Passport Problems

Our first morning on Easter Island, Christophe gave us a brief town tour. During this tour he mentioned that we could go to the produce post office and get an Easter Island stamp in our passports. We liked this idea and decided that we would head there on the following day when they were open (it was Sunday). When we arrived the next morning I realized that I didn't have my passport with me. I was surprised but not alarmed by this discovery. I just assumed that it must be back at the hotel and decided that I would just return to the post office on Tuesday. 

We spent the rest of the day touring the island and taking photos. When we returned to the hotel in the evening I went in search of my passport. I removed everything from all my bags but couldn't find it. Colleen also went through everything followed by Holly and Dan but to no avail. Next Colleen and I returned to the airport to ask there but they were closed for a couple hours. 

In the morning we went to PDI (Police station) and I spent about an hour with an officer filing a report. We each had phones on hand so we could use our translator apps as I struggled to explain the situation in Spanish and he struggled to ask questions in English. Meanwhile Holly and Dan went to the LAN office to see about changing our tickets to Santiago. We took a small break in the filing of the report when Holly's phone autocorrect mistakenly led me to believe the airline had my passport. 

Unfortunately our tickets were not changeable but I was able to purchase a new ticket for the flight leaving that afternoon back to Santiago so that I could have a day to go to the embassy. Colleen was generous in booking me a hotel room using her points so I wouldn't have to scramble to find a place to stay and within a couple hours I was on my way back leaving Holly and Dan on Easter Island (Colleen was already booked on this flight and heading back to the US).

Upon arriving in Santiago I immediately checked with the LAN office to see if they had found it (by this point we had to assume that it feel out of my bag on the plane to Easter Island). Although she seemed to be flipping through several passports, mine was not one of them. 

In the morning I walked to the embassy and began the process of getting a temporary party so that I could continue on to Argentina in the morning. This involved a lot of waiting with no entertainment (I had to give up my phone and kindle to security). Fortunately after a long wait, I was happy to learn that they would be able to get me a new passport that afternoon. 

It was a stressful and expensive reminder to always return my passport immediately to my wallet. But at least I discovered the error with enough time to do something about it and continue my vacation.