Cerro Tololo to La Serena to San Pedro

From the top of a mountain, through a valley, and into a desert. We have begun the last leg of our marvelous Chilean adventure today. 

After finishing my post last night at about 1:30 AM, I wandered out among the telescopes. The moonlight was very bright, and the domes where moving - science was in progress! It was an exhilarating feeling.

The Southern Cross and Alpha and Beta Centauri are visible in this image - up and to the left of the dome.

I woke up in the dormitories at CTIO this morning and knew I wanted to soak up a little more of the beautiful landscape before we left the mountain. Charles Blue, National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NARO) Public Information Officer,  and I went for a two mile run around the scopes. At 8000 feet, I was breathing hard! 

I have really enjoyed looking at the rocks here. Lots of interesting geology and the colors are so striking against the bright blue sky.

The ACEAP team loaded up and drove down the mountain to continue our journey. It was hard to say goodbye to the CTIO campus. I enjoyed every minute of the two days we stayed on Cerro Tololo. 

Tonia's beautiful home!

Before our flight to Calama, we were treated to lunch by Marina Antonietta, the Education and Public Outreach officer of Gemini South. She wanted us to experience the typical Chilean barbeque, so she welcomed us into her home with open arms. It was a real treat. 

She served us Pisco Sours, a common and delicious Chilean drink.

And was excited to be a part of our Community Solar System model as an Unnamed Comet!

She said we couldn't leave Chile without drinking a Pisco Sour, learning to cheer for Chile in Copa America (we have that one down) and seeing the cueca dance. She and Sergio (who has been traveling with us and does education for ALMA) perform the dance below. He is supposed to be a rooster, and she a hen. She pretends to be shy, but really is enjoying the flirtation.

We were enjoying the company so much that we had to rush to the airport - but we made our flight to Calama. From Calama we drove an hour to San Pedro, an oasis in the Atacama desert. The sunset was gorgeous again. Watch a short timelapse below.

San Pedro is an incredibly old town, and looks like it is straight out of a movie. The walls are all adobe and the streets stone and dirt. It is beautiful. I will take more pictures when we have sunlight! 

Our hotel upon arrival.

Lots of bikes everywhere here makes me happy.

Dogs roam free here. They did in La Serena and Santiago too, but there seem to be many more here. They are all well behaved.

The Copa America soccer tournament is going on. It is a BIG DEAL. People were gathering outside of restaurant windows to catch the end of the game.

Tomorrow we head up to the "low" sight of ALMA! The main operations are at about 10000 feet rather than 16500 feet where all the radio dishes are. The lack of oxygen at such high operation would make controlling the dishes difficult. We will tour the low sight tomorrow, and the high sight Sunday! Keep checking back for updates and pictures, and don't forget I am posting on Facebook and Twitter too!