Our tour with alumni from Carleton College started in Santiago before heading to Vicuña in the Elqui Valley and finally San Pedro de Atacama. The objective of this tour was to visit several of the major astronomical observatories in Chile, while also seeing some cultural and natural attractions. It was a repeat of an earlier attempt in October 2019 to see the same observatories which was interrupted by civil unrest throughout the country.
Santiago
Tuesday, 9 December, and Wednesday, 10 December 2025
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| Perroquia de la Veracruz near our hotel in the Lastarria neighborhood of Santiago. It was heavily damaged in the 2019 riots. |
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| The main altar of the Cathedral at the Plaza de Armas in central Santiago. |
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| A side chapel in the Cathedral. |
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| The Monument to Indigenous Peoples in the Plaza de Armas. |
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| A quipu (a widely used Incan counting record) in the Pre-Columbian Museum in Santiago. |
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| Also in this museum was a collection of Chemamülls, Mapuche grave markers. |
Vicuña
Thursday, 11 December 2025
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| We flew from Santiago to La Serena and then went by bus to Vicuña, the biggest town in the Elqui Valley. The valley is known for growing grapes for pisco, a beloved grape brandy of Chile and Peru mostly used for pisco sour cocktails. |
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| As we got closer to Vicuña, the domes of the telescopes on Cerro Tololo came into view in the distance. |
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| The Church of the Immaculate Conception on the central plaza of Vicuña, as seen from the rooftop deck of our hotel at sunset. |
Toconao
Monday, 15 December 2025
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| Toconao is a small town about 24 miles (38 km) south of San Pedro de Atacama. The main plaza has a pretty bell tower (Campanario de San Lucas) - and while we were there, the town's Christmas tree. |
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| The door to the bell tower was made out of cactus wood. |
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