(Pictures: one of my many backbends, the hot springs in Atacama desert, me in front of a "stuck" train - it started smoking just as a laid in front of it - the Laguna Colorado and the Milky Way). Totally forgot to write about our stargazing experience in San Pedro! The Atacama Desert is rated as one of the 10 best places in the world to see the stars due to the extremely dry climate, low light interference and a number of other science-y reasons you're free to look up on Wikipedia if you so desire.
The night before we went on the salt flat safari, we booked a tour through the local astronomy expert, Alain, a displaced Frenchman, married to a Chilean, who could be a stand-up comedian as his second career. We initially thought $30 was a bit steep for a few hours of looking at some stars, but by the end of the night we were more than satisfied.
Picked up from San Pedro at 7pm, about 50 tourists loaded the private coach, the majority of whom were 20-something backpackers (was that the right use of whom?). We arrive at the stargazing site and enter a round room made of stone, dimly lit with candles, with 2 semi-circles of stools to sit on, complete with blankets if you're cold, and a wide hole in the stone roof to look at, what else, the stars. introduces himself and gives us a very basic overview of astronomy and then begins to explain what we'll see. Of course the stars in the southern hemisphere are different than those we're used to up north. We've got the Southern Cross down here, Sirius (ugh!), and a number of others. We were also fortunate enough to be there while Saturn was out in full view. After about 20 minutes, we were let outside and shown around to his 8 telescopes, each carefully set to see a different section of the sky. There was Saturn, bright and as beautiful as you'd think, if even a bit fake looking. We saw a jewel box (3 neighboring stars with different colors - yellow, orange, blue), clusters of stars, a double star (Acrux/ Alpha), and the MILKY WAY (see picture). Saturn and the Milky Way were my favorite. You CAN see the Milky Way from the N. Hemisphere, but the conditions have to be very favorable with no pollution. After we each got a turn walking around and checking out the different (very expensive looking) telescopes, Alain pointed out all the Zodiac constellations using an incredibly strong laser pointer that seemed to reach the stars themselves (we all OOHed the first time he broke it out). I got to see Leo (my sign!) for the first time in my life, as well as Scorpio, Virgo, Capricorn and a few others. Cool! He also showed the few of us with SLR cameras (or almost SLR cameras) how to shoot pictures of the stars. Widest aperture possible, slowest speed possible, stable base... see below.
We were then herded back into the round stone chamber where we were served the most delicious (non-powdered) hot chocolate I've had since I can remember. It was the bathroom which made us realize Alain and his family actually live in this building, out in the desert, 20 minutes from San Pedro and hundred of miles from a real city. The bathroom was probably the most luxurious I had seen in Chile -a honeymoon sized tub, separate shower, washing machine. Then it was time for Q&A, where we pounded him with questions about his personal background and how he ended up here, in the middle of nowhere Chile. It sounded like he made his money working for the big research/education system, always working for grants, and got sick of it. He wanted to research what HE wanted to research, without always having to report to the funder, so he broke free. The way he wanted us to understand his world, the way he emphasized certain key aspects of the science, his sense of humor in relating stories of the history of astronomy (NOT astrology!), his passion for the stars really shone through (no pun intended) and I think we all left feeling a bit in awe of a man who has followed his heart and ended up in one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world, doing quite well for himself. ($30 per person x 50 people per tour x 2 tours a night x 7 nights a week + living in the middle of nowhere Chile = you do the math).
So that was the star tour. Haven't felt such respect for the universe since my days in Astro 101 back at PSU. We really are nothing, guys. Small, silly things thinking we're such big deals and everything is so important. Go live your lives! In the end it really means nothing anyway. Wow, sorry Dad, looks like I'm becoming the lefty hippy daughter you've feared. Heh.
Speaking of such, I'm off to the market in Sucre, in search of the Gaucho hat all the women down here rock with such attitude.
Yesterday was a full day hike to see 2,000 year old Incan cave paintings followed by a 2-hour completely uphill hike in the blazing sun on the Inca Trail (there is more than one down here, not just in Peru!). Great views of pre-historic valleys, with meteorite period red rocks and crustracean period green rocks. But hell, my calves are killing me.
Tonight the Austrian (Judy, 25?, ex-marketing chick for Kraft in Zurich), and German (Chris, 30, ex-museum administrator in Berlin) and I are on an overnight bus to La Paz. Really liking traveling with them. There's no drama, no bullshit, just good eating, good sightseeing and shopping, and a lot of German. They also have both succumbed to travelers' stomach, yet somehow mine has held strong, even after drinking the freshly squeezed juices which are made with local water. I'll get to the food in another posting... but I'll leave you with this. The first rule in Bolivia is always carry toilet paper with you. Yep.
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