Macports is a free/open source package management system that simplifies the installation of other free/open source software referred to as ports. Macports installs itself and its ports in /opt/local. Activating a port places links to the port software in the expected location on the drive wherever that may be. Due to the fact that Mac Os X already comes with its own version of Python (which can change without warning during a software update to the OS) installing SunPy and its dependencies can be a challenge. Macports provides a good solution to this problem. This tutorial follows the one provided by Thomas Robitaille (astrofrog on Github).
Before you start you'll need to install Xcode which is the freely available developer environment provided by Apple. You can find it in the Mac App Store. Just a warning, it is a rather large download but provides compilers which are necessary for Macpor