Tatio Geysers!

Oh hi! After booking our trip with highly recommended Cactus travel, all we had to do was get up in time to ready ourselves for the 4:30 am bus pick up from our hostel. It was incredibly cold in our room alone. We were both sleeping in some of our clothes...even Wiji was cold, and that is really saying something! Our bed had actual fleece blankets and pillow cases which was certainly needed. Not so ideal was the cold tiled floor that kept us nicely refrigerated and our feet totally numb! Never the less we first got undressed so that we could first put our swimming stuff, thinking that taking a dip in the thermally heated geyser pool was still something we would like to do.

Our bus was late, giving us the chance to really appreciate just how cold it was whilst waiting outside, so by the time it had arrived our legs were numb too. On the bus our guide Paolo advised us that it would be good for us to sleep for the next hour and a half of the journey, shame then that is was totally off road and impossible to do so...we did however, individually pretend to! Lol.

When we arrived we had to pay the park entrance in the tiny mud brick office. This had a bar heater in it, that was such a welcome relief!

We made our way across the park area, this is one of the first shots when it was just becoming light. Apparently the geysers are most active in the very early morning because of the difference between the ambient and internal temperatures is greatest. It was quite an eerie experience at 6am in the morning. It was the coldest we had ever been, totally silent and deserted.


The water was bubbling, but boiling at a lower temperature of 80 degrees centigrade because of the altitude. We had travelled up to 4600m. The highest we had been so far on our trip.


The glow of the imminent sunrise on the horizon.




This pool has a ring of stones around it outside of the trail markings and the word 'NO' written twice in stones. Paolo told us the horrific cautionary tail, that it was here that four people died falling into this geyser. The first person strayed off the path and then fell in, falling through a thin top crust that that was covering a deeper much hotter pool underneath. I guess the other people went to assist him...The paths were clearly marked and had semi-circle brick viewing boundries too.




Wiji went for a run around the car park...he was still cold! The sun still wasn't up yet.


Looking across part of the geyser field, with a raised viewing area on the left.


A small running steam of bubbling water with frost on either side of the ground. Nelson, the driver, put a carton of milk in it to heat it up for our coffee.


Wiji checks out the thermal pool that we can swim in...Mmmm, the group all agree to have the breakfast first!


Whilst Paolo had been walking us around the trail, Nelson had set up a breakfast table for us! We were really pleased and tucked into the bread, cheese, cakes and coffee with the rest of the group.


Looking in the opposite direction to the geyser field.


And yes, after breakfast there was nothing for it but to strip off (this did seem very wrong considering it was -12 degrees centigrade!) But hey we had both been looking forward to this and after frantically whipping our clothes off we hopped across the frosty gravel and eased ourselves into the thermal pool...it was fantastic!


We were loving it! It wasn't very deep so you had to float really, and the bottom was very gritty and sometimes very hot in places!


I loved it!


We can't remember what Wiji was doing here!?


Paolo kindly took these photo's of us and Nelson came over to laugh and shout 'Loco!'...in a nice way though!


This is a great shot of one member of the group who opted not to get in, shuffling stiffly along the edge of the pool. No one else was around except our group of nine people, it was a really tranquil experience...


That is until later, when we were still in the water and another group turned up to gawp at us. It was then that the spell was broken and we realised that we would have to get out sooner or later. Getting out entailed picking my travel towel off the gravel edge to find that part of it was frozen solid! LOL! Getting dressed quickly wasn't a problem though! We actually felt much, much warmer for it, and generally very pleased that we had done it! After we had dressed the sun came up too and this had an instant positive effect.

Catching sight on the other side of the geyser field a small numer of Vicuna's. These are related to Llama's and Alpachas. They are much prized for their superior and very fine wool and consiquently are endangered.


Paolo walked us over to the second geyser fields where the geysers were larger and more varied.

A very active raised geyser of mineral deposits.


A closer look at the surface reveals the markings of running water that had carried the mineral deposits.




