Day 4 The next day saw another brilliant blue sky and an opportunity to do a little hiking – up to a lake a little further up the valley. This hike had to be timed to coincide with low tide, and we had to get there and back before the tide rose too much, …
Kayaking the Comau Fjord – Termas de Cahuelmó to Porcelana Read More »
Day 3 Day 3 of our kayaking trip to explore the fjords in the north of Pumalín Park dawned bright and sunny again. Given we were already just across from our campsite scheduled for Day 3 (thanks to the storm), after another amazing breakfast aboard the Don Miguel, we hit the kayaks and went for a …
Day 2 Awoke not feeling too bad given the unfamiliar and extended exercise of yesterday. The clouds had rolled in, however, and the forecast of rain was looking more and more accurate. After an amazing breakfast on board the Don Miguel, we suited up in our kayaking gear and headed off towards Quintupeu Fjord. …
Kayaking the Comau Fjord – Isla Llancahué to Quintupeu Fjord Read More »
For the past several years I’ve wanted to include a multi-day kayaking trip as part of my adventures. However, mostly due to the fact that I travel independently and it is tricky to find others who are up for an extended activity at the same time I am, it hasn’t happened. Until now! Trawling …
Kayaking the Comau Fjord – Hornopirén to Isla Llancahué Read More »
Much closer than Cerro Vizcachas, in fact just below the road where it passes below the 3.6m telescope, are the rock engravings, or petroglyphs, of La Silla. I visited these a couple of times when I first arrived at La Silla about 15 years ago, but haven’t been back since. Given I was wandering …
If you walk around the La Silla Observatory site at all, it’s hard to miss the road that starts just below the 2.2m telescope and heads out to Cerro Vizcachas. It was constructed back in the 1990s when the European Southern Observatory was conducting site testing at various locations to determine where they would ultimately build the Very …
Between 2000 and 2004 I worked as an astronomer for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. ESO had 2 observatories in Chile at the time – the older La Silla Observatory that had been in operation since the 1960s, and the new Paranal Observatory where the Very Large Telescope was just starting operations with all …
Our expedition ended this morning with the Vavilov docked in Stanley – the capital of the Falkland Islands. We had about an hour to wander around the town, which was more than enough time given it is pretty small and nothing opened until 10am (we were there at 8:30am). Very British though, including red telephone …
In the afternoon, the winds miraculously died down again just enough for us to be able to do our last excursion to Saunders Island – still part of West Falkland. It was the wettest of all our zodiac rides but even then, not too bad. Apparently, that kind of wetness is fairly standard on an …
Just as we thought that our run of great weather had come to an end, the wind dropped and we were actually able to disembark for our first excursion of the day at West Point Island in the Falkland Islands. When we arrived at the entrance to this point during the night, the winds were …
