Lafuma Mountain Cleanup

Daniel's running team, Lafuma, organised a litter-pickup expedition on Cerro Carbon today. About 20 trail enthusiasts turned up with their big rubbish bags to clean up the mountain.

Daniel in action - retrieving a plastic bag down from the path

It's now very clean under the mirador!

Our bags were getting full

Award for most trash collected

Heading back down the mountain on CLEAN trails!

See how much trash we collected in one morning

Valparaiso

We visited the coastal town of Valparaiso with our family friends last weekend. We took the bus from Santiago, caught a rickety funicular up Cerro Concepcion and enjoyed a lovely stroll through the winding streets lined by colourful tin houses.

Lunch was a spectacular feast of seafood dishes accompanied by delicious pisco sours. We walked off lunch in the harbour and Plaza Sotomayor, stopping at a craft market to pick up some souvenirs.

Plaza Sotomayor, in front of the headquarters of the Chilean Navy

Valparaiso is famous for its vibrant culture, colour and ascensores

First place!!

Today Daniel won his first victory in a trail race! He competed in the Ruta del Condor, a 48km race from Cajon del Maipo over the mountains back to Santiago. He overtook the leader in the last 10km to win the race in 4h54min.

At the start in Cajon del Maipo

Smiling near the top of the climb

Winding road up the mountain

Happy at the finish line with his new sponsored backpack!

Top three finishers: Patrick (3rd), Daniel (1st) and Max (2nd)

Daniel said it was a tough race - lots of climbing and a brutal descent - but all I saw were the smiles at the end! What a great job!

TNF Endurance challenge: 5th place

Daniel competed in the 50km division of The North Face Endurance Challenge: Ultra Maraton de Los Andes. He finished 15 minutes behind the leaders in a time of 06:33 for his fourth Top Ten finish of the year!

Looking relaxed and happy before the race

With the RunningChle team at the start line

It was a tough route, made even more challenging by the fact that the 50km turned out to be 56km and there was nearly 2km of elevation gain during the race.

Looking good on the trail!

Daniel had a great run and came second in his age group. Great job!

Coming in for a strong finish!

Rhino Run

22 September is International Rhino Day. The Rhino Run foundation in South Africa organised five official trail races around the country to raise money and awareness for the rhinos. We decided to participate in our own unofficial Rhino Run on Rapa Nui to help spread the word.

Stop Rhino Poaching Now!

Taking a rest in a traditional village on the coast

Our route just outside Hanga Roa, the only town on the island

Moai

Easter Island is most famous for the 887 large stone statues, or Moai, which were carved from 1100 - 1680 AD. Although the statues seem to be just heads, they do have torsos, but many of these have become buried.

Moai on the coast of Hanga Roa

Almost all the Moai were carved out of solidified volcanic ash found at a single site inside the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The native islanders who carved them used only stone hand chisels, and it took a team of five or six men about one year to complete a single Moai. Each statue represented the deceased head of a lineage.

Tongariki Moai: 15 Moai set on the east of the island

Almost all the Moai face inland to protect the islanders.

Only a quarter of the statues were installed around the coast, while the rest were abandoned en route to their final destinations or remain in the quarry.

Moai abandoned on the slopes of Rano Raruka

A Moai still attached to the bedrock in the quarry

Rapa Nui

"In the middle of the Great Ocean, in a region where no one ever passes, there is a mysterious and isolated island; there is no land in the vicinity and, for more than eight hundred leagues in all directions, empty and moving vastness surrounds it. It is planted with tall, monstrous statues, the work of some now vanished race, and it past remains an enigma."

- Pierre Loti

Playa Anakena: white sand beach with some Moais

We spent a week of our September holidays in Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui or Easter Island. It was a great retreat and we learnt some amazing things about the history of this tough, little island.

Rapa Nui is an isolated volcanic island located in the heart of the South Pacific, halfway between Tahiti and South America. Its first inhabitants were Polynesians who settled there in about 700AD, and whose belief systems led to the carving of the stone statues for which the island is now so famous.

A Moai (stone statue) atop an Ahu (burial moud) in the town of Hanga Roa (only town on the island)

We explored the island by foot, jeep and scooter and we came across archaeological caves, petroglyphs, quarries, Moai, ceremonial villages, ruins, and more. We also saw beaches, turtles, wild horses and volcanes. It was truly spectacular! We followed the Sendero Te Ara O Te Ao up the crater to the ceremonial village of Orongo with its boat-shaped houses and view of the islands.

Rano Kau crater 

A boat-shaped house in Orongo

We had a fantastic holiday and we really enjoyed getting to know this unusual part of the world. Iorana!

La Chascona

In April we visited Isla Negra, the site of one of Pablo Neruda's three houses. He also had a house in Santiago in the Bellavista neighbourhood called La Chascona. As expected, we found a very quirky little house, which is well worth a visit!

Another Top Ten finish!

Daniel competed in the K42 trail race at Laguna del Aculeo on the weekend. He finished the tough 42km race in 05:40 in 7th place! The course was very technical and steep, but incredibly beautiful.

Off to a strong start!

Follow the yellow ribbons all the way up the mountain...

Beautiful forest trails

Beautiful day for a race

A bit of mud and water into the mix

A strong finish

Waiting for his medal for finishing in 7th place!

Well done, champ!

Gliding

Today Daniel finally enjoyed his birthday present - a glider flight above Santiago. He was waiting for a smog-free weekend and today finally dawned clear, after a week of rain had washed the city air clean. Daniel went up as the passenger in a two-man glider and they soared over his favourite mountains - Carbon and Manquehue. He even got to steer the glider for a while!

Before:

Arriving at the glider (Manquehue in the background)

Meeting the pilot

Pre-flight check

Super excited to go!

All closed in...

Held upright to go down the runway

Tied to the big plane and ready for take off!

During:

Going up (see the "tugboat" plane in front)

Cerro San Cristobal

Santiago with Los Andes in the background

Heading straight towards Cerro Manquehue (who's steering?!)

Cerro Carbon and Cerro Manquehue

Approaching the runway for landing (on the right of the river and freeway)

After:

One very happy (birthday) boy!