Easter Island

Ok, so after the North Trip I went to school, saw all my classmates again, and got back into the routine of not having so much free time, but also making the most of the weekends. During the next month I will go many times to Santiago, and Talca ( a city a litle farthur south), feel an earthquake at 4 in the morning, win my school's soccer tournament with my class, and go to Lollapalooza, Chile's largest concert. It was all great time, but I'm just going to get right down to what I most enjoyed: Easter Island.

For a Canadian boy from Waterloo, it was pretty surreal to just get on a plane in Santiago, which is on the edge of the largest ocean, and fly directly west, out into the Pacific Ocean.

We flew for nearly 5 hours, and if it hadn't been clowdy, I'm sure we would have only seen water below us. That's because, as we later found out, Easter Island is the most isolated island in the world, having litteraly nothing within the 4000km around it. So goo thing the pilot knew where he was going. As we landed my best German friend said "there's water on BOTH sides of us!". He was right, on Easter ISLAND, there was water on both sides of us.

We touched down, and immediately got going, with leis around our necks and first went to Rano Kau, the volcano closest to the only town on the island called Hanga Roa. We trecked around the crater, then down the mountain to arrive at our hotel just in time for dinner. That night, and over the next 4 days we enjoyed great food on the Island, which is much more heavily spiced than in Chile from the Polynesian influence on the island. It was omnomnom.

After spending the night out in Easter Island, the next day we were up early to the mountain in the centre of the island where all teh Moais were carved and then transported around the island (still nobody knows how they did this). After that we saw the biggest row or Moais on the island, which are facing inland with their backs to the Pacific. We returned to the the hotel after seeing some volcanic caves and slept soundly.

The next day was spent on the beach. But this was what a real beach was Canadians, palm trees, perfectly clear water, sand, coconuts straight from the tree. We even ate a barbeque from plates which were actually leaves of a palm tree. Rugby and soccer were played on the beach, and it was enjoyed by all.

The last day may have been the best one. We woke up and went to the base of Volcano Terevaka which is the highest point on the island, and that's where we found the horses. The majortiy of horses on the island are wild, brought by the Europeans and Chileans when they colonized the island, but there are a couple horses that are tamed for one purpose, to ride up the mountain. We all got a horse and begun the 3 hour treck up the mountain. It was definately the best day spent on the island, spent on horseback walking through the forests and fields of Easter Island to maybe one of the best views I have ever witnessed. You got to see how isolated you truly are on the island, and how special it was to be able to visit this place.

That night was spent at a show called Haha Va'Rua Te Ra'ai. It was an indigenous celebration, which started with a barbeque that is cooked in a deep hole in the ground and covered with palm leaves to create an oven, which was delicious. We then got to watch and participate in the indigenous dancing afterwards.

The next morning was early, and sad, since even though it had only been 5 days we felt like the island had been our home for while. We all climbed on the plane and slept the 5 hour flight away (none of us got much sleep the last night on the island) We landed and with that finished the last trip in Chile for most of us. Ever since I get back from Easter Island, the fact that I am going home in 2 months has seemed ever more prominent in my daily life. It's wierd to say that I'm going home in 2 months because it feels a lot more like leaving home.

North Trip 2012

I guess the only people able to make more than 60 hours spent on a bus during a 9 day trip are exchange students. Because that's essentially what it took to get across the Atacama desert, to 4000m-above-sealevel geysers, to coastal inlets with dolphins, to tremendous beaches that stretch from tremendous desert, it's not all within walking distance if you know what I mean.

Anyways, all of the exchange students in Rancagua got together to take a bus to Santiago so that we could get on the bus before it left for the North. Unfortunately, the bus that we had bought the tickets for never arrived, so we hopped on another bus, and still got there moderately on time, but no worse for the wear.

We hopped on the bus and, with the other 40 students, some of them great friends, some of them complete strangers, we headed to La Serena, a city that I had already visited with the Sotos, but never in summer, when tons of Argentinean, Chilean and Brazilian tourists come to the beaches there. 
When we arrived in the night, we immediately went to a parade in the town center, where, since we were a large group of exchange students, we caused as great a commotion as we could, joining in with the parade, joining the people on the floats, and having an incredible time with the locals. That was then followed by a night bus ride to the observatory further in from the coast where it is said you can see some of the clearest starry skies in the world. We could see 3 different planets, and got to look close up at Jupiter.
The next day we packed up all our stuff and left the hotel (this is a common theme throughout the trip) and went to Punto de Choros, where we hopped in boats, and traveled up and down the coast seeing dolphins, sea lions, and even small penguins, the same ones that I saw in Patagonia, seems like they have travelled a good deal north here... It was amazing, and although we were all quite burned when we got back on the bus.
That night, we spent sleeping on the bus. I managed to make this experience as uncomfortable as possible. I began at the back of the bus, which was an over when the heat was on and a freezer when it wasn't on. I then moved back to my seat to find it occupied, and ended up sleeping face down in the aisle. I kind of felt like my dad on Garuda...

The night on the bus ended up being worth it, because we arrived, past Bahia Inglesa, in the one of the most extreme climates of Chile. We stepped off the bus, still tired from the rough sleep and were in the middle of the desert, with snow covered mountains all around us. When we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama, we were truly in the most "deserty" town we had ever been in. All the buildings were made out of mud, sheep casually strolling through the streets.

The next days in San Pedro may have been the best on the trip, seeing volcanic geysers, swimming in hot springs, seeing flamingos, it was really incredible. After spending all the time we had for San Pedro, we went to Iquique, the farthest north we would get on the trip, and lay on the amazing beaches, and visited the city, which is one of Chile´s most historically significant. 

Reaching this point meant we were beginning the treck home, but we managed to enjoy those last couple days nonetheless. We stopped at Bahia Ingles, which I was already quite familiar with, and after spending a day on the beach, playing soccer, we had our last party with all the exchange students where there was a bit of crossdressing that went on, although I wont put any photos us, sorry guys. Anyways, the next day was spent on the bus, and finally we got back to Santiago where there was a lot of flag signing, and tears. It truly was an incredible trip.