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We made it home safe and (relatively) sound . .
.
GROUP 2 GOT BACK SUNDAY MORNING -
And not without a little drama. We had a
bloodied shin from a trip-and-fall (ended up
going to the Easter Island ER) and a whacked out
knee (different person) that gave way a day or
so ago. So we were sort of the walking wounded
coming back through LAX. We had an interesting
not-uncommon flight issue as well when one of
our people discovered when checking in for the
return flights that the Santiago-LAX leg had
been booked for the wrong date - it's always
complicated either crossing the International
Dateline or flying after midnight - and he would
have to spend 24 hours in Santiago. Fortunately
we were able to re-book him on the correct
flight but he had to pay a $500 fare
differential. Then when we got back to LAX, we
were missing one bag of yet another of our
divers. Fortunately, it had an Apple AirTag in
it. We thought we located the bag at the
"secret" taxi stand across from TBIT but by the
time we got there, the people had left. At that
point, the AirTag showed the bag leaving LAX. It
eventually ended up in Huntington Beach and 10
minutes later was on the way back to LAX, where
we presume it will be handed over to LATAM who
will then deliver it to the rightful owner (who
lives in the SF Bay area). We don't suspect
anything malicious but underscores why you
should always make sure you've got YOUR bag when
you leave the airport, as well and making sure
that you've got your name and contact info
written on your bag in case someone grabs it by
mistake.
WHY MY PERSONAL BAGS ARE YELLOW AND RED -
If you've travelled with me before, you know my
bags stand out. I've got a bright yellow
hard-sided case (that's wrapped in a
rainbow-colored bag strap) and a red duffel bag.
Given that 90% of the bags checked nowadays are
black, mine obviously stand out and can be
easily spotted coming down the chute or if
someone grabs one by mistake. Alternatively,
even if you have a black bag, put some
distinctive marking on it. The bag that got
lifted was black and had a small piece of green
wrap around the handle, but it's pretty subtle.
Going big and obvious - a big slash of blue tape
across the side or lots of colored yarn around
the handle - lessens the chance of yours getting
grabbed by someone else by mistake.
MISSING BAG UPDATE -
As I'm writing this, I got a text telling me
that the missing bag has been returned to the
rightful owner. Yahoo!!!
GENERAL EASTER ISLAND TRIP REPORT -
Overall it was a lovely trip to a very special
place (let alone a UNEXSO World Heritage Site).
Obviously the moai are world-renown but the
diving was very interesting too. The diving was
also very different from Week 1 to Week 2. We
had worse weather but better water conditions
Week 1, and better weather but worse water
conditions (due to a large swell that moved in)
Week 2. But then again, when you get dives where
the viz exceeds 150 feet, how can you complain
when it's "only" 60 feet or so? We enjoyed the
Hotel Manavai, had great dives with Christian
and Kevin at ORCA Diving center, and really
learned a lot from our tour guide Josie Mulloy
Nahoe. I've started working on the trip report
and sorting through pix and hope to have those
done by the end of the week. In the meantime . .
.
A FEW PIX TO WHET YOUR APPETITE -
They are:
Top: Moai heads at Rano Raraku, Surge Wrasse,
Orongo crater
Midlle: Sunset Wrasse, Lobster, Easter Island
Damselfish
Bottom: Femine Wrasse, Dwarf Angelfish, the
gang's all here (Group 2) at Ahu Akivi |
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