Today it was back to spend some time with Loretta at Erasable Med Spa [4144 N Armenia Ave # 250, Tampa, FL 33607]. I got some more pearls from Loretta and her assistant Laura. This should make my work at Homeboy so much better and I am really excited to get back to my tattoo removal gig. They do all sorts of other treatments at the spa including “Cool Sculpting” (using cold to rid you of your fat), “True Sculp ID” (using heat to rid you of your fat), “True Sculp Flex” (get increased abdominal muscles letting the machine do your sit-ups for you), Avi Clear (for acne), weight reduction (using Ozempic), laser facials, and botox. Hmmm, should I leave UCLA and open a clinic? That is not going to happen but it was an intense two days of learning about tattoo removal here at the Erasable Med Spa. Look below to see with whom I spent the majority of the last two days working.
From left to right: Laura, Loretta, Me, Kyler, Liz, Jessica, and in the foreground, Ashley. It was a tough two days having to be around these women but you know I am so dedicated to Homeboy I just had to do it. Did someone ask about Patrice? Patrice who?
After spending all day with these ladies it was time to go back to my beautiful wife (quick recovery, no?) and do what we do best………….. GO TO DINNER!
We planned to have dinner at the hotel restaurant called Cane and Barrel. This didn’t sound too exciting but if nothing else it was convenient. Since we are scheduled to leave Tampa at 7:25 AM a late night out was just not what the doctor ordered. When we arrived we realized it was more of a bar scene than a restaurant so we decided to take a walk and see if we could find something more appealing. I told Patrice, “It’s good to get out and stretch our legs. Let’s explore the neighborhood!” After one block I had walked enough and we decided to eat at Oak and Stone, a self-proclaimed provider of “Artisan Pizza”. But the real draw to this place was the beer. They offered 48 different beers. You know what a connoisseur of beer I am (NOT) but you have to appreciate the look. See below.
48 different beers. Help yourself.
Here are my favorites.
Funky Buddha: For those who enjoy hip hop while they meditate. Eat My Schwarz: For those, who are stuck in the 70s and studied German in school.
And finally for our golfers
Otter Palmer: Yes, the sea animal who changed golf forever.
Instead of any of these, I had my usual favorite, Dihydrogen Oxygen.
We have an early flight to catch, so see you tomorrow.
Today I got off to an early start because I needed to be in Tampa by 9 AM and I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going nor was I sure of the traffic situation. When we drove there last night for dinner, traffic was crazy (not LA crazy but still quite heavy) and I didn’t want to be late today. So I got straight out of bed and headed downstairs for breakfast. Patrice was still sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb her so I silently slipped out the door and was on my way.
The breakfast buffet was excellent and I had a very luscious meal but I noticed everyone was looking at me in a very strange manner. Did I have ketchup on my chin? I knew that couldn’t be the case since I didn’t eat any ketchup. Did I forget to put on my pants? A quick look confirmed that I was completely clothed. The situation remained a mystery as I finished my meal and started back upstairs. I quietly entered the room since Patrice was still asleep. I slipped into the bathroom to get ready to leave and was greeted by this guy.
No wonder people were looking at me in a strange manner.
The reason I was in a hurry was that I didn’t want to be late for my visit to Loretta Zanetti at her Erasable Inc Med Spa. I met Loretta last year at a meeting in Los Angeles and reconnected when she agreed to give a webinar on tattoo removal for my friends at Homeboy Industries. As I mentioned on Day #1 of this trip I have been volunteering at Homeboy removing tattoos. When I met Loretta it was clear she is an expert in this area and I wanted to learn as much as I could from her. I asked if I could shadow her for a couple of days and she agreed.
I arrived on time at Loretta’s workplace, Erasable Inc [https://erasablemedspa.com/]. The office is beautiful and I spent the day watching Loretta and her staff treat a number of patients. Between patients Loretta and her assistant gave me things to read, showed me some of their cases, and consulted on some of my problem patients. It was the most productive hours I have had learning this new skill. The best part is that I get to go back again tomorrow.
At night it was finally time for baseball. I was all set to watch the Astros end the Tampa Bay Rays 13 game home winning streak. Unfortunately, the Rays had other ideas and are now 14-0 at home this season. Apparently, the citizens of this community haven’t gotten the message because the attendance was less than 11, 000. I would be willing to bet the Dodgers had more fans show up tonight and they didn’t even have a game scheduled. At the game, we were accompanied by our friends Zara and Chuck from Jupiter, Florida, and Loretta’s husband, Mike. Loretta is not what you would call a baseball fan. Mike on the other hand makes me look like a baseball no-nothing. Luckily he is young so I could spout out some information about little-known players from before he was born. It was great sitting next to a baseball fan since it is rare for me to find one. Apparently, they are very rare in Tampa Bay.
