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Am planning a trip to S America next year to include a trip to Easter island and Atacama Desert. OH likes the security of a package with travel agent ( usually Trailfinders) but I’m thinking we could do it ourselves .For those of you who have been, any recommendations for local tour companies and accommodation
ThanksWe used FS Expeditions who provided the guides/accommodation; but they are primarily a wildlife company. We booked our own flights SCL – IPC with LATAM; I seem to remember that Business Class was very good value booking thru the Chilean website; if you can still do that..
Am planning a trip to S America next year to include a trip to Easter island and Atacama Desert. OH likes the security of a package with travel agent ( usually Trailfinders) but I’m thinking we could do it ourselves .For those of you who have been, any recommendations for local tour companies and accommodation
ThanksI would be inclined to have a guide in both places, but then I’m a big believer in guides being transformational for many types of trip. It’s eminently possible to do both places oneself but both have a lot of things to see, and getting the order right to visit when the weather is suitable (very changeable in Rapa Nui), the light is right for viewing and photos, avoiding busy times, visit sights through one entrance and being picked up at another etc. make a big difference. They know all the right places to stop. Having someone to organise all this and you not having to drive so you can look is a big plus. I’m afraid I can’t help with local tour companies – we stayed at Explora in both locations, it’s very expensive but they organise everything and it’s all phenomenally well done. It’s AI, but not as you know it!
It’s probably advisable to have a guide in Santiago – as you may have read, the security situation has deteriorated rather rapidly and a guide may help avoid trouble. The latest FCDO advice now covers some of this.
Both in Atacama and Easter Island we stayed in hotels where all the excursions and experiences were included. It was fantastic.
I’ve done Atacama desert with my partner and we hired a car and done it all ourselves. It was brilliant, you can find some of my reports there. The only thing is that I would say in hindsight is that I would have liked to stay a day or two longer, but again it’s a reason to return.
I’m not a believer in guides and they have never been transformational for me. On the contrary they only show things that they want you to see and I want to see things that the locals don’t want me to see.
We used FS Expeditions who provided the guides/accommodation; but they are primarily a wildlife company. We booked our own flights SCL – IPC with LATAM; I seem to remember that Business Class was very good value booking thru the Chilean website; if you can still do that..
No it’s the same price for everyone now. I tried the Chilean website with a VPN endpoint in Chile and it’s the same price as the international site.
We travelled to both Atacama and Easter Island (separate trips). We rarely book tours, mostly because we enjoy the independence to chose what we do and when. My other half also speaks Spanish (and I have fairly good understanding of it), which helps.
In Atacama, it’s quite easy to organise day-trips or half-day trips, either indivdiually or with other travellers. We were there 5+ yrs ago, and it was already a pretty developed tourist destination.
In Easter Island, we rented a car and drove around the island at our own pace. We had a guidebook, and for us that was more than enough to get some historical context. The uniqueness of the setting is really what stands out on island. It was a pretty magical trip.Easter Island – micro trip report by Froggee (paterfamilias)
Mrs Froggee and I chose Easter Island as one of the destinations for our round-the-world-in-28-days-as-work-wouldn’t-give-us-80-days-off honeymoon.
We had booked what was then the top rated guest house which I believe was primarily rated thusly as the fellow was an Australian who had worked on Waterworld and gave good tours. We arrived to find that the Australian and his wife, the proprietor, were away on holiday and we had been left in the hands of some of her relatives and a somewhat debonair Frenchman who one of the relatives had married. English was limited.
We had pre-booked two tours over two days. It is possible to do the island in a day but Mrs Froggee and I are not intensive people. On the day of our first tour, it became apparent that the guide wasn’t showing up. The debonair Frenchman took us in his jeep and after stopping off at the island petrol station to buy lunch he took us to the house of our guide. Our guide was physically dragged from his bed by the Frenchman and was hungover like a bar-steward. Despite his fragile state he gave a pretty good tour and we were thankful we had the Frenchman driving as he was stone cold sober.
The next day our guide appeared at the appointed hour, sober and sheepish. That day’s tour was even better. The bits that didn’t involve the island and its history and wildlife were spent talking about whether the guide should propose to his girlfriend. I like encountering people rather than automatons.
