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KenW156
Northern Chile is home to most of the world's best observatories. This area provides the perfect conditions on earth to view the universes, the galaxies, including the stars and planets. We had to see Tololo since it is run by the USA and we were not disappointed
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Globebugs
CTIO is located on Cerro Tololo which is a rather long dusty ride either on a bus or by car. The winding road after leaving Vicuna is well worth eating the dust and getting queasy from too many switchback corners!Once there you are given a chance for a 'rest stop' and then escorted throughout this complex. It's all rather impersonal but you are not here for the friendly tour but for the importance and viability of searching the heavens. Security is tight, however we came through our cruise ship so all that was taken care of ahead of the tour. If visiting from a cruise ship try and book this tour asap when tours go on sale - it sold out in a matter of days and very few cancelled this very unique excursion. The tour lasts for a couple of hours - the guide shows you how certain equipment works plus explains interesting facts and figures on what they achieve - bit dry for non aficionados though.There are no facilities up here except the rest rooms so bring your own water and snacks for the bus. Free time afterwards allows you to enjoy the endless views over this barren landscape. It can get cool because you are at elevation but the sun is relentless on exposed areas of skin - wear and pack some sunscreen items.We loved it! Come here if you can arrange it.Enjoy your experience!
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DavidWChile
It has some great views from the top, is about two hours from La Serena and has a good tour for visitors. Only during the day though, if you want to actually see through a telescope go to Mamalluca in Vicuna.
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canbelto
Cerro Tololo is one of the world's great astronomical observatories, and as such, for the amateur astronomer or other science lover (what a weird phrase that is!), it would be worth visiting even if there were no facilities for the visitor whatever. That's good, because the visitor facilities that do exist are rather marginal compared to other world-class observatories, e.g. Kitt Peak in the United States. Access is difficult and time-consuming, and there are only a few tourable telescopes (the flagship instrument, part of the "Gemini" system, was not available to us, and apparently isn't to most tourists) and a rather rudimentary visitor center. Quality of your guide may depend on whether the arranger of the tour has "connections" to the place; I would rank our guide in the "very good but not excellent" category, a member of the staff who obviously knew the facility well but did not seem to encourage questions beyond his prepared routine. All of these things are as they should be, in my opinion -- the remoteness is necessary for dark skies, and with limited resources, it's better for the observatory to invest time and manpower in doing the cutting-edge science -- but it's good to be aware of them lest one's expectations for the tour become inflated and the resulting experience disappointing. With appropriately tempered expectations, and enough time to get there and back, the science junkie (I am one) will have a fine time; just don't expect a polished performance.
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AthensBulldawg
We went on an organized tour, which is important for the permits needed to pass through security. The facility is only open to the public either one day a week or one day a month, and the drive is long and arduous if not a local. The professional guide resident at the observatory itself was a practicing astronomer and exceptionally knowledgeable. We were provided supervised access to both of the main observatories and these were truly awesome in dimension and import. We only wish we had been there at night, to see the clear skies on the mountain top. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and was a highlight of our South American trip.The drive is on a dirt road and it is necessary to pass a gated check point, permit required. The road then is long and passes along 2-3 valleys with scrub land with gradual assent until the final climb to the mountain top. When the observatories are first spotted, they seem remote and high. To avoid light pollution, to have dry air, and little dust in this arid locale, the peak is an ideal spot; the entire area is set aside for this purpose, a real commitment of the government to astronomical research. The telescopes and cameras are of course state of the art. The physical dimensions of them and of the observatory structures are amazing. Glad to have had this opportunity. Did I say, "Awesome!!"?
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colincclark
For all the hoops this observatory make you jump through (it is a scientific observatory that is "not focused on tourism" as the guide delighted in telling us many times), including calling in advance, having to go and pick up a permit, hiring your own transport ("We are not focused on tourism!") and then driving up in a slow-moving convoy, this tour was a big let-down. I am sure Spanish speakers might get a lot out of this tour, but English speakers are in a for a crashing disappointment. Even though we were told that we would be given an English speaking guide, it was obvious as soon as we arrived that the guide was making excuses to avoid having to translate anything he told the rest of the group. The Spanish to English ratio was 98% to 2%, and nowhere near a fair 50/50. His English was fine, as we found out when talking to him face to face whenever we got the chance, and I initially thought it was a confidence issue. However, pretty soon I figured out he just could not be bothered to translate anything into English, just a sentence or two which was really a waste of our time and his. Even the movie at the end was solely in Spanish, with no subtitles, so be prepared to leave unsatisfied - even though they tell you they will give you an English speaking guide. I would have preferred it if they would have either provided English speaking tours on their own, or told us up front they will not be speaking English at all, as we felt like a burden to the guide. It was an uncomfortable atmosphere to ask him to speak English continuously as we were the only ones there in a group of 20 or so people who were not Spanish speakers (but even so, would expect a full translation as promised). A big shame.The tour showed us two telescopes, one smaller and one, the biggest, the more interesting one used for the Dark Energy project to explore why the universe is expanding at an increasing speed. This was pretty much all we got from the guide.It was not difficult to get to if you have a car rental, and the drive up was easy even though they kept saying beforehand it would be difficult. It might not be worth it if you do not do your own research before you go, when they are so "not focused on tourism". But if you DO go, it should be a unique experience anyway as you won't get to see this stuff anywhere else.
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LisaW82
I went here for work, but imagine it would also be a great tourist spot. The views are great and I was excited to also see some wildlife including a condor soaring around the telescopes and some local foxes. On a clear day you can see to the ocean during the day and the view of the Milky Way at night is truly awe inspiring!
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Ingservtur
En el Observatorio Cerro Tololo, puedes disfrutar de una experiencia astronómica muy buena. aprenderás sobre como funcionan los telescopios científicos y como se realizan las investigaciones. Muy buenos guías.
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dayanab2015
Hice una visita al lugar en 2011 con un tour y este año quisimos ir de nuevo, aunque la información que encontré on line era confusa. En la hotería donde estábamos tampoco supieron informarnos concretamente cómo era el asunto, pero nos sugirieron que fuésemos a la oficina de turismo de Vicuña para un tour que sale desde allí. Fuimos y estaba cerrado. Fuimos al observatorio directamente y nos dijeron que la visita había comenzado a las 9 pm y no permiten el ingreso después de esa hora y que sólo reciben gente con reserva. Así que no pudimos hacer nada. Consejo: reserven y hagan todas las preguntas que tengan a los mails de contacto porque la información no está disponible en la web.La visita dura varias horas y van a tener una explicación completa. En noche de luna van a poder sacar fotos mediante el telescopio, pero para observar las constelaciones es mejor que vayan en una noche cerrada.
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CeciliaGarrido
Muy interesante visita y es gratis los guías muy amables y didácticos el paisaje hermoso. Fue Impresionante ingresar alas cúpulas donde se encuentran los telescopios.
