Santiago to Hanga Roa - Street art, big birds and one very remote island

This was our first real attempt at building a whole trip from scratch. It was easier than I thought to find accommodations and plan multiple flights instead of a round-trip itinerary. We flew into Santiago, Chile for some exploring before heading on to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

Santiago and area

Santiago is a big city. Like most big cities, I found it had a bit of a detached quality to it. I didn’t find anyone overly friendly and English was not widely spoken so it was more difficult to communicate with our sad use of “tourist spanish”. Still it is a pretty, clean city and the panoramic views from the Cerro San Cristobal are spectacular.

Viña Del Mar and Valparaíso

We joined a tour group for a day trip that took in the coastal cities of Viña Del Mar and Valparaíso.

Damage from the 2010 earthquake can still be seen on the beautiful historical buildings at Vergaro Palace.

A Google search will no doubt bring up multiple images of the flower clock. It seems to be one of those things you must take a picture of to prove you were there. So here is mine.

Viña Del Mar is home to a real Moai statue from Rapa Nui (Easter Island). I almost didn’t want to see it since we were about to fly there and take in the truly impressive statues where they’ve stood for centuries.

Valparaíso is a vibrant, colourful, steep city with street art everywhere.

Andes Mountains

Our second day trip was into the Andes mountains and the scenery was spectacular.

Our destination was a ski resort. Since I prefer to escape winter, I’m happy to report there’s no snow in January but we were eager to catch a glimpse of the massive Andean condor.

We were not disappointed. These birds are among the largest in the world that can fly. They can weigh up to 33lbs (15kg) and have a wing span up to 10.5 feet (3.2m).

Check out some of these similar day tours from Get Your Guide (affiliate links).

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Over 7000 people call this island home, more than half of them live in Hanga Roa, the only town. The main reason for visiting this remote place is to see the moai statues that were carved here between 1000AD and the second half of the seventeenth century. The remoteness itself is reason enough for me to be interested.