Geocaching Australia

Spice & I are planning a trip to Easter island via Santiago next year and we were wondering if anyone else has been there and wants to pass on any tips?

Also, if there are any TBs or geocoins that want a lift??

I've cached on Easter Island. There were only 2 at the time, and unfortunately I had to log a DNF on one just because it was SO windy on the edge of Ranu Kau. I don't know that I have any advice, except maybe bone up on how to explain what you're doing in Spanish. We sort of upset our taxi driver who took us up to Orango when we headed over the lip of Ranu Kau to attempt the geocache we eventually had to give up on. He seemed angry that we were being such idiots, but a bit of broken Spanish later and he was sort of helping until he said not to go further.

If that's the case, maybe take a copy of the stash note in Spanish off the main site with you!

Sounds like a great trip, caching or not.

Echo wrote:Spice & I are planning a trip to Easter island via Santiago next year and we were wondering if anyone else has been there and wants to pass on any tips?

Also, if there are any TBs or geocoins that want a lift??

Yes I've been to both Easter Island and Santiago. What do you want to know? This was the year before I started geocaching so haven't cached there but have travelled extensively over the whole island and through Chile.
I suggest flying to Easter Island enroute to Santiago instead of flying to Santiago and then trying to buy a domestic ticket back. This is a very expensive way of doing it. I was on a round the world ticket and flew to Easter Island directly from Tahiti then onto Santiago. This way the trip was included as part of the ticket and not added on as an extra cost.
Being able to speak Spanish will make your trip much easier, I have enough intermediate Spanish and I found it easy to get around and talk to the locals. I didn't find many people who spoke English. I stayed at the YHA, the owners didn't speak any English but because I could speak Spanish they ended up driving me to the beach and some of the interesting places on the other side of the island when I told them where I wanted to go.
Instead of using taxis and having them wait I also hired a bike and cycled around the island, that way I could take as long as I wanted at the moai sites.
PM me if you want more info on specific things.

We were in Santiago in April this year. Mrs S was at a conference each day and Mr S played tourist. Didn't get to find any caches in the city, but we are not great city cachers and prefer to cache in the bush.

We loved Santiago as a city. If you are looking for somewhere to stay we can recommend Casa Moro. It is in downtown and is not cheap, about $100 a night but was just the best. The hosts of the B&B really look after you. One is Canadian and the other Chilean and they had a Canadian girl (Kenna) working for them as well. I am sure that they would be prepared to drive you around caching if you wanted to. Kenna gave us the best orientation to a city we have ever had. We can recommend using the metro which is cheap, clean and safe. You buy a card (can't remember the name of it at the moment) and then top it up with money. You can use the same card for more than one person, just pass it back over the barrier, as long as there is enough credit on it. We can also recommend the restaurants in Bellavista.

We had had 10 Spanish lessons some time before our trip, and had 2 weeks in South America before we got to Santiago. You could get by without Spanish in the city as Chileans are so helpful and lots of people speak English, but some basic Spanish really helps. Apps on the iphone for the Santiago metro were really helpful. Also practising your Spanish with an app helps.

Hope you have a great trip and love Santiago as much as we did. It has a great vibe for a big city.