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Chile and Easter Island

Name of the restaurant we had lunch and returned in the evening too.

A large piece has just slipped out of the ice shelf.

The layered rock is sculptured by the centuries of wind blowing.

San Pedro de Atacama is a town set on an arid high plateau in the Andes mountains of northeastern Chile. Its dramatic surrounding landscape incorporates desert, salt flats, volcanoes, geysers and hot springs. The Valle de la Luna in the nearby Los Flamencos National Reserve is a lunarike depression with unusual rock formations, a huge sand dune and pink-streaked mountains.

Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part of Chile. Puerto Natales is the only city in the province. It is located 153 miles northwest of Punta Arenas. It is the final passenger port of call for the Navimag ferry sailing from Puerto Montt into the Señoret Channel as well as the primary transit point for travelers to Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

Showing us how the cork is cut out of each piece of bark of the cork

Ahu Akivi is part of the Ahu Akivi-Vai Teka complex which was built up by the Rapa Nui people in two phases. In the first phase, during the 16th century a central rectangular platform was created on a leveled surface. It had wings projecting to the north and the south directions. An approach ramp was also part of this platform which led to the ceremonial plaza stretching 25 metres (82 ft) towards the west of the central platform. A cremation ground existed behind the central platform. The second phase of construction was elaborately planned and implemented in the early years of the 17th century when the platform was modified, a ramp was created, seven statues of equal size were erected. Another crematorium was also built. A cave in which people used to reside was also used as tomb during historic times.

Puna Pau is a small extinct volcano, located about 7 kilometers northeast of Hanga Roa, whose name refers to a source or well of water that should have existed in its surroundings. This crater is part of a set of parasitic cones that emerged during the eruptions of Ma’unga Terevaka, the youngest and highest volcano on Easter Island

View of the port

The Rainbow Valley continually has the wind blowing.

Pukará de Quitor, declared a National Monument in 1982, is an ancient Inca fortress built in the 12th century, strategically placed on the side of a hill protected by a gorge over the river. Quitor was taken over by Spaniards in 1540. It was built with large and small stones kept together by mud used as mortar.

Streets of the city of Santiago.

And the final product of cork as we know it in a wine bottle.

The country side inland from the ocean. Very rural.

Though the consensus is that Easter Island did indeed suffer an ecological catastrophe, no doubt helped along by human folly, one theory argues that it was rats – yes, rats – that were key culprits in the demise. Archaeologists have found that nuts retrieved from the extinct Easter Island palm show evidence of nibbling by Polynesian rats. By eating the nuts, the sizeable rat population could have prevented reseeding of the bountiful but slow-growing palms across the island, causing them to die out. But the most likely cause of the downfall of Rapanui society is disease brought about by slavery. According to Easter Island: The Truth Revealed, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 people – half the population – were taken in 1862 in a raid by slave traders from Peru to work there, predominately in agriculture.

Discarded Pukao in the field

Armadillo

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