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Rano Raraku, Easter Island - Photo by Jérôme Coupé

Rapa Nui: an old dream finally comes true

Ten years ago, the missus and myself backpacked through Chile, Peru and Bolivia for three months. At the time, we didn't have the money to make it to Easter Island, but we promised ourselves we would go one day.

An opportunity like no other

One of my uncles is an archeologist. He specialises in megaliths and all kind of old stones and has been participating in regular archeology campaigns studying the Moais of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) for more than ten years. About nine months ago, he came over for diner and told us he would be going again for a new mission in 2016.

After emptying a first bottle of wine together, we decided we would join him and spend a couple of weeks with him on the island, where he could show us around and make the trip really worth the while.

Meeting the locals, paying the Moais and the Ranu Raraku crater a visit has been on my "travel to do list" for a while now. It will be so nice to finally cross those ones off!

Back to Chile

Rapa Nui is roughly 4000 kilometers away from the coasts of Chile, a country we already fell in love with. On our way back to Belgium, we will also spend a couple of weeks hiking in the mountains lying between Santiago and the Argentinian border to enjoy the beautiful landscapes of the area.

I am really looking forward to the Chilean part of the trip too. Among other things, I have very fond memories of the Bellavista neighborhood in Santiago and of the delicious "Machas a la Parmegiana" you can have near the Mercado Central.

Only a couple of weeks to go now ...

Actually, the pictures are online now, in case you want to have a look.