Kay mentioned how disappointed we are with the accommodation despite the potentially beautiful setting of a beach facing the Pacific Ocean. Most irritating of all - shouldn't be - is the limited wifi, so we find it very difficult to post anything on the blog or even WhatsApp.
It did not help that when we arrived two days ago, it was overcast, cold and deserted but today the beach front looked much better, with sun shining and many more people around probably because it is Sunday and maybe a lot of people are arriving for the eclipse event. The eclipse will be around 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, so the west facing sea front will present a good view provided there is no cloud cover.
Yesterday we visited Cerro Tololo one of the several US Astronomical observatories in the Vicuna area. Even if the sophisticated equipment were meaningless, which they were to most of the visitors, their dimensions were awesome.
Just as interesting to those making the trip to the observatories is the terrain. The observatories sit on the top of Andes mountain ridges some 2000 metres above sea level (hence above most clouds) where the air is clear most of the time. The climatic type is essentially desert with not much vegetation apart from cacti. And it was cold, about 5 deg in the middle of the day.
Tomorrow we revisit La Serena town as part of our eclipse tour, and on Tuesday the eclipse proper when we will view it near the observatories; the high and dry conditions there further ensure the best chances of viewing the eclipse.
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