Chile on the left (west) coast of South America
Follow my path from 1 to 10. Private trip in red. Chile is 2650 miles long and about 110 miles wide. Long distance travel between locations. You can use the Google map of Chile on this album to locate cities.
To scale. Surface area of Chile (yellow) equals that of two USA Montanas (green). Average heights and widths used.
Flying south along the Andes to Santiago on the first day.
Snow in the rugged high Andes!
Hotel the first night in Santiago.
Streets of Santiago
Modern Santiago in the downtown area
Main avenue near the hotel
There's a story here. Luckily I wasn't part of it. I was in the “other” van. Serious injuries, but no deaths. Wear those seat belts! Somewhat ignored in Chile.
Mark learning how to “rock” ski. Yes, it was steep. [Courtesy of S. Prata]
TV screen showing location of earthquake center. About 300 miles from where we felt it. 7.7
TV image. Geographically speaking ... that's where it was in S. America.
Too pretty to eat?
Lizard among the flamingo at the reserve
A tribal ceremony? We are beginning to get stir crazy. [video Frame]
Interviewing our intrepid guide, Damien. [Video Frame]
Andean gull among the geysers. Gezers, Gazers? You say ... Let's call the whole thing off. Here we continue our merry way with some conflicting word sounds.
Preparing for the future ALMA radio astronomy site. What's up (right)?
Getting to the bottom of things at the VLT (Very Large Telescope). That's a little bigger than the camera I use.
Inside a vineyard. Free samples?
The Four Tourists at the end of the trip all nicely tanned. Shirts courtesy of QUASARCHILE. Photo courtesy S. Prata.
On the highway from Santiago to the Lake District. Where did the desert go?
Looks like the Lake District to me.
These boots were made for walking. Did I drop some rock candy?
Plaza in La Serena, on the coast.
Tilt. One of the smaller observatories at Cerro Tololo ... lolololo ... lololo... (A bit musical)
Cerro Tololo Observatory (Courtesy of CTIO)
Pisco what? Pisco sour? Some sort of wine, right? (A topic on the tour)
Well stocked grocery stores. Odd labels though. Where's my Spanish dictionary?
Point Choros. Tour of the Isle of Penguins Natiional Reserve. Abalone fisherman. Note fleet of tour boats. [Video Frame]
Duo leaping. This reserve is a regular home to dophins, and they are often seen here. [Video Frame]
So where do we fly next? We are birds aren't we?
The busy harbor in Valpo. Otherwise known as Valparaiso.
We come to your neighborhood to show you the stars. Santiago.
One of our two nights under the skies. Note Orion above my head with the three stars in its belt visible--all upside down in the southern hemisphere. The beautiful Orion Nebula is bright red-orange in Orion's sword, and is a short distance away between two stars.
Lilian, what are we looking at way up there?
16,745 feet. A bit cold.
