlights for me is hanging around down at the harbor as each day about 8-9 giant sea turtles come here to feed and chill out in the lagoon. I am such a turtle fanatic and if you have seen my Instagram stories you will get exactly what I mean. Over the past few days we have been down to visit the turtles and today we were able to feed the fish and watch the turtles which is such a calming humbling experience as these creatures are so majestic. 

Oh, I want to finish on a quick note about lunch and dinner on our last day as we promoised ourselves a day of eating what we wanted. For lunch we went out for , yes you guessed it - Empanadas. It was Easter Sunday and our fav place on the island was closed so we went next door which looked busy and full of happy, smiley people. I ordered an iced coffee with milk– literally pointed to it as it was written in English on the menu Do you want to know what I got? I large cup of boiling hot black coffee, with 4 – yes, 4 ICECUBES in it. That was it! That was the iced coffee, and it cost $10NZD. I didn’t even take a picture because when it arrived I was ready to either burst into tears or flames. ONLY IN EASTER ISLAND, RIGHT?? Dinner however, was out of this world amazing!​ 

We has pisco sours, mojito's , sat in an amazing restaurant overlooking the surf break and the sun set and ate the biggest plate or cervice I have ever seen.

Anyway, it’s been a blast. Traveling with your best friend makes everything so much more enjoyable and as much as we probably wouldn’t return here, if it is on your Bucket List then 100% get yourself here as the pro’s out weigh the negatives by far!