Chile Guide
El Norte Grande
The Tatio geysers
Getting to the TATIO GEYSERS, 95km north of San Pedro, is quite an ordeal: first, you drag yourself out of bed in the dead of night, with no electric lights to see by; you then stand shivering in the street while you wait for your tour company to come and pick you up at around 4am; and finally, you embark on a three-hour journey across a rough, bumpy road. Added to this is the somewhat surreal experience of finding yourself in a pre-dawn rush hour, part of a caravan of minibuses following each other's lights across the desert.
But hardly anyone who makes the trip regrets it. At 4300m above sea level, El Tatio is the highest geothermal field in the world. It's essentially a large, flat field containing countless blowholes full of bubbling water that, between around 6 and 8am, send billowing clouds of steam high into the air (strictly speaking, though, geysers spurt water, not steam). At the same time, the spray forms pools of water on the ground, streaked with silver reflections as they catch the first rays of the sun. It's really a magnificent spectacle. Take great care, however, when walking around the field; the crust of earth is very thin in some parts, and serious accidents can happen. You should also remember that it will be freezing cold when you arrive, though once the sun's out the place warms up quite quickly.
There's a swimming pool near the geysers, visited by most tour companies, so remember to take your bathing suit. On the way back, some tour companies also pay a visit to the Baños de Puritama (CH$5000), a rocky pool filled with warm thermal water, 60km south of the geysers and run by a local community but owned and maintained by the Hotel Explora.