23rd November – Farewell to Easter Island

The weather had changed overnight and we woke up to low clouds and rain.  We timed our visit perfectly!  We had a leisurely breakfast and then left for a visit to the main town and its museum.  By the time we got to town, the rain has stopped and the sun was shining again.  I really enjoyed the museum and wished we could have visited it first so that I had a much better understanding of the history and culture of the island before any of the tours.  Anyway, it brought it all together for me.

We then had a tour of a craft market which we all agreed was full of tat, before being driven to the airport.  There, great excitement ensued as a VIP came in our plane and was greeted by a special band and welcome dancers.  It was fun to watch and I took some photos of the VIPs, but we didn’t recognise them – but that doesn’t mean a thing!

Then we watched with sinking hearts as the cowls of the port engine were lifted and various mechanics popped in and out of it.  Then came an announcement telling us that the flight was delayed!  In the end, we were delayed just over an hour from the scheduled time posted in the airport which was an hour later than our itinerary.  So, by our reckoning we were 2 hours late, which was a shame as we gained 2 hours going back to Santiago.  In the end, although we made up an hour during the flight, we lost over half of that sitting on the tarmac at Santiago waiting for a gate to become available.

So, in the end, we got to our hotel – the Holiday Inn just opposite the terminal – at 10.30pm.  We decided to skip dinner and just have a night cap before retiring for the night knowing we had to be up at 5am in order to get our early morning flight up to Calama in the Atacama Desert.  Did I mention that this hasn’t been a particularly restful holiday....?!!!