400 Years of the Telescope

The crew agreed Sunday night to make Monday morning one of slow beginnings. We made sure our plans began after 10am, letting us all sleep in for an extra two hours from what we were used to. We once again convened in the hotel lobby at 10am and began the trek back up to ALMA base camp at 10,000 feet. As soon as we drove out of the front driveway of the hotel, we remembered that we were down diesel gasoline and that we needed to refill or we would not be able to return from the mountain later in the afternoon. William Garnier, the ALMA PIO and our faithful guide for the last two days, knew exactly where to find the small, tucked-away resources of diesel that we needed to get our day started on the right foot (or wheel in this case).

Once on the road, we tried our best to spot llamas along the road. You see, we have been in Chile for 7 days now and we have not seen a single llama aside from the souvenirs and sweaters featuring the fuzzy little creatures. Luckily, a few of us were able to spot one among a pack of sheep and goats – apparently around Chile, llamas are often used much like sheep dogs.

We reached 10,000 feet base camp around 11am and got geared up for a second round of interview questions with Dr. Catherine Cesarsky, this time in front of some of the telescopes that will be placed at 16,000 feet at ALMA. Much like our visits to some of the Observatories that we visit, we were given hardhats to wear for our visit. We were able to roam the construction camp where, since it was Monday morning, we were greeted by many of the workers who were busy getting the ALMA headquarters built. We drove down to the North American antenna-construction site from which we planned to shoot our interview and get some additional footage of the other antennae that had arrived to the site. As soon as we arrived, we were surprised to find ourselves chatting with the American workers who were working-away on the first antenna to arrive. The crew there was gracious enough to give us some “quiet” time to film our interview with Dr. Cesarsky and we were able to film the workers working on some technical components of the antenna.

After our interview with Dr. Cesarsky and our final shots of the mountain, we descended from ALMA for the last time on this trip. We made our way back to San Pedro de Atacama where we said our goodbyes to William and had our final meal with Catherine. We found a quaint little restaurant in town to share a meal and some more life experiences with our interviewee. We were all so very sad to say goodbye to her when she had to leave us at 4pm to catch a flight later in the evening back to Santiago and eventually back to Europe. We had an amazing time getting to know her on both a professional and personal level during the past three days and we cannot wait to see her again.

The crew now prepares for their travel to Paranal tomorrow. They will depart from San Pedro de Atacama early tomorrow morning, bound for Calama where they will fly to Antofogasta and then drive once more into the Atacama Desert to Paranal. Wish them luck as they prepare for another long day of travel by brushing the dirt off their luggage and (hopefully) successfully re-pack their things, including their newly purchased souvenirs.