For less than perfectly clear reasons, a Scotsman named Alexander Sinclair was marooned on this island in the 1800s.  His experience prompted author Daniel Defoe to write the novel Robinson Crusoe, though Defoe moved the island to the Caribbean and made the man’s sojourn more than 28 years rather than 4. 

West of Valpariso (a 3-hour flight) the island is volcanic, part of a far-flung ‘group’ of small islands, with very steep hills, which reminds me of Dominica, in the Caribbean, but much more isolated.  It belongs to Chile and has a population of about 800 mostly in the village, in whose harbor our ship moored.  I have no idea where they get their groceries or other necessities—I saw a very small shop with canned goods, etc., but no real grocery store.  Their economy is based on rock lobster and fishing with a little tourism.  In 2010 the island was hit by a tsunami following a magnitude 8.8 hurricane. The tsunami was about 10 feet high when it reached the island. Sixteen people lost their lives, and most of the coastal village was washed away.  The only warning came from a 12-year-old girl, who noticed the sudden drawback of the sea that presages the arrival of a tsunami wave and saved many of her neighbors from harm.

We tendered ashore, and some scaled steep hills for a lookout that always seemed to be just a little higher…  I abandoned the enterprise partly because I was afraid I would slide much of the way down.  Besides there were plenty of hills on paved streets in the village to conquer.  I tried to reach the public library but, after walking uphill much farther than I expected, I found the road blocked off because they were paving.

Rather a way down the shore, the ship and locals had set up a venue with music and special drinks.  I didn’t make it that far partly because the music was very loud but mostly because I was already tired from my hill walking.  Indeed, once on board, I slept for two hours and still managed to sleep 10 hours that night… 

As we prepared to leave, the island because shrouded in mist as if retreating into fiction and a rainbow emerged to say goodbye.  Goodbye was, however, delayed because a large rock and the anchor had become too intimate and it took awhile to separate them so we could depart.  (Our cruise director Heather said in the announcement that it was not exactly what she anticipated when the Captain said he had a large rock for her…)