Day 5 – Tatio Geysers

At 4:20am, we climbed aboard a mini van and were on our way to the Tatio Geysers. Tours leave this early so that the groups arrive at sunrise. The steam from the geysers is also much greater in the early morning hours due to the cold air. The van had no heating and the windows were iced over on the inside. In addition to the freezing temperature, the road to the geysers should not be called a “road”…it was a 2 hour 4WD adventure over incredibly bumpy terrain that made sleep impossible.

We arrived at the Tatio Geysers around 6:30am at an altitude of 14,000 ft. It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit. The geysers were impressive, and the fact that you could walk anywhere at your own risk was just too funny. There was only one small semi-circle of little rocks denoting the main geysers which blew every 7 minutes. Other than that you could accidentally be standing over a geysers and not know until it was too late. The steam was so thick that at times, I lost my guide and Matt, so I just blindly walked through the steam hoping to run into my group. Sunrise was really beautiful though. We had a simple breakfast of bread and jam and cookies and then headed off.

Next stop was the Rio de Aguas Calientes…the river of hot water. The river was down a steep gorge. On the banks were these funky animals that looked like a cross between a rabbit, mouse and kangaroo. Everyone in our group had decided to soak in the river. Matt and I decided not to swim and opted to take more photos. Everyone crossed the river safely. I was the last to cross. I swear I thought I was stepping on a flat rock, but unfortunately, it was a floating piece of sludge and into the river I plunged…camera gear, clothes, jacket, boots and all! After hearing the loud splash behind him, Matt reached in to save my camera bag and yanked it off over my head. It felt like an eternity floundering in the water, but all I cared about was the gear. My camera bag had been fully submerged underneath me. With the bag out of the river, our guide and Matt pulled me from the river onto the shore. With all the adrenalin combined with the altitude, I got super shaky and they just laid me down on the shore while they tried to get all the layers of wet clothes off of me. Everyone else in the group was really helpful, offering me dry clothes.

Matt got all my wet clothes and laid them on the rocks to dry. In only my panties and a shirt, my guide brought me to a section of the river to soak so that I could get warmed up in the hot river. Now here’s the miraculous part….the camera bag did its job of being water resistant and everything inside was dry! I was so happy and thankful.

After everyone was done soaking in the river, Matt gave me his thermals to wear and my guide gave me his sweater. My boots were soaking wet, but at least I had some dry clothes. So much for not wanting to go swimming.

Next stop was the village of Machuga. The pueblo had llamas running all around and llama kabobs on the BBQ. I was quite fashionable walking around in Matt’s thermal pants.

Last stop was the cactus forest. Matt stayed behind to rest. The sun was really harsh and he was feeling the altitude. I just wandered away from the group at a certain point and took my photos. It was nice to have some quiet time.

We returned to San Pedro around 1:30. We had booked a sunset trip which was to leave at 2:30, but we had to cancel it, forfeiting half the money. Since we were leaving for Bolivia the next day, I had to get my boots dry, clothes washed, and most importantly my fleece and outer jacket clean and dry. Everything smelled like sulfur and was covered in black sludge. With Matt’s help, I got everything washed in the tub and hung to dry. For the remainder of the afternoon, we just hung out waiting for things to dry. Fortunately San Pedro is incredibly dry (one of the driest places on planet earth), so by the evening, the intense sun had everything dry, including my fleece jacket!