2019 Total Solar Eclipse Chile

Overnight flight from Miami to Santiago.

You will be met by a local guide and driver and transferred to our hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure. You will meet your tour guide and astronomer lecturer at 6.00pm for an orientation meeting. Overnight in Santiago.

After breakfast, enjoy a half-day city tour in Santiago.
First, we’ll travel west toward the soaring Andes, past the Cerro San Cristóbal, an outpost of the mountains which towers over the city with a great white statue of the Virgin Mary crowning its summit. We will ride the cable car, located at the Pedro de Valdivia Norte entrance to reach the summit.
After lunch, we will continue with a visit to the presidential palace, named “La Moneda” because the splendid building once housed the national mint. Many other sights in the historic centre are clustered around the always-bustling Plaza de Armas: the impressive cathedral; the beautiful old post office; the Palacio de la Real Audiencia, now home to the National History Museum; and the Casa Colorada, once the Spanish governor’s residence.
After the tour, we will drive to Santiago Airport for our short flight to Copiapo (Private charter JA 88 / 5.45pm – 7.15pm). Our guide and driver will meet us at the airport and transfer to our hotel. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Copiapo.

After breakfast at our hotel, we will drive to our eclipse viewing spot. Hot lunch, tea, coffe and soft drinks will be provided at the eclipse site at our private tent. We will have ample time to set up our equipment and get ready for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Event Local Time
Start of partial eclipse (C1) : 15:23:51.9
Start of total eclipse (C2) : 16:38:48.9
Maximum eclipse : 16:40:06.1
End of total eclipse (C3) : 16:41:22.9
End of partial eclipse (C4) : 17:46:54.
The return drive to Copiapo is in the late evening. After the celebration cocktails, late dinner and overnight at our hotel in Copiapo.

Enjoy a full-day excursion to Elqui Valley. The Elqui Valley is a narrow, fertile strip of land winding eastward from the coast. Surrounded by the cactus-covered hillsides, this river-watered valley thrives with papaya, figs, chirimoya (custard fruit), apricots, peaches, and especially grapes. From these last is created the ‘Pisco’ – Chile’s famous grape brandy – for which the valley is particularly famous, and during a leisurely stopover at a distillery you’ll learn about the production process and enjoy a taste or two. In the small town of Vicuña, birthplace of Nobel Prize-winner Gabriela Mistral, you will visit the Bauer Tower (the old city hall), the church, and the main square, before continuing to the Cochigua wine valley, where you will lunch in a typical restaurant. In the afternoon, you will visit Gabriela Mistral’s tomb in the village of Montegrande, as well as the old school building, now transformed into a museum, where she spent her childhood. After the tour, return to our hotel. Dinner and overnight in La Serena.

After breakfast at our hotel, we will visit La Silla Observatory. Half-of our group will visit in the morning hours (10 am – 1 pm) and the other half-will visit in the afternoon (2pm-5pm) as they allow only a certain number of visitors at a time. You can relax at the hotel or explore La Serena on your own in your spare time. The observatory is 156 kilometers north of La Serena ( 2 hours driving time) at an altitude of 2440 meters above sea level, it belongs to the Southern European Observatory which is financed by 8 European countries. It has 15 telescopes and a radio telescope. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in la Serena.

Transfer to La Serena Airport. After a short flight (JA53 / 11AM-11.55AM), arrive Santiago Airport. If you booked an optional tour (details below), you will continue to your tour. Rest of the passengers will be transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.

OPTIONAL TOUR: Maipo Valley Wine Tour: Santa Rita Winery tour with lunch
After breakfast, depart from Santiago, sit back and relax during the scenic drive to Santa Rita Winery. Boasting a dramatic backdrop of the Andes Mountains, the sculpted gardens and verdant splendor of the winery prove a spectacular sight. Greet your knowledgeable guide and begin your tour of the sprawling vineyards, learning about the 19th century origin of the vineyard as you wander. Explore the fermentation cellars and bottling plant to enrich your knowledge of traditional production methods, and then stand before the historical structure of Bodega 1 for a glimpse of typical colonial construction. Venture to the legendary landmark of Don Paula Restaurant, an establishment declared a national monument due to its colorful past. Hear about the 120 battle weary rebel soldiers who sought refuge in the restaurant, and how the courageous owner accommodated the revolutionaries. Sample the three varieties of the signature 120 wine, dedicated to this historical legend. Spend your remaining time at Santa Rita strolling the gorgeous gardens or observing the intriguing artifacts in the on-site Andean Museum. We will have lunch at the facilities before returning our hotel in Santiago.

