Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star

Close your eyes and try to imagine life at Earth’s magnetic center. Are you picturing volcanoes, tidal waves, earthquakes and molten lava? Try an oasis of wandering goats, fermented grapes, new age gurus and telescopes. Believe it or not, the spot on earth that’s supposedly most energetically charged is an arid valley to the west of the Andes, in central Chile.

Spiritual wanderers and gurus of meditation, yoga, astrology and the like, settled in Chile’s Elqui Valley in the 1960’s. Their search led them to this location, a place where two rivers (the Turbio and Claro) act as the ying and yang of Earth’s new water chakra or “Svadhisthana.”

Astrology tells us that for the past 2000 years, Earth’s previous magnetic center was located in the Himalayas, in Tibet. That, however, was in the Age of Pisces. Today, in the Age of Aquarius, the magnetic core has flopped hemispheres to 30 degrees South.

In 1982, scientists measured Earth’s magnetic forces for the first time by satellite. Sure enough, the hippies were right on. The satellites found the Earth’s greatest point of energy in South America, around Chile’s Elqui Valley.

From Chile’s oldest coastal city, La Serena, the Elqui Valley can be reached by bus. Several bus companies leave from La Serena’s bus terminal and travel the route east into the valley, stopping in villages along the way to pick up and drop off school children and other locals. The drive into the valley is breathtaking as the scenery moves away from coastal and into the mountains.

Another reason to stop in Vicuna is a chance to visit the Mamalluca Municipal Observatory. That’s right, the Elqui Valley isn’t known just for its magnetism, this region also happens to sit under one of the clearest atmospheres in the world. The Elqui Valley sits out of the way of city lights and maintains a gentle, steady climate with little wind or precipitation. So if stargazing is your thing, you’re about to be blown away.

On a moonless night, the starry skies can be seen up to the eighth magnitude with the naked eye. The Milky Way is oh-so-milky and Jupiter makes the brightest show at night. In fact, the galaxy’s viewing is so superb, numerous international observatories have been constructed in the area.

Mamalluca is an amateur-friendly facility, located just nine kilometers northeast of Vicuna. The observatory offers tours every night of the year, and a chance to look through its advanced telescopes, allowing surreal glimpses at the galaxy unlike anywhere else in the world. The most exciting site is a look at Saturn’s rings! However when we got there it was too late.

We had a scary ride from a minibus driver who was pushing the limits of the van the whole way there. The road was bumpy and the van seemed to bounce and slide giving the feeling the wheels wasn't really touching the road much.

We did arrive in one piece and after a brief video in Spanish explaining nothing more than an old national geographic program would tell you about how vast the universe is we were led outside to one of six large refractors.

There was a three quarter moon which was amazing to see up close. Mars you could see with the naked eye once the man with the laser pen showed us where to look, through the lens it wasn't much bigger which was disappointing.

Some stars once viewed wasn't actually stars at all they were galaxies containing many thousands of stars which was cool.

After viewing the newest and oldest stars in the sky, the oldest probably not even there any more, just the light hasn't reached us yet, we went back inside the dome to have a look through the big Bertha that poked out the top.

Stars that are millions of miles away are fascinating but still small all the same. I wanted to see one up close like the moon.

The mad mini bus driver hurried us back in the van after a quick look at the gift store and before long we were travelling at full speed skimming over the tops of the bumps towards our hotel.