31 March - 05 April Combarbala - Santa Cruz

A new attempt to take a look into the universe and feel even smaller😉. Unfortunately, during our last attempt, we had a full moon, and this time the clouds threatened to ruin our plans. But we were lucky and got to look through the telescope several times at night in the 'Cruz del Sur' observatory. An unforgettable experience and a great tour!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to use flash photography, and my attempts to take pictures failed.

The night was unfortunately very restless. A techno party in the neighborhood somehow involved all of us. The snoring of the roommate added to the disturbance, and then there was also a short but intense earthquake. While everyone else ran out of their rooms, I briefly considered whether I should pack the most important things just in case... Fortunately, nothing more happened.

The next day we continued to Santa Cruz, south of Santiago de Chile. With every kilometer, the landscape became greener, and we could have sworn that all these trees were not there on our way there😉. But I think that after so many days in the desert, we just perceived the landscape differently.

The roads also improved significantly. When we stopped at a rest area, compared to the rest areas in the south, it almost seemed like a palace.

We found a nice little hotel run by three guys who were so nice and friendly that we extended our stay. On the first evening, we went to a wine festival in a neighboring village (@ Ralf: as you can see from the pictures, Chile is not necessarily a country for vegetarians. After a week of Ensalada Chilena (onions and tomatoes), I eventually started eating fish out of desperation. But I apologized to each and every fish and I'm really looking forward to vegetables at home!).

At the wine festival, there was a Chilean rodeo. The rodeo usually lasts for 2 days. On the first day, dressage is usually shown with various exercises for which points are awarded. But we were there on the 2nd day. Young bulls have to be driven through the arena in a precisely defined way by 2 Huasos (cowboys) on their horses. One pushes the bull against the fence while the other prevents the bull from escaping. The bull has to be driven along the edge of the arena several times and moved to the right place to turn around. The bulls and horses didn't look like they were having a great time, but at least no animals were harmed.