Cherith Baldry

Adam and I have had an amazing adventure: flying to Santiago in Chile, and then to Easter Island, or as the inhabitants call it, Rapa Nui.

While we were on the mainland, we visited Valparaiso, which is a delightful city, very interested and quirky. We saw Pablo Neruda's house, filled with fascinating artefacts, and his garden filled with cats. Many of the buildings here are decorated with beautiful murals.

Then off to Easter Island: it is the most remote inhabited place in the world, a five hour flight from Santiago. I've wanted to visit there for many years, ever since I read Thor Heyerdahl's books.

The famous statues, or moai are everywhere on the island; many of them are sited on platforms, which are tombs, where bones have been found. So apparently some at least of the moai are memorials. They are huge; the smallest ones we saw are bigger than a person, while the unfinished one, still partly trapped in the stone of the quarry, would have been 22 metres high.

The island itself is beautiful, mostly rugged moorland, with a rocky coastline. Most of the moai look inland; there are two which look out to sea, which marked the sunrise and sunset of the spring solstice.

While we were on the island - and this was our reason for going at this particular time - there was an annular eclipse of the sun. It isn't as spectacular as a total eclipse; you don't see the light dimming and a black disc hanging in the sky surrounded by the beautiful corona. But viewed through special eclipse glasses the sun appears at annularity as a glowing golden ring around the black circle of the moon; a different kind of beauty.

So, back to Santiago and then home. Lots of very special memories.