The Penguin Papers

I was planning to write only one Rapa Nui blog, but today’s tour was so interesting, I wanted to write about it. A brief history is required. - As I mentioned the island was first settled in around 1200 by visitors from what is now French Polynesian. The island was ruled for many years by the descendants of the original king who first discovered the island. -The gods that the people originally worshipped weren’t doing much on their behalf so they decided to rely on something a bit less remote so started worshipping their ancestors. The moai are representations of those ancestors and were carved and transported across the island by the various clans who commissioned them to protect their particular village.  -This took place until about 1600 when things on the island started going downhill. Overpopulation and deforestation led to resource shortages and put a huge strain on the society. People no longer had faith in the king to run things so all hell broke loose with clans raiding vi...

I was expecting Santiago, Chile to be similar to Buenos Aires, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Buenos Aires is Paris and Barcelona with a soupçon of Mexico City. Santiago is much more run down and “authentic”, but it’s never a good sign when you are told you absolutely should not walk outside your hotel on your own after dark. Or after light. Or ever. I was thrilled to discover that the guide who picked me up at the airport, Nelson, was not an older woman (I really hate having to tar all those guides with the same brush, given that is my own demographic, but I’m scarred by those women!). He is, however, an older man who became a guide after 40 years as a naval engineer. He has been round the world over 60 times, and he didn’t shake his finger at me and tell me to “pay attention” once. After dropping my bags at the hotel, we embarked on a whirlwind tour of Santiago.  We started at St Lucia hill, the slightly more down at the hill sister of Santiago’s main hill - St Cristó...

I’ve been waiting for this entire trip to use this title, and it now seems fitting given it’s my last day in this spectacular country.  The trip from Colonia in Uruguay to Buenos Aires in Argentina was interesting.  It took about an hour by Hydrofoil down and across the estuary and the whole process was as simple as could be. I was greeted at the port by Alex, the original non-stop guide. She was exactly as I remembered, but I didn’t have it in me to be rude and dismiss her. She dropped me at my hotel and left me with the threat promise to see me in the morning for my city tour. This was my third hotel in a different neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, and neither the Hotel Madero nor the Puerto Madero disappoint. This is by far the fanciest hotel I’ve stayed in on this trip, and to be honest - I’m ready for it.  The Puerto Madero is a relatively recent development near the port filled with glassy skyscrapers, posh restaurants and streets named after women (of course). They h...

  I am so pleased that I persevered in ensuring that I actually got to attend the tango show as it ended up being a brilliant night. The Primuseum is a quickly little restaurant that doubles as a museum. Of stoves.  What started out as a collection off Primus stoves that were used widely in Uruguay in the 19th and early 20th century has turned into a collection of other vintage stoves and antiques.  It’s equally charming and weird. I arrived at about 9:15, and was quickly seated at my table for one right near the little mini stage.  I noticed another woman seated by herself, and I asked her to join me which she did. Katrina is in her 70s and lives in Washington State. She was travelling with her husband but he didn’t fancy the show so she came on her own. Good for you, Katrina. She then proceeded to tell me her interesting life story.  She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin but found her parents too permissive and asked to be sent to boarding school when she was 14. ...

  The flight from Mendoza was shorter than my typical drive to Cambridgeshire, but I found myself in the Buenos Aires domestic airport for a 3.5 hour layover  for my flight to Montevideo. Although Montevideo is in Uruguay, it is actually just a short hop from BA.  I probably could have walked and arrived before my flight, except that would have involved putting on my Jesus shoes to cross the Rio de La Plata. I think it is the world’s widest river, but it’s actually an estuary where the Uruguay and Paraná rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. So, no walking or driving for me. My flight was scheduled to leave at 3:15, and at 2:30, the departures board still wasn’t showing a gate number. AT 2:45, it said that the flight was boarding, but still didn’t say where. I raced from one end of the terminal to the other until I found a gate bearing my flight information.  Maybe the locals just know what gate the flight leaves from.  I boarded, flew and landed without further incid...

Whilst I clearly love food, drink and culture, I have come to realise that I much prefer to spend my holidays doing more physically active things. Hiking, kayaking and riding have all been high points of the trip so far. I was therefore really looking forward to my day with Argentina Adventures, the company recommended by my lovely guide, Juan. The AA (in this case neither the Automobile Association nor Alcoholics Anonymous, although some might think that the latter might be more appropriate given recent consumption levels) had been easy to book with the previous day, and they agreed to pick me up at my hotel between 9:15 and 9:30.  I have learned that Argentina Standard Time works on a slightly different system from Greenwich Mean Time, and that I should probably expect them around 9:45.  I wasn’t wrong. I joined the minivan full of about 10 other enthusiastic adventurers, ranging in age from teenagers to, well, me. They were all Argentinians.  During the drive, I was as...