It’s been a while since I made my first ever trip to South America – all went well, a few regrets, but nothing that can’t be addressed on a forthcoming second trip. So here is a post about the planning and outcomes, in preparation for that second outing!
The Atacama and Cielos de Chile
I’d read about the Atacama desert and it’s clear, dark skies, and seeing the maps, vistas and astrophotography (from the likes of Stephane Guisard) sealed this as the location to visit. I searched for accommodation and the Atacama Lodge came up immediately http://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge
This is relatively expensive accommodation but I saved enough for 3-4 nights, and looked for cheaper accommodation for the rest of the stay using Booking.com. So I had time for a few night’s dark skies observation at the lodge before some tourist time nearby in San Pedro de Atacama.
So, to get to Chile, I first booked a flight to Santiago (via Rome) and found not-too-expensive prices for early July. I booked a nice looking apartment, high up in Santiago, for a good price for 2-3 nights, before booking a flight from Santiago to Calama. From Calama, I would pre-book an airport bus to San Pedro de Atacama.
What Camera To Take
I decided not to pack all my photography gear, the first regret; I packed a tripod and the C500 video camera. The aim then was to capture real time footage of the dark skies, rather than long exposure still photography.
The night sky
I used the Distant Suns iOS app to preview the constellations visible during my stay, and this gave me a good idea of sights I would not usually see in the northern hemisphere under cloudy London skies.
Flight
The 15-hour flight passed comfortably enough, though what were the chances I would be cooped up with two other travellers in the same row – probably weight balancing? However there were plenty of vacant seats to sleep across.
Air Quality – or lack of
Warning – big photos!
My luggage was promptly picked up after landing, I took a bus to Santiago and alighted – to the worst air quality I had ever encountered! I hope this was just a temporary smog down this part of the world, but breathing was a bit of a problem, I had only ever had problems with air quality on one occasion in London, so this was not a good start. Once safely in the apartment, the view did actually take my breath away, but not for long, as I had to run indoors to catch the breath back.
Pics!
I shot some timelapse footage out the window and watched Game of Thrones in Spanish on HBO (Season 7 was about to begin, I would have to catch the first episode on NowTV the night before the flight home). I booked a room at a Hotel near the airport, for the flight back, as I would rather not return to Santiago at this time.
Queues
I just about caught the flight to Calama, as the queues at Santiago airport were unexpectedly large; so the same advice as everywhere, arrive 2-3 hours before departure time!
La lingua
I had been attending entry-level Spanish classes on and off over a couple of years, and after visiting Spain regularly and consuming my favourite films in Spanish with English or Spanish subtitles, I was confident I would have a rudimentary grasp of the language. I think I did quite well, with not many English speakers around, I just had to adapt and I picked up a few phrases or hung around spots where English speakers were likely to be.
Pneumatico blanco
My basic Spanish came in handy once in San Pedro de Atacama. The first hiccup was the airport bus driver did not actually know where the Atacama lodge was. We eventually agreed on ‘cerca de pneumatico blanco’ and promptly found the white painted tire and I was deposited with suitcase. Alain’s wife met me to let me in, a few minutes after I arrived, during which wait I took in the literally breathtaking vista.
From then on, it was a week of getting acclimatised.
Diet tips
In short, stay in the Atacama desert for 7 days, you will shed more body water than you think possible. High altitude training is most definitely a proven method for losing weight.
July is winter in this part of the world, I had packed some jackets and, ahem, an Alitalia blanket. During the day, it was clear, a good sign for clears skies at night, but with 22 degrees celsius burning sun. That highway was a 3km walk to San Pedro, and I did that about 3 times while staying in the lodge.
Mars
I spent a lot of time gazing at the volcano, and wondering how large it was compared to Mount Sharpe in Gale crater, Mars.
Money shot
I found the setting for long frame exposures on the C500, to best capture the deep field of stars. The closest densely packed sky I had seen was on my dry run visit to the Canary Islands and atop La Palma de Gran Canaria.
Here is the resulting video, including the Milky Way, galactic centre, globular clusters and Alpha Centauri
Tourism
While staying in the lodge, I attended a night sky tour, the lodge runs tours in Spanish, French and English. They set up telescopes to view pointsof interest, and it’s a great introduction to astronomy. The guides have one telescope set up for phone cameras:
After vacating the lodge, I found some cheap accommodation for the rest of the Atacama stay on booking.com. The room was useful as the airport bus picked up right outside, so when booking a hotel, look for the pickup option, for a stress free start on your journey home.
I shopped around for a cheap tour and I think i found a good deal. The other tourists were all Chilean, so I had a chance to practice some Spanish! The other passengers were friendly and tried to engage me in conversation, and I managed to have rudimentary conversations, with a chap from Southern Chile.
Here is a video compilation including clips from this and another tour I embarked upon:
Going home
In the hotel near the airport, I was able to relax and stream the first episode of Game of Thrones Season 7!
Conclusion
Maybe I would meet astronomers in Chile if I did not visit during a new moon. However, I did see some amazing constellations, practiced with the C500 and almost heard the sound of utter silence out in the Atacama.
rashkphotography 