One of our grandsons is collecting small bats from MLB teams and we got him one from the Rays tonight. I find it interesting that they put you through a metal detector and won’t let you bring an opaque bag into the stadium in order to prevent anyone from bringing in a weapon. But once you are in the stadium they are willing to sell you a bat. Hmmm, not sure of the logic.
Okay, I am not going to knock in any runs with this thing but I could certainly bash in a few heads.
No head-bashing for me. Instead, it is back to Erasable Inc Med Spa for more education.
The 3-hour time difference hit us hard this morning as we crawled out of bed in order to go to the nearby Dalí Museum. The museum and its bistro were recommended by our friend Loretta and neither disappointed us.
After arriving at the Dalí Museum we went straight to the bistro named Gala (Dali’s wife’s first name) for our breakfast/lunch. The place had a Spanish Tapas ambience so we had a Tortilla Española and Melon Salmorejo with Burrata. The latter dish was described as “Spain’s most popular sopa” (soup). That’s very interesting because I have been to Spain numerous times and never heard of the dish. I messaged our daughter, Erica, who lives in Madrid and she told me that she has seen Salmorejo with watermelon or tomato but never with canteloupe as sold at the bistro. So much for truth in advertising. Whether or not it is the most popular sopa in Spain or not, it was very popular with us. The Tortilla Española was a different story. It was good but didn’t measure up to my standards. My Spanish “Father”, Juan Carlos, makes the best version of this dish and I will accept nothing less.
Melon Salmorejo with Burrata: Its popularity in Spain might have been overstated but it was popular with us which is more important.Tortilla Española: It was good but if Juan Carlos had made it, he would have apologized.
After our breakfast/lunch, we went to the information desk and spoke to a volunteer named Annette who told me what to do. It made me feel right at home since I have an older sister, Annette, who has been telling me what to do since I was a little boy. So, obediently, we headed to the tour, given by a volunteer docent. She was very amiable but seemed a little loose with the facts, frequently making errors about his age when he painted a portrait (how can you get that wrong when the date is on the painting right in front of you?). In addition, Patrice kept cringing every time the docent mentioned the artist’s name calling him Dally (as in dilly dally) rather than “Da Lee” (with the accent on the Lee).
The museum has an incredible collection of Dalí (that’s Da Lee, not Dally) masterpieces and many works by other artists. We saw paintings by Picasso, Magritte, and Jackson Pollack. The patio was lovely and you can sit there while you enjoy your food from the bistro.
Relaxing outside next to a remant from “The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dalí.
We had a great time in the museum and we recommend you go there if you are nearby. On exhibit, we were able to see one of the two versions of “Lincoln in Dalivision” (the other being a larger version at the Dalí museum in Figueres, Spain). I know you have seen this picture. Up close it is a myriad of photos and pixels but from a distance, it is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. An interesting phenomena was pointed out by our guide. She said that if you look at the picture with your eye at a relatively close distance you see the various pixels but if you look from the same distance with your phone’s camera you see the Lincoln image (see below)
When I viewed this with my camera I saw Lincoln but here you see the details instead. This is a very impressive piece of art and worth the trip to see it.
After the museum, we walked around the town and ventured down to the Pier. There, we saw a variety of street vendors and performers. We saw a young person selling shirts with clever sayings on them. She told us she designed this shirt after the Supreme Court reversed Roe vs Wade.
She said this was one of her most popular sellers.
For dinner tonight we met up with our friends Zara and Chuck from Jupiter, Florida. Long-time followers of the blog will recall that Zara and I had first met on the internet in the 1990’s when we communicated about our children with Crohn’s disease. We were each other’s therapists while our kids battled that awful disease. If you are interested in learning about Crohn’s go to this link https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/
Enough about horrible diseases let’s get back to food. Tonight we had dinner at Columbia (2117 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605), a Cuban restaurant in Tampa (our hotel is in nearby St. Peterburg). As much as we enjoyed the Library last night, the Columbia outdid it. The service was excellent, the food was outstanding, and the price was incredibly reasonable. I even had some sangria. Yes, I drank some alcohol.
