Stargazing

La Serena, Chile

Yesterday we had a very busy day. Not one but two tours in the Elqui valley.

We left early in the morning on a mini-van tour of the nearby Elqui valley. This took us inland as far as the town of Pisco Elqui, stopping along the way at an impressive water-control dam and the largest community in the valley - the town of Vicuña.

Along the way we were treated to a visit, and tasting, at one of the small "Pisco" distilleries that take advantage of the prime grape-growing climate in the valley. It is fascinating that, while it remains cool and overcast on the coast, just 60 kms away it is warm and the skies are clear, with temperatures approaching 30 degrees almost every day. In addition to grapes, there are orchards of citrus fruits and avocados, among other crops.

One of the odd spinoffs of the predominately clear sky and somewhat higher elevations is a bumper crop of celestial observatories littering the hills along the valley. In fact, this has turned into a huge tourist attraction, with several of the installations being set up strictly for visitors. Our second tour of the day took us to one of the most popular sites at the Observatorio Cerro Mamalluca. For this trip, we left the hotel just before dark and were driven to the observatory, just outside the town of Vicuña. We had a perfect clear, moonless night and were able to view several interesting objects through one indoor and one outdoor telescope. We learned a lot about the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere - all of the constellations we are familiar with in Canada are either upside down or missing altogether. We got back to our hotel around 1 AM this morning.

Back in La Serena, today we walked about 5 miles down the beach. There is a lot of construction going on and it is obvious that all of the local businesses are just getting geared up for the approaching summer season. Apparently peak season here is from about mid-December until the end of February. Right now it still seems a little cool to us, although today the sun did make an appearance a little earlier, around noon.

Lifeguards in training

Tomorrow we are leaving this town, heading back south to the city of Valparaiso, where it is reportedly a few degrees warmer. We are looking forward to another 8 hour bus ride.

{GMST}30|2.055|S|070|42.7626|W|Vicuna, Chile|Vicuna, Chile{GEND}
{GMST}29|59.67|S|070|51.67|W|Elqui Valley Dam|Elqui Valley Dam{GEND}
{GMST}30|7.317|S|070|29.6|W|Pisco Elqui, Chile|Pisco Elqui, Chile{GEND}