Friday 23/03
Vlog by Ludivine: see below.
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By me:
We wake up at 10am! I had put the alarm clock at 8:30am but we were too tired to wake up. There’s was nothing really important to do early this morning anyway. The kids needed sleep also apparently: they were still sound asleep when I woke them up at 10:30am. We take the breakfast (fruits, not really good, and cereals).
It’s nearly noon when we leave…
We stop in town to buy tickets for tonight’s traditional dance show and to take some money. It’s better to have cash on the island (the hotel charges 4% if we pay by credit card for example). Since our arrival, we’ve already taken 1,000,000 Chilean Peso…, which is not worth a lot: 1,000 $ (the Chilean Peso has the same symbol as the dollar) equals 1.33 €.
We first go back (once more) to Anakena. Since the distances are so small, we never hesitate to go back to a place that we’ve already visited. The light, although not ideal, is better than yesterday and the site is nearly empty. I’m happy with the picture: the 2 sites (Ahu Nau Nau and Ahu Ature Hulu) with the green grass, the white-sand beach, the blue sky and the beautiful ocean.
We then go to Ahu Akivi, which is unusual for its inland location. Ahu Akivi sports 7 restored moai. They are the only ones that face the sea but, like all moai, they overlook the site of a village.
Afterwards, we drive to a more remote place, to see Ana Te Pahu. It is former cave dwellings. Caves here are lava tubes created when rock solidified around a flowing stream of molten lava. We can go inside, until it’s exit above the ocean; quite an unusual experience.
We come back at the hotel around 4pm. We are all starving.
We eat sandwiches with ham, cheese, avocado, tomato + the rest of pasta.
We chill a bit in our rooms until 6:30pm. It feels good.
It’s good that we haven’t gone somewhere (we wanted to hike up the Mt Terevaka, a 3-hour return walk to enjoy panoramic views on the island) anyway since the rain gets much stronger. It reminds us of the tropical climate of Malabo, with sudden heavy rains.
Kids do one homeschooling session.
We go to town at 8pm. We grab empanadas (chicken & cheese / tuna) and we go and eat them again at Ahu Tahai, to watch the sunset. It is a bit better than yesterday but still not great.
At 8:45pm we go to see the traditional dance show. It is quite good with 9 dancers who ‘se donnent à fond’.
We are back in the hotel at 10:30pm.
We read till 11:30pm.
Saturday 24/03 (1/2)
We wake up at 9:30m, with the alarm clock. We again didn’t sleep very well this night. One hour of insomnia for me (with a shower to try to get rid of an “ophthalmic” headache) and 2 for Isabelle.
We don’t have time to do much this morning. But we’ve seen all what we wanted to see on the island. It was as magical as we had dreamt of. In addition, the hotel was nice. Moreover, we ate well. A very nice stay!
I go and fill up the car, which we have to give back to Christophe this morning.
We pack our luggage.
Christophe drops us at the airport at noon. Our flight is at 3pm. We can already check in our bags.
Isabelle and I go to town (the airport is 10′ from town, on foot). Isabelle wants to print the bus tickets for tomorrow.
The flight to Santiago lasts 4 hours and a half. We all watch movies.