Yes, Robert does occasionaly have a drink. This is White Sangria and it was muy sabrosa, oops, I mean very delicious.
Enough food for now, tomorrow is all about tattoo removal and baseball.
I have been asked repeatedly by followers of the blog, “When are you going on your next trip and where are you going?” Well as much as I like to just chill at home and play backgammon on my phone, I do feel an obligation to the readers of my blog. So today we headed to Tampa, Florida. The reason we are here will come later but first I have to tell you about our adventure getting to this lovely city. First, we were greeted this morning by the best Uber driver of all time. We didn’t even have to use the Uber app. Yes, my friend Mike was at our door at 8:55 AM as planned and took us promptly to LAX. He even had his car recently cleaned and supplied us with two water bottles in the back seat. Yes, he insisted on us both sitting in the back.
For this trip, we decided to travel via Delta instead of our usual carrier, American Airlines. We have been mistreated by American one time too many and decided to give Delta a try. I contacted Delta in advance and they agreed to give us high status on a trial basis but unfortunately not their premiere status that would have given us access to their lounge (one strike against Delta and one plus for American). We found all the employees to be very polite and helpful. The flight was smooth and we had the best meal ever on an air flight. I realize that isn’t saying much since I would venture to say I have never enjoyed a meal on an airplane and rarely take more than one or two bites. Since I wasn’t expecting much from the food, I didn’t bother to take any photos. My lunch included a very good Chicken Caesar salad (Patrice had the pasta). I also had fresh fruit that actually tasted fresh and like fruit. Finally, we were given a tasty chocolate chip cookie for dessert. This is a big plus for Delta over American.
Now for the reason for our trip. Those of you who know me are aware that for over two years I’ve spent Tuesday mornings, removing tattoos from the formerly incarcerated and former gang members at Homeboy Industries. In my attempts to get better at tattoo removal, I met a woman who has a thriving tattoo removal practice in Tampa and she agreed to let me shadow her to pick up some tips.
I know there are those of you saying “Robert is not going all the way to Tampa just to learn something about removing tattoos. I have to confess, you are right. As followers of the blog know we are on a quest to visit all 30 MLB ballparks (we have been to 18 so far). Now we get to add Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are one red-hot team, they are currently 18-3 and have not lost a single game at home. We will see them Monday night. But before baseball or tattoo removal we have the favorite topic of this blog. Yes ……… FOOD!
Tonight we had an incredible dinner at the Library. When Patrice asked if I wanted to go to the Library after our arrival in Tampa I thought she had lost her mind. I do enjoy my Men’s Book Group but Saturday night at a library did not sound very attractive. Well, I am very happy to report that this was my kind of library.
The Library [600 5th St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701] is a high-end restaurant, located within the property of the Johns (not John) Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. The restaurant design is based on the George Peabody Library in Baltimore. Hopkins and Peabody donated the money required to build the hospital in St. Pete and thus the reason for the design of the restaurant.
The service at the Library was superb as was the food. Patrice and I ordered the same meal: Scallops with Grits and Brussel Sprouts (see below)
Reiss rule of dining: 1. Never order grits north of the Mason-Dixon line. These were spectacular.
The decor of the restaurant was very interesting, giving you the feel of being in a library. Well, not exactly, more like being in a library where is it too dark to read and there is a lot of alcohol being consumed. (See below).
Books and books on several walls throughout the restaurantDon’t try reading in this light.
To add one more touch of library motif see how they deliver the check.
Check brought to the table in a real book.
Now it is back to the hotel to chill and get ready for baseball and tattoo removal. Wait, tomorrow is Sunday and we aren’t doing either. I am sure my tour guide (Patrice) has something special in store for us.
Today was the start of a new chapter in the career of Robert Reiss, M.D. My loyal followers failed me miserably so it looks like I won’t be able to make blogging, a full-time career. I just asked them to each sign up 4,000 new followers. Since that time I have added a number of new followers but overall it is trending in the wrong direction. When I asked my devotees to add new members I was at 297. As of last night, that number dropped to 294. With that in mind, I will need to continue working as a doctor.
Today was my first day as a doctor at the UCLA Health office in Palos Verdes. After 43 years and 4 months working with the Westchester Medical Group, it was time to move on. UCLA offered me more hours and for less money. As Mario Puzo would say, “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse”. With that in mind, I wanted to get off on the right foot. So I got up early and got dressed and ready for work. I wanted to look my very best so I asked Patrice to inspect my outfit and render an opinion. See below and let me know what you think.
