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I have booked return flight to Santiago for next year. I want to visit Easter Island and Atacama desert. We have 14 nights total with arrival night booked in Santiago. Anyone else done this trip, any insights?
Somewhere in Destinations forum there are a few threads on Chile with various posters thoughts on EI and Calama . We are doing this trip in Oct. So can report back after. Unless there is anything specific about trips, Flights etc you are after
There are lots of people posting about Chile in the forum. A Google search with *site:headforpoints.com* will do the trick.
Here’s my thoughts on Easter Island:
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/trip-report-easter-island-and-machu-picchu/
4 days was plenty in Easter Island but I would definitely hire a car for one day to go solo, particularly for the sunrise Moai at Ahu Tongariki which was breathtaking. Don’t both paying to go in as you can park on the road to get the ‘money shot’ you’re looking for. Get there 30 minutes before sunrise, but do go back during the day to take a closer look with a guide.
Thanks @JillKinkell, I’ve been looking at flights with LATAM, think I read somewhere that it’s cheaper on the local LATAM site, did you do this?
@masaccio, thanks for the Easter island info, sounds like 3/4 nights are adequate. Will be looking to book hotels soon, not paying 5 star prices though, any mid range recommendations?If you’re flying from San Pedro de Atacama (Calama airport) back to Santiago I would recommend Sky over Latam. I’ve never seen anything like the chaos for Latam check in, the queue tailed all the way back from the desks to the arrivals area, whereas Sky took just a couple of mins.
Thanks @JillKinkell, I’ve been looking at flights with LATAM, think I read somewhere that it’s cheaper on the local LATAM site, did you do this?
@masaccio, thanks for the Easter island info, sounds like 3/4 nights are adequate. Will be looking to book hotels soon, not paying 5 star prices though, any mid range recommendations?We stayed in Hare Nua which was excellent and used their guide recommendations. We paid $268 per night in 20204 booked through hotels.com. Great location and lovely, lovely people.
We drove past Explora which is in the middle of nowhere as has its own guides and transport and looks like a bloodsucking island for miserable rich people.
We ate at Hare Uta, the other 5*, and whilst the food was good, it had the atmosphere of the wedding of somebody everyone hates.
The above seems rather harsh about Explora and its guests and sounds rather like comments made about Concorde by those who hadn’t experienced it.
The various Explora lodges may be expensive, but everything about them and their location is on a totally different level. And we have always found people staying there rather jolly.
@Tracey we booked Scl-ipc via BA using avios and flying LATAM economy. Prices on LATAM site were eye watering! We’ve booked Takarua lodge. Good reviews and not extortionate. Booked Holiday Inn at Santiago airport on points for stays in between . San Pedro flights booked direct with LATAM. Prem economy was only a few ££ more than econ. Staying at El Refugio which is part of Casa don Tomas. Accommodation is cancellable if others report anything dire!
The above seems rather harsh about Explora and its guests and sounds rather like comments made about Concorde by those who hadn’t experienced it.
The various Explora lodges may be expensive, but everything about them and their location is on a totally different level. And we have always found people staying there rather jolly.
The lodge is a bubble isolated from the rest of the island and it frankly came across to me as an excuse not to engage with the local culture. I’ve stayed in plenty of high-end resorts but the location of the Easter Island Explora just says sterile to me.
We stayed at the Puka Vai on Easter Island which was like a nice motel. We arranged a private tour one day which for us was worth it. The Puka Vai is a shortish walk into town where there are lots of good restaurants.
In Atacama we stayed at the Hotel Cumbres. It is very good and does its own excursions.
There are many more tourists in Atacama than on Easter Island (where you will start to recognise other visitors after a day or two). Give yourself time to acclimatise to the altitude when you get to Atacama.
The above seems rather harsh about Explora and its guests and sounds rather like comments made about Concorde by those who hadn’t experienced it.
The various Explora lodges may be expensive, but everything about them and their location is on a totally different level. And we have always found people staying there rather jolly.
The lodge is a bubble isolated from the rest of the island and it frankly came across to me as an excuse not to engage with the local culture. I’ve stayed in plenty of high-end resorts but the location of the Easter Island Explora just says sterile to me.
