28 June 2019

Sunrise on Rapa Nui and return to Santiago

Our last day on Easter Island started with an early morning to see the sunrise at Tongariki. We were joined by Laurent who had been with us on the two days of our tours. It had been raining the night before so the morning was dicey. It's also pitch black! It took about 1/2 hour to get to the site. There were many vehicles already there. We stayed in the vehicle for quite awhile because it kept raining. The sunrise was not so dramatic because of heavy clouds but we got out to take some photos and did get a little pink ribbon. It was nice to have a final communing with the majestic moai at this beautiful site.
We were taken directly to the airport. It wasn't really open yet at this hour (and really there's just the one flight). After a lot of lining up and waiting, we boarded a nice new 787 with comfy seats and nice video screens for a smooth ride back to Santiago. During our few days on the island, we found out that the US government built the runway here, which is one of the longest in the world, as an emergency site for the space shuttle. Hence the large modern planes that fly here.

On arrival at Santiago, we ended up back at the Hilton. Dinner in the restaurant coincided with the Chile/Colombia soccer game which Chile won in dramatic fashion on penalty kicks. Everyone at the hotel was so happy! It took awhile for us to get our cheque though.

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