It's a bird....

It's a bird....

I have been looking at the sky for all my life... Stargazing, checking the weather to go skydiving or glider flying. I never failed to see the many shapes that clouds come in.
The landscape of Holland is famous for its low hanging clouds as the old Dutch masters have painted so often. Holland is flat, no mountains are available to create the beautifully lens-shaped clouds of the Altucumulus Lenticularis family, like in this picture.
Being close to the Andes mountain range in Argentina as I write this, means that I am in the middle of this great Lenticular cloud factory. As the high winds get their wavy flows over and behind the mountains, the clouds form at the top of each wave. Constant winds cause stationary tops in the waves and therefore also stationary clouds: you will see these clouds for hours at the same position in the sky, only changing in shape or slowly dissolving.
Nature plays wonderful tricks in these shapes. One minute the lens in the picture was just that: a simple lens. The next minute it took the form of a dove. I was so lucky to be there and witness this phenomenon. The snowy peaks of the Andes formed the perfect backdrop for this scene.

Rob

Temporary home

Temporary home
Originally uploaded by Rob Millenaar.
The view of the Andes from the spot where I will be setting up the equipment is breathtaking...
It all started with a pleasant drive from San Juan to the El Leoncito location. All of a sudden an Andes vista opened up after passing the pre-Andes mountain range and upon entering the valley. Driving on, I had a view of the highest peak in America: the Aconcagua, just 40 meters short of 7000 meters high.
After passing the nice little town of Barreal I took a left turn heading for the El Leoncita National Park. Driving through lush green parkland you would not have the idea that you are at 2000 meters elevation. After climbing the dirt road I arrived at the CASLEO observatory, where I will live the coming weeks. Later that day I took this photo at the actual site where the measurements will be done. In the middle of a plane with small shrubs, and rimmed by relatively low hills, I will erect the antenna masts and set up the receivers. From there, for almost 180 degrees I have a gorgeous view of the Andes mountain range, including the second highest peak at 6770 meters, the Mercedario.
It will be hard to concentrate on the work at hand with so much impressive scenery around.

Rob

Tango!

PICT4589-1
Originally uploaded by Rob Millenaar.

After arriving in Argentina in the middle of the night I had the opportunity to stroll through Buenos Aires the next day. This is a city with many faces: the old and the new, the rich and the poor, the trafic, the parks with their blooming Jacaranda trees, and most of all the people. In some ways the city made me think of Barcelona.
I went to one of the many Tango and dinner shows and had a very plesant evening, talking to a guy from Puerto Rico and a lady from South Africa. We all enjoyed the show immensely. Naturally I took some pictures. All without flash of course. The flash would freeze up the moment and would kill the mood of the evening. Many photo's were unusable but I harvested quite a few images that do justice to the atmosphere that will forever linger in my mind.
Tomorrow I will continue on my journey to San Juan and then onwards to the site where I will stay for the next couple of weeks.

Rob

Meanwhile in Holland...

front porch
Originally uploaded by Rob Millenaar.

After getting back from Mileura, Fremantle and Perth I plunged into autumn in Holland. This year I skipped most of that colourful season. Now that I'm about to leave for Argentina I realize that I skipped large parts of spring and summer too.
In 2005 I will have travelled for more than 22 weeks and I will have visited 4 continents...
Argentina will be the last site that the reconnaissance team will visit in its quest to find the best place on Earth to locate the large next generation radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array SKA. I have been to the Karoo desert in South Africa, the lush Karst area in China and the outback in Western Australia. In the coming weeks I will add the Argentinean pampa to the list. I'm full of expectations...