South American free and easy trip, 🇨🇱 Chile itinerary: 🇨🇱 Santiago—Valparaíso—Easter Island Rapa Nui—Puerto Natales—Torres del Paine—🇦🇷 El Calafate
The island is very hot, and the scenery is beautiful. We watched the sunrise, sunset, ate a lot of tuna, drank pisco, and this life on the island, except for some stomach discomfort, was otherwise perfect.
Small tips:
[BeerR] Renting a car, the owner of the homestay will arrange to pick you up right after you land. You can ask him to take us directly to the car rental place. We rented a 4-5 person car, the cost was over 90 US dollars per day, without insurance. The total fuel cost was only 18 US dollars for refueling once.
[BeerR] Tour guide, there are some places on the island that require a tour guide to enter, so the second thing is to hire a local tour guide. We planned a one and a half day itinerary to visit those attractions that need a tour guide. The initial price was 120 US dollars per person, we bargained down to 70 US dollars per person, with full English commentary + car guidance.
[BeerR] At this season, the area with 15 Moai statues is suitable to visit in the afternoon/evening, with favorable lighting + watching the sunset.
[BeerR] p12 is the cabin where we stayed, the owner is very nice, from this location you can see the big-eyed Moai (Tahai).
[BeerR] p13-15 is a restaurant on the island, they have very delicious tuna and various seafood, seafood noodles, next to the Pacific Ocean, and just happened to capture the only flight about to land that day.
[BeerR] There’s no need to worry about thieves on the island, because there aren’t any.
[BeerR] Littering is not allowed on the island, even secretly.
[BeerR] Supermarket items are relatively expensive, and many are not priced, it’s recommended to buy what you need in Santiago and bring it over.
[BeerR] People with sensitive stomachs should avoid eating seafood, especially raw, during which I had a raw tuna mixed with lemon and onion (a specialty dish) once, and it made me question my existence, arrived on the island on April 1st, and today back in Santiago looking everywhere for anti-diarrheal medicine [DisappointedR], the medicine from home didn’t work.
.. The hygiene conditions on the island are worrying, be very careful!
[GreatR] The advantage of a free and easy trip is that you have more time, it’s not too rushed, and there’s plenty of rest time. Although it’s quite troublesome, overall it’s still worth going.
