57. Star gazing

There is something about stars that just makes you feel content. It is as if looking at them makes the world a perfect place. We don’t often take the time to stare at those little diamonds but in Sutherland it is one of the main attractions. Sutherland is a little town in the middle of nowhere that is known for SALT, the South African Large Telescope. In the coldest place of South Africa (this is not a joke unfortunately LOL) and you can do a bit of star gazing in the evening with a telescope. The sky is clear 80% of the time and due to zero light pollution you can truly enjoy the diamonds of the southern hemisphere.

During the day we visit SALT. It is almost a private tour as we are only four people. In total there are about 12 telescopes here but we only get to have a peak into the biggest one. We get to enter and see the gigantic telescope from close by. Apparently there is more to see in the southern hemisphere than in the northern one, so all year round astronomists from different countries spend their days in bed here and their nights studying the sky. Hence why we don’t see anybody else than a couple of technicians.

The German telescope aka The Barn

When temperatures have well dropped below 5 degrees, we prepare ourselves to do a bit of stargazing ourselves. My outfit consists of 2 pair of socks, one of them being my Monika socks (knitted by Monika and ultra warm), a top, a t-shirt, my black jacket, my red jacket and Kosta’s hoody. Of course I am wearing my scarf and an extra neck warmer thing. Kosta just walks around with a blanket. : )  Spending an evening looking through a telescope is great. What appears to be a star in the sky when you look at it with the naked eye, is in fact the planet Saturn surrounded by its rings. We are able to see the different colours of the stars, we see clouds of stars and Mars. Although it is cold we are really enjoying our evening. When temperature feels like it is heading towards zero we climb into our bed. Me, I don’t even bother in changing into my pyjamas. When we wake up the next morning we have, for the second time on our trip through Africa, frost on the car. Told you this was the coldest place of South Africa!

Romantic star gazing LOL