We left our nice hotel after eating a large and varied breakfast, including Cait making herself a big ham and cheese sandwich to have for lunch, as we have been feeding her only cookies and snacks!
We didn't have much trouble leaving Copiapó and, after gassing up, found ourselves back on the Panamerican Highway heading south. After a couple of hours we could see the apparently tiny domes of Las Campanas Observatory high on a mountain where Bob observed back in 1974, with the domes of ESO’s La Silla beyond.
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| Las Campanas Observatory |
About 30 miles north of La Serena we reached the coast, and Hil pulled off onto a graded dirt road that wound towards the ocean on a high bluff.
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| Great to be in a Country that appreciates its Flora! |
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| Possible Viewing Site for the Eclipse? |
We stopped by a new looking porta-potty which we think may have been put there for use by an eclipse group, as it would be a great place from which to observe it if the fog doesn’t materialize. We have heard rumors of 400,000 people coming to the area, and imagine some of them will be looking at this very good spot almost on the center line!
We continued on into the seaside city of La Serena, which has a population of about 200,000. It appears to be quite green and pleasant. The highway exit we wanted to take was full of a giant street market, so we used maps and Hil’s phone GPS unit to find La Sombra del Viento, our hotel, and managed to park on the street nearby.
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| La Sombra's Front Door |
Typical of Latin America, the street is a plain wall with doors inset, behind which could be a slum or a palace; one never knows! We rang the bell and Marie Laure, our hotel owner, unlocked the door and let us into a lovely courtyard filled with succulents and cacti, and then back to another one with a small lawn surrounded by eight rooms all differently decorated and quite lovely! We got three rooms this time and immediately saw Karen and Bill, our friends from grad student days at UC Santa Cruz!
After settling in, we all took a walk to the main plaza with its old beautiful architecture, and row of tents and booths dedicated to the Eclipse!
We bought tee-shirts and gelato and walked some more before returning to La Sombra. I took a shower in the bathroom’s space-age cubical with three types of water spray and we rested until 6:30 when all six of us set off to Donde El Guaton Restaurant that Marie Laure recommended.
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| Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad |
We all started with Pisco Sours, of course. Hilary and I split a salad of hearts of palm and avocado, and then a another casserole of Pastel de Choclo.
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| Hilary and one of the Waiters |
And an ice cream and meringue for dessert! Home to bed
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