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La Serena - Mamalluca Observatory
Reception at La Serena Airport and transfer to the hotel. At night we will go to Mamalluca or Collowara Observatory. We will have an informative talk about the Universe in a projection room given by professional astronomers; then we will observe stars and constellations through mechanical telescopes located in the upper floor of the Observatory. We will return to La Serena.
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La Serena and Coquimbo
Breakfast at the hotel. We will visit La Serena and Coquimbo cities. La Serena is the second oldest colonial city in Chile. The main attractions of La Serena are the Archeological Museum, La Recova Market, Plaza de Armas (Main Square), the Monumental Lighthouse, Sea Avenue, Coquimbo Port, the English Neighborhood and the Third Millennium Cross.
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Elqui Valley
Breakfast at the hotel. We will set out for Elqui Valley, an area with special energy, where we will enjoy a unique and extraordinary climate for papaya plantations and the Chilean pisco (liquor) production. We will see a papaya manufacturing plant in operation. This delicious fruit grows in the entire area.
There are other attractions such as the Puclaro Dam, the Vicuña City where the poet Gabriela Mistral was born, and the museum that was named after her in Montegrande. We will also visit a pisco distillation plant and the Pisco Elqui town (formerly called the Union town), its square and craftsmen town. In the afternoon, we will return to La Serena.
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Humboldt Penguin National Park: Damas and Choros Islands
Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning we will leave La Serena to go north towards Punta Choros cove, a fishing town located in the northeast of La Serena. We will visit the museum of the Corporación Nacional Forestal-CONAF (Forest National Corporation), and we will see some pictures and replicas of species living in the Choros and Damas Islands.
Later we will set sail for the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve formed by the Choros and Damas Islands. We will sail near the Choros Islands to watch birds, penguins, bottlenose dolphins (sometimes they go beside the ship all the way) and seals that live in caves located among the rocky places.
We will go on our sailing towards the Damas Islands where we will get ashore to enjoy the white sand beaches and the turquoise green waters. Then we will come back to Punta Choros Cove and have lunch in a typical restaurant where we will taste exquisite sea food. At dusk, we will return to La Serena.
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La Serena
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to La Serena airport.
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