I’d actually suggest that once you’ve seen one Moai you’ve seen them all. The highlight for me was the scenery. The rugged, windswept terrain is similar to Scotland. If Scotland wasn’t sh1t that is. Anyway I really enjoyed Easter Island. The first night we ate at a restaurant recommended by the guest house which served acceptable fish for not very much money or frozen pizza for quite a lot of money. We saw the pizza but did not try it. Subsequent nights we ate at a restaurant that had no name and was run by “the Cuban” who was fairly new to the island and despite being round the corner from our guest house, none of them had dared try it. The Cuban’s restaurant pretty much only served unspecified fish with baked sweet potato. These were some of the best meals I have ever had.
Apart from the above, the only other outings were buying provisions and postcards in the local convenience store and me successfully walking to the local post office followed by the entire island’s stray dog population to buy stamps. My schoolboy Spanish was of great help. For buying stamps that is. “Lo siento, no tengo comida” had zero impact on the dogs.
Our plan was to only stay two nights with a late night departure on the third day. This was somewhat derailed by the revolting natives who decided to protest over increased tourism (the catalyst for this was construction of the Explora hotel which exclusively used imported labour and materials – all because @JDB wanted to visit and he needed a fancy place to stay at). They took over the airport and blocked aircraft from landing. In classic Latin American negotiating fashion, LAN Chile responded to this by cancelling all flights for the next week with a threat they could stretch it to a month as they totally weren’t bothered.
Mrs Froggee and I weren’t overly bothered either as no flights meant no new guests for our guest house so we had accommodation, food and internet. And the guest house had a little library aka a bookshelf with books on it. Plus we were newly weds so, you know, there was always the other thing. It did impact on our plans for French Polynesia somewhat but that is what travel insurance is for. There was also the small matter that we needed to get to Brisbane after a bit so I could give a best man’s speech but that was a small detail. Anyway after a couple of days of full-blooded protesting, the strike was called off, and we were dropped at the airport by the debonair Frenchman. On retrieving our passports from my pocket I realised that I still had the keys for the guest house. I felt bad about this so, having checked in for the flight, I left Mrs Froggee at departures and walked back to the guest house where the debonair Frenchman acted like forgetting your keys was the most normal thing in the world and I didn’t possibly have to bring them back but very much appreciated.
Having passed on the debonair Frenchman’s kind offer of a lift, I then walked back to the airport in fading light followed by the entire island’s stray dog population to find a somewhat fraught Mrs Froggee. Our flight was getting close to boarding and whilst she wasn’t so worried about losing her shiny new husband, she was very nervous about not getting to put her carry on bag directly above her seat. It’s her deepest darkest fear, you know.
Sorry – this probably isn’t much help to you but it’s raining outside so I can’t go for my walk.
We used FS Expeditions who provided the guides/accommodation; but they are primarily a wildlife company. We booked our own flights SCL – IPC with LATAM; I seem to remember that Business Class was very good value booking thru the Chilean website; if you can still do that..
No it’s the same price for everyone now. I tried the Chilean website with a VPN endpoint in Chile and it’s the same price as the international site.
We’re doing a grand tour of South America later this year and we were surprised how expensive air fares have become. Admittedly distances are great. We tried all ways to get cheaper flights to Easter Island but whichever country site we tried the prices were the same. However as you say, business class seemed to be a good buy for the 5+ hours flights.
We have booked 4 nights accommodation and are looking to find a local guide and might consider a rental car.
Thanks all for your contributions and @froggee’s entertaining exploits! I have looked back on other in-depth postings which have been very helpful. It seems equally split between pre organised and do your own thing.I know you need a park pass and can only access the main sites with a guide on EI.
@JDB thanks for Santiago advice. Noted. We had a guide for Rio and jolly glad we did as he was able to send packing various chancers eyeing us up. Not only that but beach scammers trying it on with ‘you’ve got dirt on your shoes and I’ve got a cleaning kit right here ‘Both in Atacama and Easter Island we stayed in hotels where all the excursions and experiences were included. It was fantastic.
I had had the same experience when I went; stayed at https://nayarahangaroa.com/; my room was like a little cave with only one power sockets. But it’s right by the water and you can walk into town easily when you aren’t in the park. It was pretty much all inclusive; the food was fine, drinks with dinner. The tour guides were fine; and they had short go and see the statues; or long hike across the island style trips depending on what you wanted to do.
I privately did a night sky/ sunrise/ star watching/ photo tour with https://rapanuistargazing.com which was fantastic. https://www.flickr.com/photos/u07ch/albums/72157697030324065/
I went in may and it was almost empty https://www.flickr.com/photos/u07ch/albums/72157691061460520/with/28238314488
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