The Tatio Geysers. Day 4.

Our last full day in Atacama started at an unholy hour {What is it about Chile and having to be up before the sun rises???}.  We threw the girls into the van still in their pajamas for the 2nd time in a week.  It was 5:30 am and we were on the road to the Tatio Geysers.

Located about 100 km north of San Pedro de Atacama, we were in for a ride of a bit over an hour and a half to get to the site in time to see the sun rise.  But it was Friday the 13th...nothing was going to go as planned...

We got about 20 miles out of town and our van broke down.  It just stopped running.  Good thing there was a van from our hotel just ahead of us and they could turn around and see if it was a simple problem that could be fixed on the fly.  It was not.  So we all sat (the other van stayed with us even though we insisted they keep going) until another van could come get us...about 20 minutes.  And then we were all on our way again.  But we were a bit behind.

About 45 minutes later, as we were slowly winding our way up to 14,200 feet {oh so slowly as none of the roads are paved}, I was starting to feel a bit out of it.  Not motion sickness, not short of breath, but a great stabbing pain in my left lung.  It was pretty intense and the climbing and swaying back and forth over pot hole after pot hole was not helping.  The pain in my lung was literally taking my breath away - and then we were there...pain be darned - this was beautiful and I sucked it up (literally) and just tried to enjoy.

The sun hasn't even peeked up yet over those mountains.

It is a hard picture to take with the below freezing temps and the steam boiling out of the ground.

The water is boiling right out of the ground.

The geothermic field is linked to the vocanic activity in the area.  The huge columns of steam that come out of the ground can reach heights of over 40 feet.  With almost 80 active geysers in the area it is the 3rd largest field behind Yellowstone and the geothermic field in Russia.  

Most of the areas you find water, you don't want to touch it.  It runs about 100C (210F) and will burn you at the simplest touch.

But, there is a "pool" that is a bit more temperate that you can swim in.  Personally, I can not fathom getting in...Maybe, it's the fact that I can not fathom getting out.  I cannot go from hot tub water to sub zero temperatures.  I do not do cold well.  I do not do dramatic temperature changes well at all.

By now the sun had risen a bit but it was still cold.  And I finally convinced the girls that hat and mittens might be ok.  Heck, I was going to wear theirs if they weren't.

We walked around a bit, wandered to and fro and even sang some songs with our guides.  Because if you remember, we were in a van that broke down earlier.  Well, in said van, was our breakfast.  Which somehow didn't get transferred to our new van when it arrived.  So we were waiting a bit for our meal to arrive {Have I said it was Friday the 13th yet?}  But when it arrived, the girls dug in...while shivering...sitting awkwardly on the seats in the van.  We tried to get them to a more comfortable spot, but they were having none of it.

The rest of us had a fabulous breakfast in nature and then stumbled upon these wild Vicuñas!  Seemingly, they stood there, right next to us, posing for pictures.  I think the reality was that they were trying to blend into their surroundings and pretended that we didn't see them.

Since we were up early we were back in time for lunch, a dip in the pool and then a nap.  While everyone else napped, I put together our bike trailer (about 2 minutes) and when everyone was awake, we were off on a tour of the town of San Pedro.  It is a very quaint little town with a market, no paved roads and so much charm it almost seems planned. I was still not feeling 100% so still not too many pictures but here they are...

The market.

So many name brands too...

Heading home...