Description: Both among the strangest spots on Earth, the collision of the Atatcama Desert with the Andean high Plateau produced the odd sites described in this journal. The El Tatio Geysers for sure enter this category of sites. Located 90 kilometers from San Pedro de Atatcama, this park offers some 80 active geysers. However, there is a catch. They are 4300 meters above sea level – meaning those who are not
acclimatized would feel the altitude; moreover, the eruptions are low – just a few centimeters – except right after sunrise. That time of the day at that altitude means freezing temperatures. All this freezing sacrifice for watching just hot water? I had an electric kettle in my hotel room!
Yet, the statistics of the site are impressive. The geysers originate on nine large fumaroles, and feature four major geysers, which can reach an altitude of eight meters (but only after sunrise, otherwise the average is well below the meter). The site is the largest of its type in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world, after Yellowstone, in the USA, and Dolina Giezerov in Russia.
In this case, the best option for reaching the site is the half-day tours arranged from San Pedro de Atacama. The tours leave at the bitter cold hour of 4 AM, and return slightly after noon, with a breakfast included on the geysers field. The hours and altitude changes involved in the trip mean one should bring light and warm clothes, especially during the cold months. A small detour to the village of Machuca adds a bit of human warmth to the experience, but adds nothing tçof value to the experience. While in the geysers site, the bravest can bath in a small pool of geyser waters. However hot, they can’t protect from the cold at the exit.
Columns of steam condense in the cold morning air and return to their boiling origins. Bubbling waters surrounded by bubbling mud. No less impressive than the geysers are the rock formations, the patina on them, and the sights of almost boiling mud. The last means that the marked paths are to be followed strictly; a boot crashing a thin crust of dried mud and landing on the boiling bowels of earth is not the best way of ending such a trip.
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