Hanga Roa, Chile, South America

I had a really nice, relaxing last day on the island. I returned the car at about 9am, after filling it up with gas that only cost 8,000 pesos ($15). I thought it was going to be a lot more expensive than that for filling it up on the island. I met Andrea at 9:15am and we walked over to the last cave we wanted to see. It was at the base of Orongo, and it ended up being different than we expected.

It was a cave that was right on the water, and not very deep at all, maybe 15ft. You couldn’t go in it because there was a warning that pieces of the rock are falling off all the time, so it’s cordoned off now. It was a little disappointing compared to the last couple of caves we’ve seen, but it was still a beautiful view. We also had the dog from Andrea’s hostel with us, and he was having fun jumping around on the rocks, so that made it nicer.

The map on my phone showed that there was another cave not far from this one, so we walked over to that as well, but there was no cave. I guess that’s the problem with using offline maps that are updated by the public. They can put anything they want on there, so it’s not always completely accurate. I left Andrea here and she went for a walk up to Orongo, but I’d already been there earlier this week.

I went back to the hostel and started getting my things packed up. I was told that I had to check out at 12pm, so I wanted to make sure I was ready. The manager of the hostel, Andres, was around when I got back, so I asked him how much it would cost to keep the room until I need to go to the airport at 9pm. He said I could stay for free! The people here are so relaxed and nice, it’s great! So that was a nice surprise for me.

I didn’t have to finish packing my stuff, and I headed into town. I picked up a few souvenirs and post cards, and then headed down to this competition that the school kids were in. It was a pretty big affair. They were all participating in the traditional dances and singing. The kids were ages from about 5 to 15 years old. There were a bunch of tents set up serving food and giving out information on different places. I hung around for about 45 minutes and tried to spot Andrea, but there were too many people and I couldn’t find her.

I decided to head back into town and drop some stuff off at the hostel before I met Andrea for lunch. We went back to Club Sandwich and had the awesome fajitas for the last time. I was impressed every time I ate there. That’s a really good consistent restaurant. After lunch I went down to the post office and sent the postcards, which also weren’t as expensive as I was expecting them to be. I was pretty tired after lunch, so I went back to the hostel and just relaxed for a bit. It was a very nice option that I didn’t expect to have.

I went back out and met Andrea for ice cream to say good bye before my flight. It was really nice getting to know her and having someone else to travel around with. It makes such a difference instead of traveling by myself all the time. She lives in Sao Paolo, so hopefully she can show me around when I get to Brazil. It’s always nice to know a local!

I got a ride to the airport from Andres at 9pm and that’s where I am now. My flight is at 11pm and then I’ll arrive in Santiago to meet Melissa. I can’t wait! It feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen her, but it’s only been a couple of months. We’re going to have a lot of fun! And I need to get some rest on the plane, so I’m not even going to take my computer out. That’s why I’m writing this now. I hope I’m able to sleep!