I'm talking the one with the stone heads. Not the one with the turtles. That's Galapagos off the coast of Ecuador. And not talking about that little Easter Island in Canada northeast of Toronto.

This is Easter Island a.k.a. Isla de Pascua a.k.a. Rapa Nui, the island in the middle of the Pacific.

So you know Hawaii right? As far north as Hawaii is above the equator, Tahiti is south. Easter Island is between Tahiti and mainland South America.

Same longitude as Yellowstone National park. It would be in Mountain Time if the U.S. owned it. It's kinda the southern-hemisphere equivalent of Tucson, AZ, location-wise.

The island sits just north of where the Temperate Zone meets the Tropical Zone.

So, if Santiago, which is in the center of the long chili-shaped country of Chile, was Washington D.C. then going to Easter Island would be like flying to Denver. Over 2,000 miles and a 4.5-hour flight west.

Basically, it's in Middle of Nowhere, Pacific Ocean.

Not large. It's an eighth the size of the smallest island in Hawaii.

Kauai > Guam > Fogo Island > Washington D.C. > Easter Island

But it's bigger than Key Largo.

Only one airline.

Only one site you can book from.

Visitors pretty much must fly from Santiago on the one or two daily flights to Easter Island. That's what we took.

Turns out, one flight a week comes from Tahiti (maybe good for Round-the-World ticket holders). And you can also arrive by cruise ship. I know because I saw a ship.

But otherwise, you'll be going through Santiago. So, enjoy the hospitality of Latam!

Round-trip airfare, Santiago to Easter Island, cost between $500 and $1500. Not sure why such a huge price disparity. We found that Tuesdays and Fridays were cheap when we were looking, so we booked a Friday to Tuesday. We booked it together with our Santiago -> L.A. flights on the same itinerary and for the entire round-trip airfare from L.A. for Santiago and Easter Island, we managed to pay only $1600 / person.

Hotels had comparable, perhaps cheaper, prices to an American city. Our bungalow (two beds, ensuite, kitchenette, fridge, but no breakfast) cost $140 / night. That seemed to be average. More pricy than Santiago, where we paid half that.

Tours are kinda stupid expensive. But that's what the island runs on.

We booked airfare about 4 months in advance (in Aug for Dec travel).

We were not going over the holidays but between them, which helped. Holidays were harder. I saw flights in our span (first couple weeks of Dec) disappear during the time I was looking, most notably the later flight on the same day we chose. November was completely booked, or unavailable for some reason, even though there were still plenty of options in October and December. Granted, looking now (still summer there), I see flights available two weeks out.

We booked accommodations shortly after our flights using TripAdvisor's recommendations. At our chosen place, there were only two rooms left. In general, though, you have quite a few hotels to choose from.

You might not have to be quite as paranoid as we were.

I can't imagine staying much longer than a week. You can see the good stuff in a couple days. There are a surprising number of activities, though. Besides the heads, you can hike around volcanic craters (cool), go snorkeling or diving, take a boat ride, stargaze (this is a good spot for it), see a Polynesian dance show, surf the waves, check out the Polynesian-style church, peruse one of the many gift shops (gotta buy lil heads somewhere), sunbathe at the one or two beaches (coast is mostly rock), enjoy an empanada with a Pisco Sour, or go horseback riding!

But you're here for the heads.

Basically, you can see all the major heads in 24 hours. If you want to go into depth at archeological sites (even those with barely-recognizable or fallen heads), then give yourself two days and grab a tour guide since minimal information is displayed at the site itself. (Or use the handy app. See below.)

We missed a couple opportunities, though. For example, only one of the several Polynesian dance troupes does Sunday night shows (our one free night) and they were sold out by the time we inquired. Also, on the day we had time to check out the museum (Monday), it was closed. Oops.

• Finding where to check in for your Easter Island flight in Santiago airport is not immediately obvious! First off, nowhere will you see the words "Easter Island" at all. Employees may or may not know what you are talking about. Instead, look for "Isla de Pascua." Isla de Pascua has its own (slow moving) line. For our 6am flight, the below sign lit up around 4:30am. We were in line before then, and although it sounds early, I wouldn't say we had a ton of time to spare at the end. The airport bustles pre-dawn. Also, once you start through security, they will divert you to a different line where you will have to have that form filled out (that the ticket counter gave you) before walking through.

Keep an eye out for this sign; you have to stand in line regardless of whether you check bags
• As we walked into the (adorable) little airport building on the other end of our flight, we saw a line forming on one side. Turned out it was for the National Park ticket. You're going to need one. May as well buy it here so you don't have to later. Keep the little piece of paper somewhere safe. USD$80 in 2018.

This is the airport arrival terminal in Easter Island. I'm not kidding.
• You will have few language difficulties as an English speaker. In my experience, the only people who reliably speak English in foreign countries are in the tourist industry. Essentially everyone who lives on Easter Island works in tourism. So, yeah. Though it helps to know what the locals call Easter Island, which is "Rapa Nui."

Though signs might still be in Spanish with some Japanese thrown in (and a Polynesian axiom for good measure)
• Download the Imagina Isla de Pascua app. This is a perfect app for exploring Easter Island on your own. Gives you photos, location, and background historical information about all the major sites on the island.

App of Awesome
• Download WhatsApp on your phone if you can. It's commonly used by hotels, tour companies, etc, in Chile (and other countries, too) to communicate. I paid our hotel in Easter Island by giving them a credit card number in the app then deleting the message. You can use the phone, too, of course but WhatsApp is handy.