Sternwarte Stargazing Tour ab Santiago

This excursion was expensive, but to me, it was totally worth it! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Initially, we actually weren't even sure if we were going to be able to make it to the excursion since we had a very tight turnaround right after a long day trip to Valparaiso. But, our tour manager Claudia, from Chile Off Track, did a wonderful job of keeping in contact even before we arrived in Santiago, and then continuously working to coordinate our transportation from our hotel in Santiago after our arrival. With her assistance, we managed to make it right on time for the initial part of our amazing experience - viewing solar flares! Before I get too deep into the stargazing portion of the experience, though, let me first say that by far, what made it truly outstanding was our lovely host, Damaso. He so warmly welcomed us (he and his sweet little dogs) into his beautiful home situated in the Andes mountains. Right away. we were offered beverages (we all opted for a crisp, delicious champagne) and yummy hors d'oeuvres and were made to feel immediately comfortable. And, at one point later in the evening, his kids even nicely brought out additional hot snacks. But, back to stargazing...Damaso is so knowledgeable and clearly has a very deep love and enthusiasm for what he does. His passion is infectious! Throughout the evening, he calibrated and recalibrated the plethora of telescopes he'd set up for optimal viewing of various stars. And, he also patiently explained what we were seeing on each occasion, as well as how we could refocus the telescopes for optimal personal viewing when switching from one guest to the another (there were only 4 of us total, so it was a nice, relaxed atmosphere). And the things we saw!????????Beforehand, I'd imagined that we'd view the planets like Saturn, etc. But, when we were able to see the actual colors of various nebula?! My mind was completely blown! All in all, I am so happy that we stumbled upon this gem of an experience. It was absolutely incredible and a true highlight of my time spent in Chile!

This tour was not accurately described or what we expected. If you are interested in a good dinner and limited stargazing, fine. Our primary interest was astronomy and we were shown 1 view in three telescopes. The staff were excellent, the food was very good, but the very long drive from Santiago was not worth the time and expense.

We began our expereince during a warm, sunny day seeing sun flares while sipping chilled chardonnay. Next, we viewed stars and planets. This was a very nice surprising start as the sun had not yet gone down. The night sky was amazing and in addition to stars, constellations and planets, we saw galaxies and nebulas. Amazing! Our host was delightful and we felt so fortunate that he would share his passion with us. And the wine and lovely snacks certainly added to the experience.