Santiago Day 195 01/04/2015

We woke on our final morning to a resumption of the sunshine and after packing and checking out, spent our final couple of hours walking around the town and seafront. By the time we had done this and had a coffee it was time for the short 5 minute drive to the airport. Kathy said her goodbyes and we both received a traditional necklace made from seashells from her. Our plane landed, disembarking the arriving passengers and a hour later we were on board (extra legroom as we had the emergency exit seats) and ready for take off. As we climbed through the air we saw the island get smaller and smaller and reflected on our very enjoyable 4 days there. Despite the dispute we managed to see all the sights we wanted to via a combination of organised tour, on bikes and on foot. It really is a lovely island but very isolated as its over 4000kms from Tahiti and 3700kms from mainland Chile. Whilst it's part of the latter we didn't think it felt connected to it other than by the same language and currency. The place has a strong historical and cultural presence, the latter in the form of the maois and these being very unique. After just under 6 hours we landed at Santiago, quickly got our bags, found our transportation into the centre of Santiago and were back at the Hostel Rio Amazonas (where we stayed before) just before midnight, feeling tired but happy we had been to such a lovely, remote place.

Easter Island airport and the plane for our flight back to Santiago