Day Two

Day Two

June 5, 2017

Day Two: travel and Easter Island

Today’s Count:
4.6 miles
11,200+ steps
7 floors

LO SIENTO: I’m sorry
As in, LO SIENTO for this crappy flight.

We arrived safely in Santiago, and boy was it a climate change! It was so cold that you could see your breath when you got off the plane! Drastic change from the Panama City sweaty airport!

It was 2:00AM when we arrived, and had to wait until 4:00AM to check our bags, so we stopped by at a restaurant named La Pausa for some quick snacks. Instead, we ended up getting two Pisco Sours and one of the best pizzas we’ve ever had. I had a Pisco Sour the other night at Churrasco’s, and while it was strong, it was a very summery type drink to me. Not in Chile! This was a strong drink for 2:00AM and an empty stomach! I can see why Mrs. Woodcock, my school’s secretary, insisted I stick with the phrase “one and done”.

Dad and I chose the lazy route, and we found a secluded area of the airport to map a few hours, after we dropped off our bags. Secluded… or so we thought. Neither of us had seen an international airport so busy, so early. The fact that they even had restaurants open baffled us.

We slept as much as we could. By sleep, I rolled around on chairs, the floor, and any other surface to try to get comfortable. The airport was freezing, and I couldn’t catch a break.

When it was time to board, we headed over to our gate to find out that it was delayed for almost two hours. Two hours later of pathetic sleep… it’s delayed again for another hour. 10:00AM and we’re still in the Santiago airport, dying to leave.

Finally the time came. We could board. I don’t think I’ve seen a more happy group of people than today. Apparently, it had nothing to do with weather, and it was strictly technology errors that they had to work on.
This go around, dad and I got to sit next to each other. It didn’t help when it came to the children behind me or the screaming children at every angle around us. We flew LATAM airlines, and it was hands down the best flight we took all day (two days?.. who’s counting? We are, but shhhh). The food was amazing, the people were bi or trilingual (English, Spanish, and Rapa Nui), and the plane was ginormous, a 787. We each had our own TV, which dad took advantage of while I napped off and on throughout the five hour flight. It’s amazing how far Easter Island is from Chile!

Fun fact: Easter Island got its name because it was found on Easter Sunday. Real original, huh? The locals call it Rapa Nui or Isla Pacusa. I prefer the local way of saying it.

Sadly, you couldn’t grab too much of a view of the island as you landed. I tried to snag as many pictures as I could, and got a pretty ocean rainbow one. It was very cloudy around the island itself.

When we landed, we took the entire island to stop and taxi! We walked off the huge plane onto the tarmac, and we were immediately greeted with the freshest and warmest air possible! We snagged a spot in line to retrieve our national park pass, which is needed to go to any location on the island. For tourists, starting this January, it is $80USD a person for 40 days.

We were picked up last because someone had late luggage to arrive, and we were greeted with a lei and giant smiles.

We were transported to our hotel, Hotel Rapa Nui, and helped off some older couples. It was interesting to see that many of the people aboard the flight were not American, but rather Europeans and Chileans. It was crazy to think that most tourists were actually natives.



The hotel was very quaint and open. Our room was up and down a small hill, and when we finally made it, we (dad to say specifically) were greeted with a fruit platter, chocolates, a full fridge, and a sweet note from the management. I informed them that his trip was a birthday gift, but we could only make it out now even though his birthday was in January. Everyone on the island, and Chile itself, have been nothing but hospitable and kinda. Oh, and super patient with our Spanish.



We decided to do a walk around the area. We saw Moai heads, famous and not so famous ones, on our hike, and came upon a few other interesting areas such as a graveyard, a fisherman’s wharf, and tons of diving shops. It’s funny, because there are no coral reefs around the island, meaning there are limited to no fish out here. The main food source, which you would assume is fish, actually isn’t. I can’t fathom that there is literally nothing in the surrounding sea area. Few fish. Fewer larger marine mammals. Few trees. What you would think to be a Polynesian island, there’s no lush tropical forest, but rather a volcanic island that has dirt on it. The entire area is rocky with limited vegetation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s green, but it’s not jungle-like. There is, on the other hand, plenty of stray dogs and horses.





Fun fact again: there are more horses than people on the island.

So, as we’re walking, we come upon two people carrying a tray of drinks by the Moai heads. Oh hey, props to me, the hotel is super close to lots of the heads! I mention to them, in a joking manner, that they are doing tourism right, when they offer us testers because they worked at the local restaurant, Toka, right across the street. We each got to try four drinks, and decided we were either drugged or open to extreme hospitality. Since neither of us died, and we went there for dinner, we agreed upon extreme hospitality.

The Moai heads were amazing! We saw so many in such a short walking distance! Hey are literally all over the island. There are some that are half built, some that have fallen, some old, and some refurbished. They are too incredible to describe.



There was a beautiful cemetery that was ornately decorated right by us. Ironic because there are signs everywhere about earthquakes and flooding. Either way, it was beautiful.



A small shower storm came through, and our waitress told us it was typical Chilean winter weather. She also told us it was “cold” to her. In fact, it did get chilly, but it never got cold. I was a bit chilly in Chile. Get it? Ha! Ha? Okay, whatever, y’all aren’t funny either.



Our dinner at Toka was phenomenal! We each had a Pisco Sour, that was blended with the local flower, boganvilla (or something to that extent), to make it come out to a gorgeous, and delicious, pink. For appetizers, we had Tata (tataki) with a speciality sauce along with an Motu Sara ensalada (salad) and speciality dressing. The flowers, all edible, added special decor to the plates. Dad and I both got the recommended dish, Pou Kura, a tuna with risotto surrounding. The meal was amazing! The restaurant didn’t look like much, and we were the only ones there, but it was well worth it! For dessert, we ordered the Oi Oi, which was a mixture of warm clams mixed with bananas and topped with a sweetened tomato. It sounds gross, right? Don’t even say those words! It was sugary and sweet and hit the spot… even for tomatoes.



After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and made it just in time before the rain showed up again. We grabbed one more drink at the bar, tested out the wifi to let people know we were alive, and then headed to the room to try to remove the 36 hour stench of being awake and traveling.

The rest of the night consisted of lounging and catching up on sleep. We booked a dinner and traditional Rapa Nui show on Wednesday, and tomorrow we plan on renting a car.

Until then, buenos noches!