Stargazing in Vicuna
Of Irish and Basque decent, Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a Chilean writer of the 19th century. I've yet to visit a Chilean town without a street commemorating this man.
However, the town of Vicuña was not named after Mackenna, but after the Chilean colonel Joaquín Vicuña Larraín, who founded the town in the early 19th century to secure Chilean dominance over the valley.
Meanwhile, of course, vicunas are South American camelids.
Vicuña is a pleasant little town smack in the middle of the Valle Elqui, surrounded by gorgeous mountains and, even in winter, enjoying a lovely warm climate. Besides the nearby CAPEL pisco distillery, visitors come to see the stars or the sun at one of the nearby observatories. When it's not too cloudy.