Hi Everyone,

I wasn't organized enough before I left to do blog entries in my absence. I've just gotten back from a 12 day trip to Santiago, Chile, and Easter Island.

My birthday/Mother's Day/Christmas present to my mother this year was to take her to Easter Island. Some of you may remember that my husband and I went last year and you can read (in great detail) about our Easter Island travels on my husband's following blog entries:

Day 1 and 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

As part of last year's travels we also went to Tahiti and Moorea. That travel description can be found here,
here, and here.

We had invited Mom last year but she wasn't able to go and asked that I take her this year.




Since Easter Island has a special type of magic for me, I willingly agreed. Here are just a few of the images from Easter Island that I liked. Mom took over 600 photos while she was there. Her favourite spot was the coast line and she spent hours and hours trying to get just the right shot of the surf.

Mom had a fantastic time and did great for someone who will be turning 70 later this year. We hadn't really done any extended travelling together and I'm happy to say that we did well and I'd have her as a travel companion again.



For me, the second time around wasn't as magical as the first time and the moai didn't have the same draw that they did previously. However, it was still really wonderful and perfect, but in a different way. I felt like I had come back to a home away from home. This time was more about the people. The islanders are beautiful and I felt comfortable everywhere I went. I think being able to speak Spanish helps a bit. I'll remember the smiles and the conversations with the restaurant staff, souvenir shop people, and, of course, the people at the inn where we stayed.

Last year I had made some friends, Amanda, Ann, and Elisabeth who are still friends with promises that if we're ever in each others neighbourhoods we'll visit. This year I also made some new friends, Tess and Andrew, and Natalie and Yoyo. These people also feel like they'll be in my life for a while to come yet. I have promises to other people on the island that if I'm ever back that I'm to visit, even just to say hi. While I doubt that I'll be back at Easter Island, it will always hold a special place in my heart.



On a side note, this time we passed through Santiago, Chile. I was captivated by the Andes and would liked to have spent more time getting to know them. As part of our trip we spent a morning at El Pueblito de los Dominicos in Santiago, a must see village for anyone who enjoys artisan work. For whatever reason it's not very well written up in the tour books and it was only at the insistence of one of my coworkers who is from Santiago that we went. I spent a fair bit of money there, the craftsmanship is superb. I bought several pairs of earrings, one of which I'd like to try in clay.





Cheers,

Sandy