Dressed with my stethoscope in place and all ready to head to the UCLA office.
Patrice inspected me and said “Absolutely not! Change into something else. Jeans are not acceptable!” Okay, okay, I changed the pants and took off the USC gear. I headed up the hill to my new digs. The drive was comfortable in spite of the rain. It did take me about 10 minutes longer than my previous commute to work. Although a longer distance the drive was very pleasant.
I was greeted by the staff and office manager and given a tour of the facility, I didn’t have any patients to see since today was only supposed to be a training day. I spent about 6 hours learning the electronic medical record used by UCLA. It is an amazing system with lots of capability. Unfortunately it will take a lot more time before I feel comfortable making my entries. In the meantime, hopefully no one will die of a misprint (old joke, but I still think it is funny. Okay, mildly humorous).
Star gazing was fun last night. We got to see Orion up close and a great view of Jupiter and 4 of its moons. We also saw something else but please don’t ask me for details but the two staff members who led the activity were going crazy when they got it in view. To me it looked like someone had just dropped a salt shaker and the top of the shaker came off spilling granules over a beautiful black tablecloth. Sorry, astronomy is not my thing and that is as specific as I can get. I will leave this area to my friends Samir and Ralph.
Today we had a long trip home. First, we left Atacama for Santiago arriving on time at about 4:00 pm. We then walked a significant distance to check in for our next flight only to find out that American only has evening flights out of Santiago today so they don’t have any staff until 6:00 pm. I managed to use the self-check-in machine to get our boarding passes but we still needed to wait to check our luggage. We finally got everything set. We are taking this flight on miles and luckily it gave us access to the lounge for the duration of the wait for our flight (8 hours total but just 5 since we made it to the lounge).
To sum up this trip I have to say I am a bit disappointed. I really loved Rapa Nui and am so glad we went there. Atacama was a bit of a disappointment most likely because so many people had told me such glowing things about the place it was bound to fall short. Being at altitude was also difficult for this old body. The hotel is at 8,000 feet and the locations of the various activities ranged from 11,000 to 14,000 feet. That part was not fun. Of course my biggest disappointment was not taking the trip in December 2020 to see the eclipse.
As usual, I will leave you with some interesting photos taken during the trip. They are only meant to amuse or at least be of some interest. Enjoy.
When traveling I always like to seek out local cuisine and hangouts. Dinner Menu: Before you freak out these prices are in Chilean pesos the conversion was 879 to 1 USD the last time I looked but it varies dramatically on a daily basis. In Rapa Nui they had lots of these signs saying that jumping is not allowed. Just kidding, these mean do not enter. My best guess is “No popcorn allowed”.Glossary of terms at the Hanga Roa information Center in Rapa Nui. Notice the 4th from the bottom. What does that have to do with ancient ruins?Apparently throwing paper AT toilets is a pastime that is very much discouraged by the government. I love this translation regarding shrimp.This was a film offered on our flight from Rapa Nui to Santiago. Do you think they are followers of my blog and read of my battle with the hormigas?I am sure you are all aware of Juan Valdez and his advertisements for Colombian coffee. It looks to me as if Juan might have had some issues with the Colombian cartel because he is currently operating a coffee shop at the Santiago airport.
Apparently they charge $50 USD for a 2 hour stay in the airport lounge. I guess some people try to get their money’s worth by drinking. See below.
No drinking alcohol from 3:00 AM to 10:00 AM. That has to be someone with a drinking problem or VERY scared of flying. I don’t go to McDonalds, but do they have this in LA? Order on a machine outside the restaurant (did I really call McDonalds a restaurant?). Tell them want you want, if you want to eat in or take out, pay at the machine, then go inside and collect your food. (Did I just refer to McDonalds as food?).
And finally, check out this video from the Santiago, Chile airport baggage claim area. I start by showing you the baggage carousels and then pan around to the other side where you can see planes at the gate. A very interesting setup.
I hope you enjoyed our vacation. Nothing planned for the near future but when we are on our way, we will invite you to join us.
When we first planned our trip to Chile it was with the sole purpose to see the solar eclipse. When we investigated it further we decided to add Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Patagonia. Then I got input from friends and situations changed due to Covid and other issues. We had been to Patagonia (Argentinian side) previously and heard lots about Atacama so we added it to our itinerary. I have heard so much about this area from a variety of people until today it has left me very unimpressed.
