Trance Festivals

Even though Electronic music is not widely popular in Chile, it is still here that some of the best DJs in the world are born. This means that you sometimes have to search a lot for a good place to go and dance, but once you find it, it is almost sure that you will not be disappointed. This last weekend, there was a quite low profile psychedelic trance festival in a camping area, about half an hour south from Santiago. With some friends, we decided to go and camp for the weekend, enjoying almost 24 hours of trance and house music. There were not many people, between 50 and 100, but you don't need a huge party to enjoy it and we had a great time. We brought meat for a barbecue, there was a swimming pool, we danced all night long and were dead the next day. Trance festivals are more mythical in the desert, but those I could not find yet. I am close though...

APEX

After a short visit to La Silla, I was assigned one shift in another observatory and therefore visited all ESO sites in Chile. APEX (Atacama Pathfinder EXperience) is basically a sub-millimetre radio antenna that studies the "cold" universe and the deep and far cosmic galaxies. It is an experiment for the more famous ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) observatory, a group of 66 radio antennas under construction, in what will be the most advanced radio observatory on Earth. Both sites are located in the high plains of Chajnantor, near San Pedro de Atacama, at more than 5000m, where the humidity is very low and best results can be achieved. Due to his status of experiment, APEX is run by few people, when compared to Paranal for instance. I came here to temporarily replace one engineer and help on operations and maintenance and even had to do a medical effort test, to qualify for heights above 5000 meters.


The operations facilities are located in San Pedro de Atacama. Unlike the concrete residence of Paranal, this place is in harmony with the surroundings, with the buildings being made of adobe (clay). In fact, it resembles more a San Pedro hotel than science facilities. From here, all antenna operations, observations and repairs can be made and going up to the 5100 meters are just for maintenance and troubleshooting. From here to the antenna it takes around one hour by car, taking the ALMA road, still under construction. We drive around 60 kms and climb 2500m in height. Working at 5000m is an experience by itself, you cannot move too fast or you'll get dizzy and tired. The simple task of carrying a load of 10 kgs between two people for a few seconds, takes you 5 minutes to catch your breath! The views are also amazing, the entire Atacama salt flat, the second largest in the world, can be entirely seen from up there, as well as the Licancabur volcano, a constant presence around San Pedro. Work done at APEX is challenging, as the resources are less. Most of the times you have to come up with solutions using what you have around, which is different from the "industrial" Paranal style. From my side, and seeing this work experience in Chile as a traineeship, this week has been excellent and this rotation around sites very fruitful. Each place seems to have its very own charm that pulls you into staying there and making you not wanting to leave...

Galileo in Chile

A couple of weeks ago, we got a very special visit in Chile. With more than 400 years, Galileo Galilei, the father of astronomy, came to visit South America, showing excellent shape and that age is what you make of it. He is however a bit naughty and enjoys scaring people. While in Paranal, several maids were scared by his presence in the room, as he would sit in the dark and stare at them. In fact, he did the same in a restaurant and in the plane, staring at people either naked eye or through his handmade telescope. I had the pleasure to travel side by side with him back to Santiago. He doesn't talk much, but is a good lad. After scaring the stewardesses, he sat comfortably with his laptop and his headphones, preparing his next trip in South America. However, during lift-off he felt a bit sick. It is not easy to adapt to these modern means of transportation... The steward gently offered him a snack and a beer and Galileo, as a true party animal, just drank the beer and even asked for a second! He got sick again and fell asleep! We had to wake him up when arriving in Santiago, but not for a moment he showed any signs of an hangover. Full of initiative he asked the stewardess if he could visit the cockpit and he proudly sat on the captain's seat, feeling the thrill of being in command of such a weird steel bird. He left us, as he stayed at the airport overnight. Next morning he was going to take a flight to La Paz, Bolivia...