The historic city of Valparaíso is Chile’s oldest port. It is also home to the country’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies, which moved here from the capital in 1989, when Chilean democratic governance was re-established. The city’s many hills are covered with a multi-coloured panorama of painted houses crowding every nook and cranny, ensuring a spectacular backdrop to your visit. During your tour, you will see the historic city centre, whose fine 19th-Century architecture provides good reason for its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Then, you will travel to a view-point overlooking the city via one of Valparaíso’s signature funicular elevators, two dozen of which were built at the turn of the 20th Century to connect the upper and lower sections of the city. You will also visit the parliamentary building and Plaza Sotomayor’s memorial to the heroes of the War of the Pacific, before you continue to Catrala Boutique Vineyard, located in the way back to Santiago.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
La Sebastiana museum
La Sebastiana is Pablo Neruda’s house in Valparaíso, now open to the public as a museum. High up on Cerro Florida, it offers a marvellous view of the sea and an interesting insight into the life and work of this eccentric poet and diplomat. Pablo Neruda bought this place in order “to live and write in peace” and furnished every corner according to his taste and preferences. He sometimes celebrated New Year’s Eve here. Pablo Neruda called La Sebastiana “a house that seems to be floating in the air, but stands firmly on the ground”.
Catrala Boutique Vineyard
The idyllic Catrala Boutique Vineyard was recently founded in 2003 and is among Chile’s youngest vineyards. It is a perfect location to close the day. You will learn about winegrowing with biodynamic and organic farming in a relaxed and familiar atmosphere. The “Peñuelas” nature reserve, which is full of endemic tree species, surrounds the vineyard and lends the area a spicy scent. In this wonderful environment it is easy to forget about daily life and to enjoy Catrala’s quality wines.
Dinner at the hotel.

Free day at leisure in Santiago.

Private transfer from the hotel in Santiago to the Airport in Santiago. Private transfer from the airport in Calama to the hotel in San Pedro de Atacama. We will have a tour of Salar de Atacama: A salt lake of huge proportions (3000 sq km/1,158 sq mi!), its surface is covered by a thick layer of light-coloured salt crystals, caused by the evaporation of the lake’s water. The world’s largest lithium deposits are found here, but the salt pan is also home to several flamingo species, including the Andean, Chilean and James flamingo, who feed on the micro organisms found in the saline lagoons. These beautiful birds and other species can be observed in their natural habitat at the Salar de Atacama’s Chaxa Lagoon, which is part of the Reserva Nacional de los Flamencos.
On the way to the salt flat, you will stop at the village of Tocoano to see its green square with large cacti, and also its white church with free-standing spire, and interesting constructions using cactus wood. Afterwards, return drive to San Pedro. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Those who wish to experience the El Tatio Geysers have to get up early, to ensure a timely arrival at the geyser field at sunrise. The fountains located over 4300m/14,108ft, shoot up to 10m/33ft high. The sun’s first rays reflecting countless colours as they mingle with boiling jets coming from the geysers create a strong contrast with the rising steam and the surrounding summits. After the spectacular show there, you have the choice of recovering from the morning chill and warming up in natural pools created by hot springs.
The tour begins in the very early hours of the morning in San Pedro, to ensure a timely arrival at the geyser field at sunrise. The return drive to San Pedro takes place around midday.
After lunch, we will continue to Moon Valley. One of the best-known destinations between Calama and San Pedro is the Valle de la Luna. This tour into the rugged beauty of the Atacama Desert begins at dusk. With the Licancabur volcano providing the backdrop, strange salt and rock formations in the middle of the valley’s barren sandy landscape really do look like a moonscape. After a tour past the bizarre natural rock and salt shapes, you will ascend a lookout point on a giant sand dune where you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the valley and the Licancabur volcano. Then, you pass by the bizarre rock formation “Tres Marías” and end the excursion at “Coyote´s rock” (“Piedra del Coyote”). From the top of this rock, you overlook the Kari-Canyon and wide parts of the desert, you can even catch a glimpse at the Salar de Atacama. The setting sun bathes the landscape in a light that changes with every minute, providing a mesmerizing play of colours. The return drive to San Pedro is after sunset.
Overnight in San Pedro de Atacama.

This morning we will visit the ALMA Observatory. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan, together with NRC (Canada), NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA -the largest astronomical project in existence- is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed of 66 high precision antennas located on the Chajnantor plateau, 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile.

After breakfast, transfer to Calama Airport for your flight back to Santiago.Then connecting flight to Miami.