Omar got up early to ensure I have a last good breakfast at his place before I leave for my trekking. We quickly weigh my backpack and see it is close to 16kg, close enough to the recommended 14kg according to our host. At 7h30 I get picked up by the bus and it seems both Zsuzsanna and Joost are on this same bus already. We arrive at the entrance of 'Parque Nacional de las Torres' around 10h00 where we have a mandatory safety briefing and pay our entrance into t...

I get up in the morning and have a quick breakfast with one of my roommates before going on a first walk into town to go for some grocery shopping. While strolling through the streets, I notice big groups of students being stopped by the local police (los carabineros de chile); whilst checking their rucksacks, I get signalled that I am fine to walk through. Curious what this is all about, I continue my walk to the supermarket and I am once more stopped, this ti...

Today we have planned to cruise around the island with our run-down car and our trip starts off quite early. We meet up with Jan-Gert and Margriet at 6h15 and slowly (ie as fast as the rundown car allows which is on average 35 km an hour :-) ) we drive towards Ahu Tongariki, where we plan to watch the sun rise while enjoying breakfast. After the sun is up and after shooting several nice pictures, we present Jennifer our little 30th birthday cake. Sharing this ca...

At 9h00 we get picked up by Tata to leave on a half a day horseback riding tour. Our goal is Maunga Terevaka which is the island's highest point and only accessible on foot or horseback. After about one and a half hour, we clip-clop on the flanks of the extinct volcano Maunga Terevaka. Not before Nils and Jan-Gert go for a wild ride on their horses though: the scene seems an exact copy of Brokeback Mountain picturing two cowboys riding off into the sunset! Th...