One of the big attractions out of San Pedro de Atacama is the Geyser del Tatio. You have to see them at sunrise when there are columns of steam coming out of each geyser as it condenses in cold air (the steam plumes disappear as the air warms up). This meant a very early start, we were up at 4:00am to get on the road by 5:00am. As we drove out of town, we passed poor, sad looking back-packers waiting for their tourist buses to pick them up. It was mighty cold.
And once again, we headed up into the higher Andes, as the Geysers are at 4,320 metres. It is among the highest-elevation geyser fields in the world with over 80 active geysers, making it the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world.
The whole trip there was in the dark, along windy, dirt roads and some hair pin corners – and one very unsettling and unexpected river crossing that came up out of nowhere. We were lucky not to smash the car into rocks.
One of the things we heard, was that it was damn cold up there! Luckily we had all our ski gear with us and were prepared. Michelle, ever the one to feel the cold, had : singlet top, long-sleeve thermal, jumper, turtle neck jumper, pink down ski jacket, white ski jacket, jeans, ski pants, neck warmer, ski gloves and beanie … and still cold! Not “get me the bleep…bleep out of here” cold but “jumping on the spot to keep warm” cold. We reckon it must have been at least minus 10 degrees celsius because we don’t feel that cold when we go skiing. …
The geyser field was spread out over a couple of kilometres and there were many plumes of steam rising out of the ground. It was really beautiful as the vista changed as the sun rose over the mountains.
Geyser del Tatio September 2016 from Trevor Angst on Vimeo.
The road home was a revelation as it was really beautiful – all the things we couldn’t see in the dark.
