Category: Chile

Travel, just like life, has its ups and downs. In the last blog RobO shared some downside, but we didn’t know then how significantly our luck would change. We left mainland Chile and flew 5 hours west to Rapa Nui (known in English as Easter Island), which is considered the most remote airport in the world.

The only way to access Rapa Nui is via Chile. In order to board the flight to the island you have to have accommodations booked at a registered location and (since Covid) you have to have a Rapa Nui certified guide to visit most of the protected sites. I had reached out to 6 different guides on the official tourism website and they either didn’t respond or gave me other names to try. They definitely need to update their list. In the end I only had 2 responses, one which had many good reviews but was very expensive and one that only had 1 review (5/5) but was more reasonably priced. We opted to go with the second option, and this was where we had some real travel luck.

Ata Christino is a relaxed guy around our age who instantly felt like a friend. He is so humble that along the first day’s tour he told us a few breadcrumbs of information that started to build on each other: his parents are both archeologists; they have done some work with restoring the Moai statues; they actually were the people in charge of the largest restoration project; as a child Ata would play in the sacred sites while his parents worked. This guy was raised at the sites, surrounded by teams of scientists and is pretty much an island celebrity (though he would never say that). At one point another guide was telling his group about the restoration of the statues and he said, “the work was done by that guy’s parents”, pointing at Ata.

Ata is knowledgeable, passionate, and makes the history so interesting. Plus, we had the chance to spend a lot of time sharing cultural information about each of our countries. If you ever plan to come here the first thing you should do is ask me for his contact information.

Our first day we explored numerous sites that gave us an understanding of the timeline of the Moai statues, a revolution that destroyed many of them, and the subsequent ‘bird man’ chapter, where rulers were crowned via a crazy Hunger Games style competition.

We learned that the Moai statues were chiseled in 1 piece from the quarry, on the northeast side of the island. Somehow using hundreds of people and maybe rollers they were transported to all corners of the island. Once erected upon their alters the last 2 steps happened: adorning them with hats or topknots (made with red stone from another iron-rich quarry on the island) and placing their eyes. This final step is when they became representations of chiefs and ancestors who had died.

The understanding is that the Moai statues serve as the gateway between the islanders and their ‘Heaven’, which is located in the depths of the sea. The Moai almost all face inland to watch over, protect, and provide spiritual guidance to the living.

One exception is a grouping of 7 Moai that face toward the sea. These are said to represent the 7 explorers who found the island, or perhaps the 7 star Matariki constellation that may have guided them.

Eventually there was a revolution and the people pushed over these symbols of the old regime.

The new way involved new symbolism and systems. Each spring, when the manutara birds returned to their nesting grounds, the competition would begin. Hopefuls had to scale down a 300 meter cliff to the ocean, swim about 2 kms to an island, find the first egg laid, then return it to the starting point. The champion would be the ruler for the next year.

The second day’s tour supplemented information from the first day, plus we got to hike through a lava tunnel in the ‘youngest’ section of the volcanic island.

The icing on the cake was the chance to see the sunrise over 15 Moai statues. It looked pretty dire at first as dark clouds rolled into the area, but that anticipation made it even more exciting.

There is an area within walking distance from town where there are Moai in a perfect sunset location. We visited the area a couple of times as it is one of the sites where you don’t require a ticket and guide. Incredibly there were some wild horses hanging out there one night, which elevated the experience.

There is so much more to say about our island experience, but I’ll leave you wanting one final blog!

Last Thursday we touched down in Santiago, Chile and immediately began our usual travel routine. First we got our bearings, figured out our transportation to our AirBnB, and got some cash out from the airport ATM. Unfortunately, in the past I have made some boneheaded moves while travelling. For example, I have left my insulin in Poland. I have dropped my passport on the floor of a men’s room in a developing country and walked away none the wiser. There was also that time I forgot our camera in the back of a taxi cab. Over the years we have implemented many systems to thwart these types of travel blunders but somehow I keep finding new things to do. If you want DawnO’s version you can watch her tell the insulin story here:

https://youtu.be/HinnehFBvEQ?si=wHr1INrmkx2mam1r

We had found our way to the bus station which was a good 10 minute walk from the main airport terminal when I realized I had left my bank card in the ATM about 12 minutes before. I told DawnO and ran as fast as I could back to the airport, knowing I had effed up again.

