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I couldn’t wait to get to Easter Island, one of many highlights of the journey.

The island is situated within the Pacific Ocean, fairly removed from the coast of Chile, approx. 3,500 km.

Though it belongs to Chile, it has an autonomous standing and its inhabitants are Polynesians, being the japanese extremity of Polynesia.

I ponder how these individuals would have arrived on such an enormous territory unfold throughout the whole Pacific Ocean.

Btw, the picture on the House web page is just not mine, is a photograph taken by Attila Munzlinger.

In the summertime of 2019 I went on an intensive tour of western South America. Passing by 5 territories of the continent took me by fascinating locations, distinctive on this planet. I stood by the Hand of the Desert, wanting up on the southern night time sky of the Atacama desert, and drove the most important dunes on this planet and the paths of desert valleys with such a special look that folks gave them names just like the Valley of the Moon or the Valley of the Planet Mars. I took night time footage close to the Three Sisters within the Valley of the Moon.

I gazed westward into the Pacific Ocean, out within the open, alongside the stone statues of the vanished civilization of Easter Island—the japanese tip of Polynesia. I had lunch in the course of the Bolivian salt desert and at night time I photographed my reflection within the water mirror of the flattest and whitest place on Earth. We stayed in a villa made from salt and cactus wooden. We went to the cactus island of the salt desert. I listened to the tales of the astronomers from ALMA – an observatory situated at over 5000m altitude, but in addition to these of the native inhabitants of the floating islands of Lake Titicaca. We drove quick on grime desert roads to see the flamingos at sundown. I went to Macchu Picchu. I went to Cusco. We noticed the oldest pyramids in South America, the over 5000 12 months outdated ones from Caral. I went to the witches market in La Paz and noticed the singing fountains in Lima.

It was a monumental journey in only one month, elements of which might be monumental journeys in themselves. The pretext was the jiffy of photo voltaic eclipse, the third photo voltaic eclipse for me. The remainder of the journeys and the fascinating issues skilled concentrated inside a month make me marvel what I do with my time at dwelling when week after week, month after month goes by with out discovering something notable. And I miss leaving once more.

The tour was organized by the SARM Romania astroclub, of which I’m a member. The official identify was SARM Romania Expedition – South American Eclipse 2019, extending from June 25 to July 22, 2019.

Given the depth and extension of the journey, we have now divided the story into 9 elements, offered in chronological order as follows:

• Buenos Aires;
• Chile – Introduction to Chile and The Photo voltaic Eclipse 2019;
• Easter Island;
• Chile – Atacama Desert, Valley of Demise (or Mars) and different wonderful locations;
• Chile – Moon Valley and the Flamingo Birds;
• Bolivia – Salar de Uyuni or the Salt Desert;
• Bolivia – La Paz, Tiwanaku and different wonderful locations;
• Peru – Machu Picchu and Cuzco;
• Peru – Lima, Nazca and the Caral Pyramids.

Easter Island

04 July – Thursday

Thursday, we left early within the morning, at 04.00, for the airport. We left our baggage at a resort, handed over the rental vehicles and took the aircraft to Easter Island. The aircraft landed on the island at about 10.

I couldn’t wait to get to Easter Island, one of many highlights of the journey. The island is situated within the Pacific Ocean, fairly removed from the coast of Chile, about 3500 km. Though it belongs to Chile, it has an autonomous standing and its inhabitants are Polynesians, being the japanese extremity of Polynesia. I ponder how these individuals would have arrived on such an enormous territory unfold throughout the whole Pacific Ocean.

On the airport everybody paid an area Easter Island reserve entry price ($80 per individual). We had been greeted by tremendous cute canine police who had been checking to be sure to weren’t bringing in fruit or different issues from exterior the pasture biosphere. We had been then picked up by vehicles and arrived at Lodge Gomero 3* (600-700 m from the airport).

Good resort, a vacation ambiance. We then went on an island tour. We had an excellent Polynesian information and really educated, very skilled.

The primary Moai seen raised my pulse. They’re past expectations. It was nicely definitely worth the effort. There are such a lot of in every single place, everywhere in the island. I had a somewhat advanced and lengthy tour, I walked rather a lot.

I additionally noticed unfinished Moai, and the place the place some had been began however had not but managed to be transferred to the show place. It’s assumed that these had been the illustration of personalities, leaders of the varied tribes on the island, a sort of PSD / PNL statues of the Polynesians who colonized the island who-knows-when. The historical past of the island and the origin of the inhabitants has many components of thriller. The frequent principle is that the battle for energy and restricted territory led to an ecological and demographic catastrophe. Be that as it might, when European settlers arrived there they discovered traces of a fallen civilization, however traces of the dwelling, core inhabitants nonetheless exist right this moment.

The island has heavenly seashores and palm timber and seaside bars. We had lunch in a chill place, subsequent to some big palm timber, virtually however not fairly subsequent to the seaside.

In every single place within the cities there may be an environment of rest, everyone seems to be smiling. I felt very strongly the sensation that you’re minimize off from the world, remoted in a great way, and that nothing can contact you there. Anchored offshore sits an enormous container ship as a type of single wholesale provide level for the whole island.

Some vehicles don’t have doorways, the locals don’t care, they don’t want them, they most likely don’t have any.

It needs to be famous that souvenirs are cheaper within the metropolis and never on the seaside.

A lot of stray canines, as in the event that they too didn’t have a care on this planet. Every little thing is gradual, calm, cheerful and sunny.

While you look out to sea, within the Ocean, within the route during which the statues are oriented, as if carrying out the place they got here from, you additionally really feel how distant you might be from virtually all the pieces. You look into immensity, into nothingness, into infinity, into the unknown.

Within the night, we had dinner on the resort and had a program of conventional Polynesian dances. Being very drained, we didn’t exit for pictures at night time. The meals had been excellent, they eat very nicely on the island.

Within the night I spent the night telling tales with a Chilean vacationer on the island, she was scuba diving and taking part in soccer in her spare time.

I talked to some Individuals who had been eclipse hunters, Some had been to 14 photo voltaic eclipses. Now they’d put up $10k per individual and chartered a aircraft to comply with the shadow of the moon for a chronic impact of the eclipse.

You can not transfer to Easter Island. You possibly can come as a vacationer and keep for a most of 1 month, as there are restrictions on keep even for Chileans from the mainland, so as to shield the authenticity of the island. A particularly considerable coverage today.

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05 July – Friday

I had a really quick keep on Easter Island, besides it was definitely worth the extra value of the journey of round 1.000 euros. On Friday we nonetheless had time for one more stroll on the island, within the southern space. Then adopted the switch to the airport at 3pm and flight to Santiago, the aircraft touchdown at 9:35pm.

I flew with Latam, with a aircraft outfitted with monumental legroom, with very type employees, meals served with a metallic knife and fork, heavy dishes, no saving of kg it appears. As traditional on such lengthy flights, I spend my time both consuming or sleeping or watching motion pictures. In Santiago once more, we stayed on the 4* Vacation Inn, the place we had additionally left our primary baggage.

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