The Trip

In the frame of the International Year of Astronomy, we realized a trip to Chile, Bolivia and Peru during the months of October and November 2009.

Our choice of destination was based on the deep tradition South America has in astronomy (see links about archeo-astronomy). These three countries in particular share the heritage of the great Inca and Tiwanaku cultures, undoubtedly some of the most important pre-Columbian civilizations. We have drawn our roadmap through the Altiplano, the highland plateau of the Andes, which offers a high sky purity and coincides with the location of the Inca and Tiwanaku empires.

Onboard two pickup vans charged with telescopes and educational material (see Activities), we covered a total travel distance of close to 7000 km. Our itinerary included 23 stops in different localities, from which we reached a total of 33 schools, which represented close to 3000 children and more than 200 teachers, plus a substantial number of local people that were present in different events such as star parties for the community. 

View Road Map Galileo in a larger map