The frozen ground and rising steam from a crater.


'Moy differente!' A big bubbling very deep mud geyser. This one threw mud out with some very pleasing noises!


Our shadows and my waving hand over the steam from the mountinous mud geyser.




An incredible sight!


Colourful mineral deposits.


Water being thrown out of this geyser with building force.






A small hydro elecric experiment left over from the 1950s when the government were considering building a plant but decided they didn't have the cash. In the last couple of weeks however, the go ahead has been given to create a plant some 5km's up the hill from the geeezer field even though it has been met by opposition from locals and environmentalists.




The textures were facinating...




Molars.


The brightness of the sun and steam created some strong contrasts.


Each geyser has a set span of time between each eruption. This one was approximately 9 minutes and was very explosive building to a high splutter of water and steam in all directions.




I loved the small scale geysers and their textures.


Looking back at the second geyser field.






Wiji and our guide Paolo who was very chilled.


Oh god yeah...still wrapped up like a sausage!




Here's a video of a selection of the geysers with sound.


After our walk around the two geyser fields we got back in the minibus and headed off across the desert. Wiji was instantly asleep.




We went off road down an icy track by this lake to get a closer look at some wild water foul.




It wasn't long before the wheels were spinning and we were stuck in the ice. We all got out to have a a gander. All the birds had gone by now!


We were all asked to push the minibus and had several unsucessful attempts at this. Nelson really span the wheels and soaked Paolo with frozen muddy water...then after a few more goes Wiji got totally soaked too. The women sensibly went off to get rocks to put under the back wheels and once we had enough of them under the back wheels this provided enough traction to get out. 'Stop revving it Nelson!'

It was blindingly beautiful.




Everyone went to skate off on the frozen lake...but not me...no, I'll wait here.


Wiji loved it!


I was much more cautious (can't think why?!). 'If you break your foot again, your going home!' Lol.


After the group had wandered about on the frozen lake for a bit we all got back in the minibus and in no time, to our surprise, joined the main road. We thought that we were in the middle of nowhere (well we were, kinda) but then why drive down the ice track?..Doh!!!

Paolo and Nelson soon redeemed themselves by stopping quickly for us to get out an have a look at these very quick and superbly well camouflaged rabbits. They had fur and long curly tails like chinchillas. The colour of their coats blended in so well with the landscape.


They were very hard to spot as well as photograph.


Seeing us they ran up the mountain side and then sat looking back at us!




Back in the minibus again...along the way I finally spotted some Vicuna's at closer range.


Our next stop was at a small isolated community that welcomed visitors. Paolo told us that only 40 people lived there.




A typical house complete with roof top solar panel.


Of course the village had a church on a hill.


Some more unusual accommodation...or maybe storage.


The small village had its fare share of tiny legged doggies.


The communal kitchen was open for freshly made delicious cheese empanadas. Wiji felt it was the perfect opportunity to sample a Llama kebab...he loved it!


Especially for Michael and Laura we found the Chilean version of Fred! He was super friendly because we had food...how familiar does that sound?!


Looking down the road and out of the village.


He was straight on my lap for a stroke. His fur was a mass of knots, possibly better for keeping him warm. In the background are the rest of the kebab eaters. Nelson joked that we could eat the cat too.


Outside the village we stopped to have a closer look at what everyone was eating...the Llama's, on the frozen pasture. Apparently they only eat the males.


Lots of them had their ears decorated with pom-poms. They looked so well suited to this hostile landscape.


And off again in the minibus...we were really loving this trip because we couldn't have got around and seen so much on our own, and the group was very chilled.

Our next stop was a protected cactus forest on a mountainside.


Here Paolo showed us a variety of plants used as herbal remedies.


Oh hi!


Following a stream through the pampas grass.


Incredible!






And that was the final stop. We then headed back to San Pedro de Atacama for lunchtime...we could not believe that we had seen so much! It was a fantastic trip.