interesting times

I guess it’s not going to be news to anyone, but there’s been a bit of an epic earthquake over here over the weekend. Thanks to everyone that got in touch to see if I was ok: I am, indeed, just fine and sitting drinking yet more coffee in a cafe several hundred miles from the area that has been worst hit by the quakes. The only real effect that we felt on Chiloe was a brief rumble and power and communications blackout for most of the day.

Getting up in the morning with no power isn’t (as far as I can tell) that unusual on Chiloe. Parts of the Island only have power at certain times of the day anyway, running to a schedule, so I didn’t even immediately assume that the lack of electricity was down to what had felt like a minor tremor through the night. I certainly wasn’t worried about anything and never even considered taking the SPOT with me, which as it happens would have saved a lot of worry for the family back home! It wasn’t until much later in the day when I got back from the tour I’d gone on that I learned how bad the earthquakes were. Given that a lot of the worry was about tsunamis it is perhaps slightly ironic that I spent a fairly dull hour sitting on the beach at the pacific coast mid-afternoon.

I’ve heard from most of the people that I’ve met travelling recently that could have been in the area of the quakes, with the exception of a couple that I spent some time with last week who were starting work in Conception on thursday. I’m sure that they’ll be fine, they’re probably just a bit too busy (or unable) to get in touch with a random lad they only met for a few days. I know that Jaime is waiting to hear from some of his family in Santiago – all the best lad! I’m sure that they’ll be fine, but it can’t be nice waiting for word.

That aside, the only immediate implications it has for me is that my travel plans have all just gone right out the window. I was meant to arrive in Santiago yesterdeay, which obviously isn’t happening since the roads are mostly rubble. I was meant to be flying out of Santiago tomorrow morning to Easter Island, but that’s not going to happen now either: even if the airport is open I still can’t get there. I’ve tried to change my flights to get to New Zealand a bit earlier, but that was always a bit optimistic and is definitely not going to happen, so I’ve got the best part of two weeks with no plans. I’m sure that I’ll think of something!

Given the chaos north of here I really can’t complain too much.

While I think about it, here’s a few pictures from Chiloe….

Cheers folks! Stay safe.