The Inter American Astronomical Observatory and the Elqui Valley

Awesome.  That’s the only way to describe today’s excursion.  The ship arrived in Coquimbo which is south of La Serena, Chile.  The coastal area of Coquimbo (“peaceful waters”) was destroyed after an earthquake and tsunami in 2015.  Much of the area has been rebuilt.  Earthquakes are pretty common in this part of Chile, but tsunamis don’t happen that often.  The rebuilding was based on lessons learned from this catastrophe.

We toured Coquimbo (the Millennial Cross is taller than the statue to Christ in Rio according to our guide).  Admired the terraced city of La Serena on the Pan American Highway.  The bus soon turned west toward Argentina through Vicuna and then south to Cerro Tololo.

It was cloudy along the coast, but our guide told us not to worry.  We would be above the clouds at 7000 feet in altitude.  The cold Humboldt Current creates ideal conditions for astronomical observations.  The current creates desert conditions, and there is a clear sky 360 days of the year.
The observatory is only open on Saturdays.  However, it was open for our group (private tour).  It is a US Government facility that is run by a consortia of American and Chilean universities.  We toured the large reflective telescope, but most telescopes now have cameras to record the sky.  This is the largest observatory in the Southern Hemisphere.  It was very cool in the observatory because the cameras have to be kept cool.

After touring the control room.  The director took us to a smaller telescope and demonstrated it’s the observatory’s movement (including the opening and closing of the observation window. 

The bus left the observatory to lunch in the town of Vicuna.  The traditional Chilean meals included something like a biscuit (eaten with salsa), and empanada, and steak, rice, and salad as a main course.  I toured the town square and then returned to the ship.

It was an awesome excursion for the first day in Chile.

The excursion left the coast to about the middle of Chile.  Argentina is in the purple.

It took a 45 minute drive up a winding mountain dirt road to reach the observatory.  My first glimpse of it in the distance.

The terrain in this area reminded me of the southwestern part of the USA.

Here's a view of the road up to the observatory.

We're almost at the top of the mountain.

You can see the river of clouds down below from this view of the Andes. 

They have quite a number of telescopes at the site.  It's clear approximately 360 nights each year.

Another view of the terrain from 7000 feet.

Here I am at the largest telescope.

The group crowded into the control room of the observatory.

The director told us to look, but not to touch anything.

Lunch was at Halley's Restaurant in Vicuna, Chile.

Table grapes, grapes for wine and alcohol (pisco) are the main product of the Elqui Valley.

We got to see a smaller telescope in action.

We were able to see the smaller telescope move into different positions.

The large telescope was in a temperature controlled environment.

Another view of the restaurant where we had lunch.

The Vicuna town square was lovely at midday.

Native art in the town square.

Fertile farmland in the Elqui Valley is used for vineyards.

A large reservoir is in the valley, and it provides water for irrigation of the fields.  It's also used for windsurfing.

Another view of the reservoir.

Upon returning from the excursion, our ship will soon be exiting for the next port of call.

This photo is from the mountain road to the observatory.  The only wildlife I saw was mountain goats.