DAY 109
As we are landing in São Paulo, the thing that we notice immediately is the amount of public lights. It's 5am but that's a huge difference with Africa. The transfer is seamless and well organized and we get in with the 5th leg of our journey. The landing in Santiago is spectacular with the Andes within arm reach it seems. At the airport, the cultural shocks continue. A super nice lady (family originally coming from Bretagne, France) at the tourist information gives us every piece of info we want and she does it with a super smile! Another thing that leaves us speechless is that there's organized public transportation from the airport to the city center. And the price is fixed, official and identical for everyone... Bliss! Icing on the cake they drive on the right side of the road (right in both meanings of course). We get to see more of the Andes from the bus but they strangely look fake; it's too perfect to be real it seems.
After so many hours in planes we don't really know what time it is anymore but we do know we have to resist sleeping until tonight local time. To avoid being tempted by a nap (that would turn into something much longer in the blink of an eye) we leave the hotel right away. It's lunch time anyway. We check out the famous "Bar nacional" in the business district. It's a bistro with lots of hurried waiters and customers. We get our food in no time and get to chat with the owner who offers us the specialty of the house: cola de mono (monkey tail). Special recipe digestive that is way too easy to drink ;)
We wander about for a bit, stumbling upon a little salsa concert in the main plaza before going back to the hotel. Steps away from the hotel, we come across our first remnant of the dictatorship. We're about to pass by but notice someone looking at cobbled stones. Curious we stop and see names on many of them in front of a nice house. It's 38, London street... The place was used by the secret police during the early years of the dictatorship. 98 persons (including 2 pregnant women) disappeared in this house. The government even changed the number of the house to hide the truth... Chilling first contact with the tenebrous past of Chile.
DAY 110
Thanks to a reliable and super fast wifi we can finally have a decent Skype with the family. Not much is open on Saturdays in Santiago but we still can wander about. We cross the river to check out the other side and it's very different. The historical center is neat and well kept but the renovations haven't reach the others neighborhood yet visibly. What caught our eye was a the "Iglesia de la recoleta franciscana". It's not looking as good from up close but since we came all the way we visit it. The inside is common too except for the plaques and writings (thank you notes) on the wall around the saints and icons. I don't remember ever seeing something like that. Back towards the center we stop by the old railway station (now an expo center) and as sleep is becoming difficult to fight, we head back to the hotel but not before a stop at the supermarket for some Spanish embutido and bread!
DAY 111
After 2 zombie days in Santiago, we head back to the airport for the 6th and final leg of our journey. The plane leaves 2h30 late but it's a brand new 787; Super nice , spacious, luminous and we get emergency seats without asking :D Arrived in Rapa Nui, we witness an insane scene at the luggage pickup. A shitload of luggage is being poured on the carousel for what feels like hours. The 200 people crammed against the carousel don't help either. You can't see a thing and even less get to your luggage. There's not much else to do but stay patient and eventually we can retrieve our bags. After checking in our very rustic "cabaña", we head to the shore to have our first sunset with Moais. It's cloudy but we get some very decent colors. We have many more nights to get a really good one ;) Tonight we should able to see the "super blood moon eclipse" but the clouds invite themselves to the party so we go to bed instead.
Fun fact: Rapa Nui is the Island further away from any continents, making it the end of the world ;(