I woke early and was ready to go by 9am for the horseriding. My guide picked me up and we drove to his house on the outskirts of Hanga Roa. He told me he was born on the island, has five brothers and a sister, owns sixteen horses, speaks English, Spanish, Rapa nui and French and became good friends with Kevin Costner when he came to the island to direct the film 'Rapa Nui' - all in all an interesting guy! I'm introduced to my horse, Raco, and off we go. The rid...

I arrived last night and was greeted at the airport by Mauricio, a guy from the accommodation and given my first lei (flower necklace) - a nice welcome to the island. The next morning I got my first look at my new surroundings. I'm staying at a place called Mihinoa Camping. It consists of private rooms, dorm rooms and camping. The view is amazing, positioned right on the coast with big waves crashing onto the rocks. After a simple breakfast I walk the 10-15 mins...

Changing rooms from the bunk bed to the double room as it could possibly be our last night for a fortnight and we can spend the extra $4 on it. The flights to Easter Island have dropped in price and they are now cheaper than before to test Sarah and her drive for Easter Island. This happened just after telling our friends her plans and where she would be to catch up with them. We were picked up from the hostel just after 8am and headed to the Parque de natio...

The drive out from Pisco Elqui was slower, much slower. After our near death drive out to Pisco Elqui, the slow trip back into the big smoke was great. We were actually able to see what's outside. The vines in the valley extended all the way until the near vertical mountains of rock and rubble either side. Any small break in slope and there were vines on it. We arrived in La Serena and checked into Hostel Balmaceda, a new and expanding hostel that is much cheaper...

22/4 Pisco Elqui We arrived at La Serena just after 5:00 and headed over to find the bus company for the next leg, Via Elqui. The first above shop sign we saw turned out to be a confectionary shop, the second shop was empty or abandoned, and not even the light fittings were left. This is looking good. After asking at a place that was actually open, we found out that the first bus is 6:50 and they open at 6:30 in a shop that is located in the barricaded off are...