The 2,139-foot summit of Te Manga on Rarotonga is the highest point in the Cook Islands. You can reach the top in about two hours via a steep hiking trail, which in some sections is equipped with ropes to assist your ascent. If you visit the volcanic atoll of Aitutaki, one of the larger and more developed atolls in the Cook Islands, hike to the 407-foot top of Maunga Pu. The reward is stunning panoramic views over the atoll, its gleaming blue lagoon and the string of tiny islets flanking its edges. The 385-acre Takitumu Conservation Area in the south east of Rarotonga protects an enchanting landscape of three forested valleys inhabited by endemic birds including the endangered I’oi, or Rarotonga Starling. The conservation area also hosts about 70 percent of the island’s tropical plant species.
The Anatakitaki Kopeka Bird Caves on Atiu Island are known for their resident Kopeka birds, a species endemic to the island that have evolved to navigate their cavernous home through echolocation, or the use of sounds. During a guided tour you can swim in the natural pools at the base of the caves. For a somewhat spooky experience on Atiu, tour the Rimaru Burial Caves. In their depths are the skulls and bones of some 50 deceased islanders. The legends of their demise are subject to dispute, but theories range from epic battles to a dramatic revenge plot to cannibalism.
Avarua, the capital of the Cook Islands, has several important cultural landmarks: the Sir Geoffrey Henry National Culture Center (culture.gov.ck), built in 1992 and named for a late prime minister; the National Museum with displays of traditional arts and handicrafts; and the National Library, with its collection of rare books and manuscripts relating to the South Pacific. Two landmarks on the tourist map of the Cook Islands combine entertainment with a showcase of the islands’ culture. Highland Paradise (highlandparadise.co.ck) is 25 acres of gardens, authentic historic sites and recreated traditional buildings in a mountain setting that was once the ancestral home of the Tinomana tribe. Daily guided tours explore ancient Cook Island traditions including drumming, weaving, medicine making, singing and dancing. In a similar vein, Te Vara Nui Village (tevaranui.co.ck) teaches visitors about the Cook Islands’ history including ancient fishing and cooking techniques. You will learn about ancient warriors’ weapons, the Maori's seven canoe migration across the Pacific, the arrival of missionaries and traditional Maori medicines.
Cook Island Christian Church (cicc.net.ck) was built in Avarua in 1853, replacing an earlier structure destroyed by a tropical cyclone. The building resembles a church typical of a small English village, but in place of grey stones are whitewashed coral walls topped with a green roof. Services are held on Friday and Sunday mornings, and although sermons are delivered in Maori, on occasion an introduction is offered in English to benefit visiting tourists. Virtually all Cook Islanders are Christian, and it is common to see worshipers dressed formally for church in white straw hats. The graveyard outside the church includes a monument to Papeiha, a beloved Polynesian missionary, and Albert Henry, the Cook Islands’ first post-independence prime minister. Another symbol of the era of exploration is Captain Cook’s Landing on the western coast of Atiu. The famed navigator landed on the Cook Islands in 1773 -- decades before they were given his name -- and was the first European to thoroughly explore the islands. The discovery must have pleased the captain because he returned in 1777.
Manihiki comprises 40 flat islets that encircle a 2.5-mile-wide lagoon, a landscape that marks only the very top of a 13,000-foot underwater mountain. Inside the exceptionally clear lagoon live millions of black-lipped mollusks, the sea creatures responsible for the Cook Islands’ famous black pearls. Visitors can take a guided tour of one of Manihiki’s pearl farms to learn about the islands’ main export, which take 18 months to two years to grow large enough to yield high-quality black pearls. You might even have a chance to snorkel over the lines used to harvest the clinging clusters of mollusks.
