Friday, January 28, our second whole day of being in San Pedro de Atacama. Today was about one thing and one thing only – venturing out to see the spectacular Geysers del Tatio. According to most, these geysers are the highest geothermal field in the world, at an altitude of 4300 meters or around 14,000 feet.
The process of getting there was a rather arduous one. We had booked our tour through Altiplano Aventuras, the same company (and tour guide – this is Waldo Round 2) that took us to the Valle de la Luna. And so Waldo met us at our hostel at 4:00 in the morning. Why so frackin’ early? Because apparently the geysers are at their best when the dawning sun is just starting to heat up the earth. Ergo, we have to get there at dawn, which needs to take into account the hour and a half to get there. So we were picked up actually at around 4:20 (which is 4:00 Chilean time) and ventured off in the darkness with Waldo and driver Carlos at the helm.
A majority of the ride, which was a slow crawling ascent to the geysers, was on a choppy, bumpy road that made our rickety van chirp and shudder and rattle like the true jalopy it was, making it difficult to rest one’s head on the window and try to get some sleep, lest you wanted to sleep the concussion way. But finally, we made it to the geyser site. Now, we could all feel the windows getting colder and colder on our way up, but in San Pedro, a fleece and a long sleeve shirt sufficed for the chilly air in the morning. Once we got out of the van, however, we were told now that we were at 0 degrees Celsius. FREEZING. Fleece and long sleeves… we might as well have been dressed for the beach (hint – foreshadowing. Oh yes.). It was unbearably, unforgivingly cold. Waldo decided to give Kelli his jacket and gloves, which helped a little, while I braved losing my hands to the cold and my teeth to the incessant chattering. Oh by the way – Kelli was also wearing flip-flops. We were definitely not prepared! But we did get some breakfast on arrival, which included some hot coffee and mate de coca, which helped some to warm the soul (at least).
Our tour of the geysers began as the sun was starting to peek over the mountain range, slowly lighting and warming the area. Despite the cold, the geyser field was truly a sight to behold. Imagine multiple sinuous columns of smoke fuming from the ground, surrounded by some really cool snow-capped mountain peaks! It was totally out of this world.
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| Sunrise over the geysers |
We passed the time there by strolling around the columns and peering into the geysers themselves, which are not like the ones from Yellowstone that shoot to the sky but these mainly gurgle and sputter, but are nonetheless fascinating. Waldo led us around, telling us all about the natural history of the geysers and the area, as well as the mineral content and thin nature of the surface. The smoke was occasionally warming as well, which was much appreciated!
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| Waldo and Kelli talkin' geysers |
Finally, at the end of our stroll, we came upon a small pool of water with people swimming in it. Let me say that again. People were in their bathing suits in zero-degree weather swimming in this pool. Now that part itself is not the most crazy thing about this – as you probably guessed, this was a thermal pool filled with hot water. What was crazy about this is that people had to
change out of their winter weather gear and put on a bathing suit outside in the freezing weather. Waldo offered us all the chance to swim in the water, and at first, Kelli and I said no way – after shivering and freezing all morning, we now had to strip and put on a bathing suit??! But, as the realization that we’re only in Chile once dawned on us, we decided, what the heck. And so, courageously, we changed into our bathing suit – Kelli had hers on underneath her jeans, but I had to covertly change in the back of our van, which was easier said than done. Then, we had to traverse the terrain, wearing nothing but our bathing suits in freezing weather, and we hopped in the pool. And let me say with no concealment of enthusiasm that that water felt GOOOOOOD. We could feel ourselves thawing instantly.
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| Kelli in the thermal pool - I soon followed suit. Surprised this pic is not completely blurry, seeing as I was practically flailing with shivers. |
After spending some quality 20 minutes in the pool, we came across another dilemma – we had to get out of the pool. So, after steeling ourselves, we hoisted ourselves out of the pool into the frigid air, convulsing all the way to our cold, paper thin towels. And because it wouldn’t be smart to remain in a bathing suit, we decided to change back. Now there were people all around us just throwing off their bathing suits right then and there, and we certainly got an unwanted eyeful of some National Geographic nudity. We decided to take a more discrete approach, with Kelli changing behind a wall and me changing in between the van and its open passenger door (couldn’t change inside the van because Carlos didn’t want me to track water into the van). And with that, we decided to take our leave of the Geysers.
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| Flamingos! |
Our van churned and rumbled around the surrounding countryside, before encountering a lake and some accompanying streams, with flamingos scattered about. There were all sorts of flamingos – Andean flamingos, Chilean flamingos, James flamingos, all distinguished by their color and markings. Waldo was very knowledgable about these flamingos and how they eat tiny crustaceans that over time are converted to minerals in the body which give them their progressively pink or orange color.
The lake setting was quite beautiful, with looming snow-capped mountains all around.
It was at this point that we decided to teach Waldo a little bit about Alabama culture:
All in all, the flamingos were cool, but probably were much cooler to those from places where they don’t get to see flamingos – after all, having been to the Birmingham Zoo several times as a kid where you are practically greeted by the flamingo exhibit at the entrance, you kinda get familiar with them. So having gotten our fill of flamingos, we all piled into our van to head off. And as our van ricketed across some cliffsides, we got views of passing herds of vicuñas (llama-like animals) and sheep.
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| Gathering of vicuñas |
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| Baaaaaaaaa. |
Now, keep in mind that we are in the mountains, which naturally involves rather steep hills. Also keep in mind that our van has the heart of a POS. Van, meet hill. Rather, van, churn your engine and spin your gears trying to climb the hill. At this point of our journey, we encountered one hill that our van just didn’t like. And so, when Carlos stepped on the gas, the van didn’t budge despite all the noise it made. Furthermore, when Carlos let up on the gas, the van would fall backwards. Even furthermore, when the van would fall backwards, it would get closer and closer to the edge of a cliff of some height and a very unforgiving terrain at the bottom. Kelli and I saw our lives flashing before our eyes. It was no consolation when Waldo got out of the van and put a rock behind each of the back wheels to prevent it from plummeting off the cliff. Surely one passenger shifting in his seat would dislodge the van from the rock and allow it to continue its descent. Finally, after realizing that the van was almost heading for certain doom, they let us out of the van. Thank goodness.
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| The evacuation. |
Oh wait; now that everyone is out, the van is able to climb the hill, leaving us at the bottom. So now all we have to do is walk up the steep hill to meet the van. Easy, right? Well, imagine the out-of-breath feeling you got the last time you walked up a steep hill. Now imagine doing the same hill with no oxygen. As Kelli was already suffering from altitude woes, this walk practically did her in, and I definitely felt a bit woozy during the climb. In sum, it was pretty miserable. We finally made it to the van (now – Thank goodness!) and re-boarded, with no further hill problems after that.
Our final stop on our tour was a small village of Machuca, where there were empanadas and meat kabobs for sale…
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| Machuca |
…along with an old church that had a quaint charm.
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| View of the town from the church |
So after chowing down on some cheese empanadas, we finally headed back to San Pedro to end our 8 hour tour. It was exhausting, and definitely had some unexpected turns for the worse, but overall it was certainly worth it to see some of the most spectacular scenery that the region had to offer. And let’s not forget the opportunity well taken to impart the Roll Tide gospel to our South American friends! The rest of our day was filled with more meals of the menú del día and some loafing around the town. Most notably we found an ice cream place called Babalu that serves amazing home-made ice cream - including flavors like Tres Leches!