I’m not sure how the spectacular location and setting of Explora Rapa Nui enables anyone to draw any valid conclusions about engagement with local culture, that it’s a “bubble” or the demeanour of its guests etc, but there we are.
Unsurprisingly, these random assumptions are also wholly misplaced.
But it’s not a “spectacular location”, it’s 10km from Hanga Roa and 3km from a coastline that is consistently spectacular. The large number of local facilities and restaurants are 10km away, so guests are indeed in a bubble.
Look, if you’ve been and loved it then that’s great, but the OP specifically said not 5 star prices.
But it’s not a “spectacular location”, it’s 10km from Hanga Roa and 3km from a coastline that is consistently spectacular. The large number of local facilities and restaurants are 10km away, so guests are indeed in a bubble.
Look, if you’ve been and loved it then that’s great, but the OP specifically said not 5 star prices.
Yes, I’m quite aware the OP said they did not wish to pay five star prices which is why it was unnecessary not only to refer to a five star lodge which you know absolutely nothing about but also to throw in some wholly unwarranted and gratuitous insults about the lodge, its location and, staggeringly, its guests in the original post. Then to seek to justify all this with yet more erroneous statements and assumptions seems odd.
I don’t think many people who had actually stayed at Explora Rapa Nui (or indeed had the privilege of experiencing any Explora lodge or ‘travesía’) would share your perspective, but at least they might know what they talking about.
If you’re flying from San Pedro de Atacama (Calama airport) back to Santiago I would recommend Sky over Latam. I’ve never seen anything like the chaos for Latam check in, the queue tailed all the way back from the desks to the arrivals area, whereas Sky took just a couple of mins.
My experience is quite the opposite. LATAM always civilised, SKY totally disorganised.
My experience is quite the opposite. LATAM always civilised, SKY totally disorganised.
Not at Calama due to the volume of Latam flights. If I remember correctly there were 10+ Latam flights that afternoon and one Sky. I did take a pic of the Latam queue as I was so shocked. My two Sky flights were impeccable in all aspects.
JDB, this is double-standards of the highest order. You’re not shy in criticising many people’s choice of holiday destinations, (and I’m only guessing, but you likely have’t been to all the places you disparage) but get riled when someone dares to have a negative view of somewhere that you like.
Just be careful when you go to San Pedro. We went in Feb 2019 and it flooded – don’t believe about it being the driest desert in the world! Leaving the flooding aside it’s a great place and we returned again later that year in June to get to places we couldn’t due to the floods. Altitude takes some getting used to. Recommend the trip to El Tatio geysers.
JDB, this is double-standards of the highest order. You’re not shy in criticising many people’s choice of holiday destinations, (and I’m only guessing, but you likely have’t been to all the places you disparage) but get riled when someone dares to have a negative view of somewhere that you like.
You, like the OP who randomly maligned Explora, have guessed wrong.
I wouldn’t have picked up the OP on his comment but for its gratuitousness, i.e. irrelevant to the enquirer’s post but more particularly because it seemed such a stretch to have been able to determine the demeanour of the guests (“miserable rich” apparently), the “bloodsucking island” comment and the alleged “excuse not to engage with the local culture” that it was “sterile” all this derived from driving past the place! Blimey! The criticism of the location is bizarre. It doesn’t really matter whether I liked it or not – it’s a truly stunning place and the Explora way of doing things and its guests are the very antithesis of the views posited. Even if it wasn’t the intention, the comments came across as I couldn’t afford it, so I will diss it roundly and all those who have the temerity to stay there.
On my flight to Easter Island, I sat next to the governor of the island (without realising who he was until some days later when I met him again by chance in town) and chatted to him for several hours. There was apparently some controversy around the building of Explora because so many of the building materials were imported as were workers because there weren’t the necessary skills locally, but now the government is totally delighted with the place as it creates so many well paid jobs, has helped develop research projects and tourist sites, is at the forefront of cultural engagement and attracts high spending tourists as well as upping the profile of EI as a destination. The quid pro quo is privileged access for guests…
Looking at the Explora Expedition to Tierra del Fuego now!
P.S. sorry @Tracy that your thread has gone a bit rogue.
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