Our First Excursion: Los Geysers del Tatio

Our adventure began by leaving the house at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday. We had read that we needed to be at the geysers by 6:30 a.m. to get the full effect of the steam plumes coming off the geysers before the sun warmed up the air.

As we headed out of town, we were entertained to see a large number of taxis waiting outside the "nightclubs" for clients who were finally ready to go home.

The majority of the drive was on dirt roads and we passed through a couple of colonial-era villages (Chiu Chiu and Caspana) that we'll have to visit in the future.

As we climbed in elevation and daylight began to break we were rewarded with beautiful scenery although barren.

Upon arrival at the geysers at 14,173 ft. (the highest geysers in the world!) at 6:30 a.m., there were already a few others there. I couldn't help but think that if we were in the U.S. there would be a crowd of folks. It was cold (no wind though) and quiet and relaxing to walk through the steam plumes and listen to the boiling, bubbling pools.

The geysers are quite the tourist draw so as the morning continued, more and more small tour buses arrived. The people would take off to enjoy the geysers and the drivers would set up a table with pastries, etc., and have water heated for coffee and tea. Very nice to return to, we imagined, after walking around the geysers as it was chilly.

There is a hot springs pool at the site that a lot of people were enjoying -- not us.

We walked a ways and encountered some interesting looking cactus and then a small herd of vicunas, the llama's wild cousin. Larry heard them before seeing them. They seemed as curious about us as we did them. Those pictures didn't turn out as well but I'll include one we took on our way to San Pedro de Atacama -- where most of the folks who were at the geysers came from.

That is an active volcano in the background and it isn't snow on top -- it is steam.

We saw one of these little fellows when we were at the geysers and some people told us they were called "chincilly" (at least that is what we heard) and we spotted this guy as we were heading down to San Pedro -- he posed!

San Pedro de Atacama sits in the region that was the principle center of the Atacamanian Indian culture and is also a tourist draw due to the "bizarre land formations, giant sand dunes, jagged canyons, salt pillars, one smoking volcano and it is one of the top stargazing areas in the world. San Pedro's streets are described as "pleasant", "artistic", and with a"bohemian vibe".

Volcano Lincancabur