Brazil, Argentina and Chile

For those who have been following along on previous blogs you will be aware that we always have a final post that highlights our thoughts, observations and learnings. This trip will be no different.  I had been a little apprehensive about this trip … not out of fear but more just uncertainty about what we would experience. Travel to South America seems to be an area where not a lot of people go … certainly not people that we know. So we didn’t have a lot of feedback about what it was like.  We were very surprised and loved every minute of our adventure. Here are our observations … 1. Location of your accomodation is very important. Sometimes you want to be in the centre of the city … where you can be immersed in the culture and vibe, and other times you want to be out of town and closer to the natural environment. We have two classic examples of this with our hotel in Buenos Aires … smack bang in the city, amongst the restaurants, parks and markets compared with El Calafate wh...

Today was our last day in Rapa Nui and the last day of this adventure if you don't count the travel day(s). So time to pack and check out ... after our delicious breakfast ... and leave our luggage with the lovely Eileen who runs this hotel until we come back from our half day tour. We were met by our guide and driver Mara ... a beautiful, young, vivacious lady who took us on our final tour. When we booked the trip with SATO they had nothing on this morning but with our flight not leaving until 4.30 we asked if they could find a half day tour to fill the morning. What we got was a hike Mount Teravaka. Mara drove us expertly to the base of the mountain on rather rough roads. Thank goodness we had a four wheel drive to negotiate some of the massive holes and crags in the road. More amazing is that Mara drove one handed all the way!   We parked about half way up the mountain, coincidentally near her brother’s house, and then began the walk. We opted for the longer route which Mara sai...