June 6, 2016 – D-Day, as in Departure Day
One last crème brulee before I go.
Rodrigo caught me at breakfast to say that the flight out of Easter Island might be delayed… he wasn’t sure. It might be cancelled. He wasn’t sure. Some websites were saying it was delayed, some were saying it was on time. He didn’t know but said we should be picked up to go to the airport at 11:15 AM. So, my final interaction with Rodrigo he was typically vague, unhelpful, and disorganized. That’s how it should be.
We still had some Chilean pesos and thought we should spend them. I mean, otherwise it was essentially wasted money as it wouldn’t be worth exchanging what was left for US dollars. So like a mid-1980s version of Wheel Of Fortune where one had to go shopping with prize money and invariably wound up with a ceramic Dalmatian, we priced out a few trinkets and knickknacks at the local souvenir stands. We wound up buying a set of slate coasters including a birdman drawing as well as a Rapa Nui picture frame with a local artist’s moai drawing in it for the time being (Kim something or other… you know, the famed Rapa Nui street artist?).
An unexpected short downpour was mitigated by the complimentary hotel umbrellas we fortuitously grabbed on a whim before we left. As we walked back on “main” street, past the Rent A Car Souvenir stand, we grabbed one last novelty moai photo.
Upon arrival at the airport, we were informed the flight was in fact delayed by an hour but Mom’s 12:30 AM connection should still be easily made. As I’m sitting on the plane at the moment, I’m one of the last to be served the in-flight meal (Mom WAS the last as they had to heat up more raviolis and that took 10 minutes past the point I got my meal). I am going to make sure Mom boards and takes off. By the time that’s sorted, I’ll only have a few hours before I need to check in for my 6 AM flight, hence I’m forgoing a hotel room tonight. I may regret that later but then again I have several regrets about this trip – who I booked it with, not standing up sooner to the race director and his organization. But I also have a lot of fun memories, met some new folks, reconnected with some friends, and got to share laughs with my Mom.
I’m only going to waste a few more breaths on the shortcomings and disappointments over the marathon tour booking but I’ll save those for TravellingFit directly.
For now, I’m excited at what lies ahead – Machu Picchu.
Onward! Upward!
And apparently to combat the altitude sickness, I’m supposed to drink cocoa tea, a cocaine derivative that’s perfectly legal in Peru but NOT to be transported back to the United States.
Adventures await in the Peruvian jungle!
