Hello everyone . . . sorry for the long break but I am finally back for an update! Not even sure where to begin since I´ve been doing so much recently.
Easter Island was amazing. So mysterious, beautiful and tropical. Plus, the people were such a pleasure. So laid back and friendly and truly living the island life everyday. Colin and I almost didn´t arrive on time because we had major issues with our connecting flight back to Santiago. We got to the airport and they delayed our flight four hours and finally cancelled it all together until the next morning at 6am. This wouldn´t have been a problem if Colin and I´s next flight wasn´t at 9am the next day. Leaving at 6am from Punta Arenas would not put us in Santiago until after 10am. So we waited around and complained and kept complaining and they kept telling us that they would pay for us to take a later flight blah blah. Finally, after we would not let them give us another answer (or go away like they hoped we would) they ¨magically¨ found us seats on the next LAN flight, even though they told us it was full about 30 times before that. So yes, glad that worked out!!
When we arrived to the airport the was a host from the hostel waiting for us with beautiful flower necklaces and people were playing island music and dancing around. Then, there was a huge dinner at our hostel that night that we participated in. They cooked up a huge meal with all kinds of meats, veggies, breads and wine. It was a lot of fun and we met a lot of cool people from all over the world. Other than that we spent most of our days walking around the island and discovering new places. We also participated in 2 full day tours that took us to numerous sites along the island and we learned about the history and culture of the rapa nui people and about all of the beautiful moai (statues) that cover the island. We even tried a little scuba diving while there! I say tried because I totally freaked out and couldn´t go more than 5m under the water before I wanted to go back up. I would definitely need to take a scuba course and get myself better acclimated to all the suits and gear before I try that again. But it was okay because I ended up floating on top of the water and just snorkelled around. Colin did great and enjoyed it a lot. He saw quite a bit of fish.
So after Easter Island we hopped a plane back to Santiago where we spent one night. The first hostel I had a booking for somehow didn´t have my reservation (aka they cancelled it because we showed up late and they are jerks). So I got them to pay me back my deposit and find us another hostel with availability close by. We ended up only having to walk 2 blocks down the road but it was still really annoying and dissapointing. But everything worked out in the end! The next day we got up and heading to the bus station and caught a 12:30 bus to Valpo. We´ve been hanging out here at a cute little bed and breakfast taking in the beautiful coast and the wonderful seafood. We enjoyed a spectacular firework show last night that lasted almost 40 mins. I have been told it is the 3rd best spot to spend NYE as the government spends more than $20 million on fireworks each year. They lit up the whole bay!! It was wonderful and I´m so glad I got to be here for it!
Meanwhile our plans have changed a little from the original ones we had. From here, we were supposed to take a bus further north to the town of La Serena. However, when we arrived at the bus station and I tried to buy tickets for us we found out that all the trips are full on the day we wanted to go. The only way we could make it work is to go back to Santiago and leave from there, a big hassle that neither of us really wants to do. So, we are going to stay a few more days here before heading back to the city instead. I am actually going to looking at hostels after this to try and find us somewhere.
I was just telling Colin yesterday that I am getting travel weary. I am so happy to have done this trip and I´ve seen so many amazing sights but sleeping in different beds all the time and worrying about clean laundry and getting the next meal is getting a little old. I will make sure to enjoy my last few days but I can honestly say that I am ready to be home!!
I hope you all had a Happy New Year and I wish the best for you in 2011. Love and hugs from Chile!
