Easter Island - August 2009

Easter Island is a pretty fascinating place - it's basically in the middle of nowhere - about 2100 miles west of Chile in the middle of the pacific. This is the kind of place you should visit as part of a tour of Chile, or perhaps Tahiti. Lots of people spend a couple of days here on their way to or from Tahiti. Bottom line, it's not worth your money to do an exclusive Easter Island vacation, unless you are an archeologist or something. This island is not very developed, there are no large hotels or resorts here (yet). The locals are nice Polynesians and the feeling is laid back. There is some tension between the native Polynesian people and the Chileans who migrate there as well as the Chilean government. This is similar to the tension that exists with certain Hawaiians against the US.

I recommend spending no more than 3-4 days here. In that time you can see everything there is to see. All of the lodging here is small, bed & breakfast, family run stuff. Nothing fancy. There is really only one decent beach for swimming/snorkeling. I didn't have the chance to scuba dive there - but I've heard it's pretty good. Our itinerary was something like this:
Day One: rent a car - drive around the island, see all the Moais (stone head carving), checked out Anakena beach. Ate some fish. Took lots of pictures of the Moais
Day Two: Horseback riding excursion. Saw several caves along the coast. Nice scenic ride.
Day Three: Rented ATVs. Absolute blast. Where else can you ride ATVs over sacred archeological sites. In the afternoon we checked out the largest of the volcanic craters.

Tearing the landscape on 4 wheelers...cool

Hailey and Mya in front of the crater

Una cabalgata

the Moais

Riding cross the land, kicking up sand, sheriff's posse on our tail cause we're in demand

Archaeological sites, kids, and farm animals

Poser

Why so SERIOUS?

These 5 Moais represent our family...I'm the fat one with the cool hat.

Patagonia - Tierra del FUEGO

In March we took a trip to Patagonia, at the southern tip of Chile. It's an amazing region with lots of mountains, lakes, glaciers, and wildlife. We flew to Punta Arenas, which is the southernmost city in the world. From there we rented a car and drove to Puerto Natales and then on to Torres de Paine national park. Great trip.

On the boat on Lago Grey...Glacier in background

Lago Grey beach...swimming not recommended

Mya

Tiffany took this in Puerto Natales...really nice shot.

Tiffany on Lago Grey

The glacier at Lago Grey

Torres del Paine National Park

View of the Torres from our cabin on the Rio Serrano

View of the Torres from inside the park

Rooftop pool at our hotel in Puerto Natales