For taking a short break from our various summer obligations, we do appear to have covered a lot of ground. We took eight flights, five of them lasting more than five hours. That is a lot of time in the air. Was the time on the ground worth all the effort? In short, yes. We tried to craft our trip to have at least two nights at any of the locations. This lets us, and our suitcases breathe a little bit.
Our first stop was Santiago, Chile. Though it is a major international city, most people probably don’t pay it much attention. After all, it doesn’t have a lot to offer the average tourist. For these reasons, we found it quite pleasant, and a nice way to ease ourselves into the trip. Amidst the bustle and crowd, we were able to relax in its parks and markets, and get a covid test in incredibly efficient fashion. And not to be overlooked, Nicole was able to get a custom leather belt. Holding pants up is important.
Our next destination of Rapa Nui was not easy to get to, particularly at this time. It had barely resumed flights, and judging by the boxes people were carrying, no one living there had eaten a donut in three years. When compared to other international destinations right now, Rapa Nui is significantly more complicated to get to. This is due in great part to the flight situation. Departing just once every few days, it definitely limits one’s options. Furthermore, there are a myriad of restrictions that complicate the matter. Most people are unwilling to deal with these obstacles. This results in fewer people going, and as a result, a more enriching experience for those who have gone through the effort.
We, Bricole, everyone’s favorite celebrity couple, felt confident in our abilities to tackle all problems. Would I recommend going to Rapa Nui right now? Honestly, no, because even for paying passengers, it is an unnecessarily complicated process just to check in for these flights. It may have been easier to get out of Kabul last year than hitch a ride on LATAM to and from Rapa Nui. We had to keep pulling up a QR code generated by the Chilean government website. This code showed that our vaccinations had previously been approved. This is a challenging enough thing to deal with if you have a smartphone that works internationally, but becomes next to impossible without it. As fate would have it, my parents kicking me off the Verizon family plan proved to be beneficial for us. Verizon’s travel pass seemed to be virtually useless in Chile, and I had to use my Google Fi-equipped phone to find Nicole’s QR code by logging out of my profile and into hers. With that being said, no matter what fancy phone or carrier you are using on Rapa Nui, service is sketchy at best and nonexistent for the remainder. The ticket agent in Rapa Nui was like, “It’s best if you take a screenshot of it.” Good advice, but useless if you are now holding your cellphone up for a signal like it’s 2001.
Now that I’ve told you not to go, I am going to make a 180 turn and tell you how great it was to actually be there. Once we battled through all the QR codes, tests, forms, and dodged the Dunkin Donuts boxes, we found an island that was friendly and relaxing. This is an island that has had a reputation for blocking the runway and opposing the return of visitors. I completely understand their point of view. I was not there in the years leading up to the pandemic to witness the overtourism that plagued the island’s ability to sustain itself, but I wholeheartedly agree that the return of visitors needs to be managed properly going forward. Our guide at Rano Raraku spoke to us about the problems faced in those years. I would be pretty upset if water was running out and I was told to ration while tourists are taking long hot showers in the hotels. The point is, as long as you are respectful to the island and its full time inhabitants, they will reciprocate with kindness and not block the runway. After all, those donuts have to reach their recipients.
Seeing the moai with virtually no one else around was a fantastic experience. It’s still surreal to see them even though I had seen them before. Sometimes when face to face with something so iconic or spectacular, the reality of the moment doesn’t always sink in. It is as if the thousand year old moai in front of us were part of the Funset Boulevard mini golf course. The freedom of a rental car was also a nice option that enabled us to see things at our own pace and linger at certain sites without feeling rushed. Even with disappearing internet and phone service, Rapa Nui was a wonderful isolated oasis. I am glad we were able to get there in its first week and enjoy it without the crowds. When I visited in 2008, I didn’t envision myself returning to such an isolated place, but never say never. Maybe we will be back again.
Rapa Nui’s sparseness and relaxed atmosphere was contrasted dramatically with our experience at Jorge Newbery airport in Buenos Aires. In some ways, this trip needs to be measured with what we didn’t do. Buenos Aires is a major city of historical and cultural importance. It isn’t right to spend our time there exclusively at an airport, but we intend to be back in October to kickstart further adventures down to Patagonia. Now that I’ve put that on these pages, we will surely end up in Norway or New Zealand instead. We narrowly ended up doing Buenos Aires things like commanding audiences from balconies like Eva Perón, but ended up going to Iguazu Falls instead. That side trip proved to be an extension of our experience at the airport — crowded, loud, and not very relaxing.
As I mentioned in my post about Iguazu, we are cursed with the ability to compare. I think overall Iguazu was perhaps more impressive in scale when compared to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia, but the experience of viewing those falls was completely different. We visited Victoria Falls in the dry season, and I remarked in my blog at the time that I would still prefer less of a gusher as long as it meant fewer crowds. I stand by that statement. You can only appreciate natural beauty so much when you’re being elbowed in the crotch by a child and poked with a selfie stick.
And lastly, Rio de Janeiro. I always joked that Rio would just be a quick stopover on our way home from somewhere else. It’s not the kind of place we would ever plan a trip around. “Let’s get in, see big Jesus, and get the hell out,” I would often say. The media has never painted a great picture of this city and it has rubbed off on us. I watched a documentary in grad school about a hostage standoff on a city bus that resulted in many innocents being killed (by the police by the way, not the hostage taker). There is a level in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that involves a gun battle in a “favela,” neighborhood. The 2016 Olympics made many mentions of the toxic water and ended with members of the U.S. men’s swim team being tracked down and pulled from their flights home because they ripped down a poster or some equally boring crime. Rio had not endeared itself into our hearts before our visit. But having now seen it firsthand, I have to admit that it is not without its charms.
It reminded me more of a European city on the riviera than of other cities in South America. But Rio is Rio, and cannot be compared to a lot of things. Rio just is. Noisy, crowded, active, and filled with traffic that is constantly switching lanes chaotically. And yet, there seems to be some sort of order to all the chaos. I just haven’t managed to figure it out. There are just so many people everywhere. It’s a lot for a couple of introverts like us. It’s a nice enough city to be during the “low season,” but I don’t foresee myself coming back for Carnaval. And now that I’ve put that on the page, we will surely end up in some sort of elaborate choreographed masquerade party on the streets of Rio next year. I should probably start packing.
passports & pepto bismol 