I returned to Santiago last night after 4 days in the north of Chile. On Monday, I went north with Rachel to Paranal, for an overnight visit. Then I spent 3 days in or around Antofagasta, staying with some friends of ours, Paul, Joyce & Gabriel Jeffers. Rachel continues to work at Paranal and returns next week.
Paranal was fascinating. It was great to finally see where Rachel is working and to understand more about the vast capabilities of ESO’s 4 VLTs (Very Large Telescopes). It was also fun to visit the “look but don’t touch” control room where the screens flicker and update 24 hours a day. I’m sure all the pretty pictures mean something… I was particularly impressed with the real-time weather information- a useful labour saving device…. saving someone the job of going outside every 10 minutes to check for cloud and high winds! After an explanation of active vs. adaptive optics I had had as much excitement as I could take. Unfortunately, the moon was up that night, so the view of the stars was poor and we decided not to walk down the “star track” to the residencia.
The Lonely Planet guide to Chile describes the Paranal residencia as “luxurious”. They are not exaggerating. It is roughly equivalent to a 4 star hotel, 9500 feet up a mountain, 2 hours from the nearest settlement (or any other hotel). It is a feat of design, engineering, maintenance and logistics rolled into one. It has a staggering range of facilities: table-tennis, table football, sauna, swimming pool, cinema, lounges, meeting room, offices, dining room, pool room, TV room. This comes on top of accommodation for 140.
Unfortunately, for you, it is not open to the public to visit or to stay in unless, perhaps, you’re caught in a violent sand-storm with no means of transport.
I returned to Antofagasta to visit friends. It was great to see Paul and Joyce and their little boy, Gabriel again. Gabriel has grown so quickly and is now toddling about, walking into walls, falling onto tables/walls/concrete and grabbing anything within arms reach! Painful and fabulous to watch at the same time!
After a day of recovery for Paul and myself after Paranal, we took a day trip north of Antofagasta to visit one of Chile’s national monuments- La Portada, an eroded chalk arch just off the coast- and the town of Mellijones- for lunch and the Portugal-Sweden match. Afterwards, we followed a rumour of a turtle sanctuary, driving north to a nearby industrial complex.
To my amazement in what seems like the most unlikely and dull place (on the edge of a very boring, lifeless desert), we found a sign for an area of protection of turtles. We quickly ventured down to the beach from the road and, sure enough, swimming in the outflow of the power station behind us- which powers Antofagasta and its’ surrounds- were turtles! They were a little timid at first, swimming away from the shallows to avoid us. The only real indication of their existence was the rearing of their heads about once every minute. Which didn’t really make for good pictures!
After 20 minutes of waiting for a picture and admiring the brownish foam generated by the outflow, I decided that the water couldn’t kill me if turtles survived in there. I rolled up my trousers and removed my shoes to venture in with my camera for a closer look. Mmmm… warm water, maybe 30 degrees. But uggghhh, whats that green syrup on my leg-hair? How can it glow like neon?!
I waded around for maybe 5 minutes before I got the surprise of my life. Appearing in the gaps in the foam, were turtles swimming around my legs and feet! Gliding silently and with only a breath every minute, I hadn’t noticed them gradually approach. I couldn’t contain my excitement and fear at the same time, unable to focus or set-up my camera to take a photo.
Of course, my surprise didn’t help to relieve the shyness of turtles! Every shiver from me resulted in a simple but very effective flap of a flipper and the turtle would slip away, sand streaming from the top of it’s shell.
I waited a few more minutes when it happened again and this time, CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Sodden but overwhelmed with this experience, I turned to leave the sea when I heard a “huffff” from behind me. About 10 metres away, a South American Sea-lion had lifted its head to see what was causing the comotion! This time I ran. Last time I saw a sea-lion was on David Attenborough’s nature documentary “The Trials of Life”, in which it snatched an unsuspecting penguin from a shallow beach! I have more delights and trials to look forward to in my life, so I quick footed it back to the car!
I’ll post the photos soon under “Photo Galleries”.
