Margaux Rhymes with Fargo

And no, the zoo doesn’t count as seeing real penguins. Neither does a penguin statue. So, here ya go:

I was in Chile in November for two weeks, ostensibly for work doing telescope-related things. And by work, I mean accidentally getting high on isopropanol fumes while cleaning tools because altitude is hard. But also real work, like measuring things and arts and crafts and taking pictures of wildlife.

On the bright side, two weeks in Chile means there’s a weekend in the middle there, hence the penguins. And some other fun creatures, like nose-hole turkey vultures and confused-looking guanacos (closely related to llamas) and a few different types of cormorant birds all classily hanging out on their own poop. Kudos to my coworker for most of these pictures, he’s much more into photography than me. (Hence the picture-of-guys-taking-pictures-of-lizards meta picture above.)

As annoying as it is to get there (I’m looking at you, 2-hour Santiago customs line following 11 hours on a delayed plane), at least telescopes are built in pretty places. Until next time, adios.