11/05/2011 (posted 13/05/2011)
Had a relaxing morning again this morning - there was no reason to get up early so why would I?
I went for breakfast at the shop across the road again - the nice lady there makes me fried eggs, fresh bread, cereal and tea and it's really nice.
I spent the morning just checking emails, and then went for a set menu lunch which was a Mediterranean salad, chicken in mustard sauce and mango mousse for dessert. It was lush.
I had an excursion in the afternoon - myself and about ten others were crammed into a minibus (I, of course, was next to a fat person and was squashed in an already compact minibus) and taken to see the Valle de la Muerte (Valley of Death) and Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). Both were absolutely stunning, and gave great views across the Atacama desert.
We got to the Valle de la Luna in time for sunset and that somehow managed to add even more beauty to the view. Suffice to say I got some epic panoramic photos.
When I got back, I went for dinner with Mariet, Zoe and Tim as it was the last night in San Pedro for all of us. It's been great getting to know them and hanging out with them, but as ever when you're travelling any friendships are very short lived and we all go our separate ways tomorrow.
I had a pizza and one of two glasses of wine.
After that, we went to the stargazing as we had rescheduled from yesterday's cancellation. It started at 10pm and our group spent a while looking up while our guide showed us some different constellations and planets and explained the rotation of the Earth and stuff like that. I understood a bit of it at the time but it was fascinating all the same, even the bits where I had no idea what she was going on about.
We then moved on to the main attraction - around ten powerful telescopes that this french guy, Alain Maury, has set up in his garden. Each was focussed on a different constellation or planet and gave some incredible views. The most impressive were seeing Saturn and its' rings so clearly and seeing a real close-up of the Moon.
As I alluded to yesterday, I absolutely love looking at stars and find them incredible beautiful so this was somewhat of a dream come true and I loved the whole evening. Seeing all these beautiful stars and planets and learning how absolutely huge they are just puts in perspective how big God is and how incredible the stuff He makes is.
After we had finished, the group went inside for a hot drink and I had some Earl Grey tea.
Today has been a day of so much natural beauty and wonderful sights - I really am blessed to be out here and be able to see all of this incredible stuff.
JG
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