We got off to a rocky start today we when took a tour of the geysers. In order to travel there we were in a van for about 1 hour and 40 minutes on a very bumpy road. The geysers are at over 14,000 feet and I was mildly short of breath limiting my walking speed. The guides were great. They were very attentive and made sure I was not in any danger. Unfortunately, the major danger was boredom. People impressed by these geysers have obviously never been to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming or a multitude of locations in Iceland. Check out this video and pictures and let me know if you agree.
If this is impressive you better take a tranquilizer before you go to Yellowstone or Iceland.
After lunch, we headed to the Rainbow Valley tour and again had a wonderful guide. Before we got to the valley we stopped to see some petroglyphs. This is not our idea of fun. The guide quickly got our drift and we moved on to see Rainbow Valley. This was a lovely tour and on the way back to the hotel saw lots of wildlife. The guide and driver were happy to stop so we could take pictures.
Our guide captured this picture of two stunningly gorgeous people touring Rainbow Valley.
Just outside Rainbow Valley, we were able to get a video of Guanacos (llama variant). Check it out. Don’t worry, it is short.
We then got the opportunity to get some great shots of llamas.
Our guide took this picture. The llama was looking the other way until the guide yelled out, “Hey cutie!”. Obviously a bilingual llama.“Hey, cutie” didn’t work on this one. But when the guide said, “Want to be on the REISSTRAVELBLOG?” there was an instant success. We then asked for a profile view (I love posting pictures of people with noses bigger than mine) and the llama said, “Anything for Robert’s blog”
Tonight we are going star gazing if the skies clear up. We will be getting back to the room late and I am not sure if I will get a chance to post again before we leave so I did want to let you know one important bit of information. Although I loved Rapa Nui and was a little disappointed by Atacama (the sights not the hotel or staff) the one thing that has made me very happy is our travel agent. Malena Feijoo arranged this trip and we have been very pleased with her work. In addition to arranging our itinerary, she has followed the blog and helped with some minor hiccups. She also set up a “What’s App” group for Patrice and me. In that, we have been able to obtain some needed information. She has also texted us our boarding passes for all our internal flights which has been a huge help. So if you are interested in a trip to Chile I would recommend you contact her. She is based in Argentina so I assume she does trips there as well. Her email address is malena.feijoo@mai10.com.ar.
One other note the staff at the Explora Hotels in Atacama and Rapa Nui (Damn, I keep calling it ratatouille) have been great. Yesterday while walking across the courtyard the sole of my sandal almost fell completely off. I asked a member of the staff if they had some Krazy Glue so I could patch it. She said they didn’t but I should leave it with the front desk and maintenance would fix it in the morning. When we came back from our morning activity today, the repaired shoe was on the floor in our room, next to its mate. Very impressive!
We are off to look at stars. See you tommorrow for my collection of interesting photos I have collected this past week.
With today being the 13th I was hoping that it would be our lucky day but the morning did not bode well for that prospect.
I had a wonderful night’s sleep so no complaints there but unfortunately sleeping in left me little time to get ready for our morning tour. Breakfast was a buffet with very uninteresting choices. So it looks as if the Explora Atacama will not be providing us the same quality cuisine as the Explora Rapa Nui.
After breakfast, we were driven to the hot springs. It was a bit of a precarious ride with some bumpy roads and one narrow passageway. Check out this video.
This was a mild version of some of the areas we had to traverse. I was too scared to video the narrow one.
Our morning tour guide, Ricardo, was not anything like the incredible guides we had in Rapa Nui. One of our fellow travelers, Roger from England, described him as “a bit acidic”. Por ejemplo. Oops, I’ve been here too long. I mean to say, for example, Roger asked him how old the cacti were. Ricardo gave him a dissertation about the cacti’s growth rate in rainy versus dry seasons. He went on and on about this process but never answered the question.
Excuse me, can you tell me how old are these cacti?
We arrived at the much anticipated hot springs to find an adequate facility for changing our clothes with bins where we could leave our belongings but no locks. I suppose the theory is anyone willing to make the long trek to get there isn’t interested in taking an old man’s underwear as their pirate’s booty.
The water at the hot springs looked lovely but unfortunately, it was only lukewarm. Similar to my bathtub at home. Certainly not worthy of such an effort as the one needed to get there.
“Hot Springs?”. Not so hot in my opinion.