I knew I had about a 2% chance that someone had found my bank card and turned it in to someone of authority at the arrivals terminal. After about 10 minutes of searching and asking around, I had confirmed that my card was gone forever. I had one more blunder to add to the kitchen sink.

DawnO was more forgiving than I was, which was nice, but I was beating myself up as we made our way to our AirBnB in Valparaiso, about an hour’s bus ride from Santiago. It is a coastal city built upon hills that look like they are about to jump into the ocean. There are many funiculars that you can pay to ride to get to the top of the hills or you can choose from a many number of stairs and winding streets to get where you’re going. Our place just happens to be at the top of a funicular, or 161 steps!

After arriving at our AirBnB we decided to walk down to a main square and enjoy a coffee. It had been a long night of flights and we could use the caffeine to perk us up. I was beginning to feel better about the lost bank card and was enjoying the people watching. We had just decided to start wandering to another spot when I felt my backpack get snatched out from under my arm. I turned to watch a man run away with it. It took me a second to think “not this too” when I sprinted after him.

Had I not been hyper-focused on pursuing the man with my bag, I would have probably appreciated the vibrant colours and gorgeous graffiti Valparaiso has tattooed all around it.

The people of Valparaiso have been quite lovely, with one obvious exception. I am thankful for the many Chilean people who pointed me in the direction of my bag as I ran through the streets yelling English words I know like, “thief!” and Spanish words I think I know like, “Policia!”

This dude had a head start so I was always about a half a block behind him. Unfortunately, I lost sight of him and then a couple of Chileans pointed me in the wrong direction. I knew my chance of seeing my bag again was at about 2% and fading. I caught a glimpse of DawnO about a block away, heading up the hill. I decided to cut my losses and head after her, meanwhile mentally cataloging the contents of my bag. My wallet which included all my physical credit and debit cards, along with my driver’s licence were now gone. There were medical supplies, mostly backups, and a big bag of skittles for when I need to fight a sugar low brought upon by physical exercise like sprinting.

As I got closer to DawnO, people kept pointing me towards where they had seen the thief run. I was still on track, but had all but given up. I finally got close enough to DawnO that she knew I was behind her, however she kept moving forward. I then watched as my wife chased the thief through a gate to a dilapidated house. I could only hear commotion as I tried to squeeze my way through the gate which was blocked by a large metal tub. As I finally got through I looked up at the small windowless house just as my bag came flying out of it and landed at my feet. The next thing I saw was the thief’s face, about to jump through after the bag but stopped himself when we locked eyes. He saw disbelief in my eyes, but I saw fear in his. I picked up my bag and felt relief, excitement, and sadness all at once. Relief that I had my stuff back, excitement at the unfolding situation and sadness that this guy looked scared of what was in front of him. He clearly didn’t know what was in front of him was more of a lover than a fighter. What was behind him though… was DawnO, and she came equipped with a kitchen sink full of fight.

At that moment I would have been happy to walk away. I had my stuff, we clearly beat the odds. I would have been content to explore the nearby sand dunes of Concón, just a 45 minute bus ride up the coast. We would visit this charming location a few days later and found our way to a lovely spot for lunch amongst a labyrinth of restaurants. One was specifically gluten free! I highly recommend going if you’re ever in the area.

Nothing works up an appetite like watching your wife pull someone by the wrist and tell them in Spanish that she is taking them to the Police. Eventually the ruckus stirred up a couple of squatters from the dilapidated house, one of whom separated DawnO from our would-be thief and proceeded to shoo her out of the gate with me. The other squatter grabbed our local hoodlum and dragged him to places unknown.

We left the scene with all our possessions and returned to our AirBnB to regroup. We realize that we had absolutely no business getting that bag back intact and have likely exchanged all of our good travel karma to do so. We also realized that we’ve become a little relaxed with how we travel and have put some new safeguards in place. We keep learning from these hiccups, whether they are self inflicted or thrust upon us, and we can’t wait to continue our travel adventures.