Our afternoon tour was much better and exactly what I hoped for when we booked this trip. The guide was great and we got to see some flamingos feeding and in flight. Check out this video.
Unfortunately, there were many more wonderful videos that I was too slow to capture.
We also saw some other interesting wildlife including a sandpiper and a lizard. Isn’t this a great look at the lizard?
At a distance, these guys were well camouflaged making them very hard to see.
Dinner was again a disappointment and certainly not worthy of any food pictures. We did run into our newest friends, Roger and his wife Ann. We exchanged stories about our afternoon tours. Roger told us he had the same guide (Ricardo) as we had this morning but as Roger put it, “He was less arrogant and less bumptious”. Don’t you just love the British? Patrice and my New Year’s resolution is to have many more British friends.
Need to get to sleep. Our morning tour starts at 6:30 AM. I thought this was a vacation. It is seeming more and more like boot camp.
Today is the 46th anniversary of Patrice and my first date. Yikes, that’s a long time ago. As you might recall you were all given an assignment last week to sign up 4,000 followers by today so I could qualify as a professional blogger in the eyes of the IRS. Unfortunately, some of you have failed me, miserably. My numbers have grown from 250 to 297. I did some calculations and at this rate, I will hit my target in 68 years.
Moving on, today we head for the Atacama desert. How appropriate since it was my friend Greg who recommended we include this spot on our trip. Greg has been a friend of mine since we were in our early 20s. He was Patrice’s boyfriend during high school and the person who introduced us.
For those of you who don’t know the story here it is. In 1972 Greg and I went to a going away party for a mutual friend. Patrice was there and we spent almost the entire night talking to each other. It was clear to me that this was the woman who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so clear to her. In December 1972 she got married to someone else (I agree, big mistake on her part). I next saw her at a party at the newlywed’s house. I had just broken up with my girlfriend and was feeling pretty low. And here I had to see the woman of my dreams living with a guy who was so proud that his refrigerator was packed with beer. Ugh, such a juvenile! Years passed and I’d always check in with Greg to see how Patrice was doing. Then the phone call came. Greg told me that Patrice was getting a divorce and would be interested in going out on a date with me. This was in late November 1976 at a time that I was planning a trip to the Bay Area to visit the woman I had been dating during my internship. The romance Gods were active because I got ill with Chicken Pox (yes at 27 years old) and canceled my trip. Instead, after I recovered from my illness I called Patrice and we went out for the first time (Old Venice Noodle Company which unfortunately didn’t last as long as our marriage). Yes, yes, I know this is a hokey story but that’s the kind of guy I am.
The young lovers shortly after they started dating. Is it my imagination but does Patrice look like she is in pain?
As I said earlier we were on our way to Atacama today. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express at the airport and it was very nice. We slept well except for the 1 AM call from our grandson (8 pm his time). It was only a short walk across the street to the Santiago airport. The airport is also known as Arturo Merino Benítez airport (named after a Chilean aviator who founded the country’s air force in 1930) and Nuevo Pudahuel Airport (Pudahuel is the region in which the facility is located). The check-in process is highly automated. If you only have one bag to check you merely scan your boarding pass and receive a tag for your bag. You then go to the baggage drop-off area and once again scan your boarding pass. You then place your baggage on the conveyor belt, scan the baggage tag, and then it is on its way. Very simple, no? Well of course not in our case. We needed to consult with 3 different LATAM employees (one twice) in order to accomplish this “automated” feat.
While waiting for our flight I took advantage of one of the several charging stations located throughout the terminal. Free charging and free very fast internet service are available. This place is very nice.
Typing and charging while waiting for our flight.
We arrived in Atacama after a 1-hour and 40-minute flight. Things were going great until just before landing when we had a lot of turbulence. I was petrified but I made eye contact with a nearby flight attendant who assured me this was all routine. We were picked up at the airport and taken to the Explora resort in Atacama. This ride typically takes about 1:15 but in our case, it took close to 2 hours because of mining equipment that was partially blocking the highway. Since our arrival was delayed we missed lunch but they were nice enough to get us something very tasty from the bar (Hake and pureed vegetables). Then it was a quick change of clothes for our afternoon excursion. I was not very impressed at first when we were walking through a hot and windy area with salt deposits on the hills. It was interesting but 10 minutes of this would have sufficed for me. I was very happy to see the van which then drove us to a lookout that was very impressive. It was also incredibly windy. See below.
You can’t see much of the sight but you can see that we are holding on to our hats and I am bracing myself due to the steep hill. Are we having fun yet?Here is the sight that you can’t see in the previous picture. It was a lovely view but not worth the effort. My back is killing me tonight.
I am hopeful that tomorrow will be more interesting but now it is time for dinner.
It is our getaway day from Rapa Nui and this morning I got a real naturalist experience that would make Charles Darwin or Thor Heyerdahl very proud. I awoke early as usual and felt an itchy bump on my hand. Hmmm, “Mosquito bite?” I wondered. I didn’t recall any malaria warnings for this trip but it did set my mind in motion. I recalled that Patrice had noted some ants near the window (far from my side of the bed) when we arrived. She told the hotel staff who dutifully came and applied a “natural” remedy. Sorry if this offends anyone but other than bringing in a cat to deal with a rat problem I want to deal with pests by bringing in cancer-causing, teratogenic chemicals to, as my favorite comedian George Carlin would put it, “Wax the M-F’ers”. If you don’t know the routine to which I refer please watch and listen to his hilarious discussion about germs. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X29lF43mUlo
Those of you who know me well can easily imagine my active mind started to roll into action. Ants plus an itchy bump led me to the only possible conclusion which was that my body was being overrun by Chilean red ants with a predilection for elderly American males invading their turf. Patrice was still sound asleep and I didn’t want to alarm her or even disturb her in the slightest so I marched on by myself. My mind would not stop. I started to itch in a variety of places. I then positioned my phone to take a selfie to see if I could identify any unwanted visitors on my body, my pillow, or the bed. I couldn’t see the picture immediately because the flash from my phone camera rendered me blind for a minute or two. When I was finally able to see I examined all areas on the picture without identifying any alien creatures.
No signs of any ants. Did I miss them?
I then decided to read my book with the hope that I could distract myself, but no such luck. I suppose I can be partially forgiven for obsessing over this issue when my reading was interrupted by an ant walking across my screen. I dealt with that critter and then turned on my light to search for more but without any success. I didn’t see any evidence of a foreign invasion. At this point, I had two questions 1.) What was going on with my body? and 2.) How could Patrice sleep through all this?
I tried to return to my book but it was a futile attempt even though I only saw the one ant on my phone I was convinced my entire body was being taken over by these unpleasant visitors. Unable to sleep I had to take another look. Much to my chagrin, my worst fear was confirmed. There were ants in my bed. See this picture of a few casualties of my war with nature.
A this point it was clear I was not going back to sleep but my question was, should I wake Patrice? I decided against that but I had to shower to clear my body of any other undesirables. If that would wake her up I could only hope an apology would suffice. Before taking the shower I took one more look for any survivors of my counter-assault. I didn’t see any. Was it possible there were only about ten? Could this just have been a squad sent out on a reconnaissance mission in search of food with the remainder of the regimen remaining at their base camp near the window? I took a quick run to the bathroom to consider my options then returned to the bed for one more look. Sure enough, I found two more enemy troops. I disposed of them and headed for the shower. Sleep was not in my immediate future.
After showering I stayed out of the bed and got dressed. I read my book until Patrice woke up and then I appraised her of the situation. We packed and went to breakfast. I stopped off at the front desk to tell them of the problem. Just in case my Spanish wasn’t adequate I brought along evidence.
I am sure you can figure it out but HORMIGAS = ANTS.
After breakfast we brought all our gear to the van and were escorted on a tour of Rano Kau which is a very impressive volcanic crater on the southwest side of the isle. We then toured the visitor center and took a short walk around the area learning more about the history of the island.
Rano Kau Volcanic Crater. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It is a spectacular sight.Patrice at the edge of Rano Kau with the “ant killer”.
After Rano Kau it was time to head for the airport. Patrice and I requested a stop at a local market prior to heading to the airport. The guides were not crazy about the idea but they finally agreed. We are always interested in getting some local flavor and if possible interact with the residents rather than just experiencing the tourist attractions when we are on vacation. This was a short stop and very much worth our time (I can’t speak for the guides). After that it was on to the airport which as it turns out was literally walking distance from the market. This is a small place.
From Rapa Nui we flew back to Santiago where we checked into the Holiday Inn at the airport. We will fly out tomorrow morning to Atacama desert. It is late here and we will be going to bed soon. Thank you so much for all the great comments the past few days. I will try to reply to them tomorrow if possible.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 