Into the Desert, Part III

I remember when my mom started taking us to Naches to what was then Dave's cabin, I was utterly disgusted by the desert hills of Eastern Washington. They were so brown, dead, and ugly, and I had no appreciation for the earth tones contrasting with the clear blue sky. But now, it is official. I love the desert! In Chile on my first week of vacation, I discovered the magic of the desert. It helps that the geography of the land around San Pedro de Atacama is so enchanting. But I will never look at deserts the same way again.

By far the most magical day I spent in the desert was the tour I took up to the El Tatio geyser field. Megan and Luke sat this one out, so I was on my own. I really had to put some effort into this trip, since I was required to get up at 3:30, catch a van at 4:00, and then sit in a freezing, rattling van for two hours as we traversed the roughest road imaginable. I was not impressed, especially when we got to the higher altitudes. I found I had to concentrate on breathing regularly, because if I didn't and forgot to breathe at an even pace I would start gasping for breath at the high altitude. El Tatio's elevation is 4,320 meters, which roughly equals 14,173 feet! Also, that is nearly twice the elevation of San Pedro de Atacama. I felt a little out of sorts as we climbed higher and higher in the van. It was nothing explosive or dramatic, just a little unsettling to the system. However, when we got out at the geyser field, I had to step carefully around piles of vomit from the people who were poorly affected by the altitde.

When we reached the geyser field, it was still dark out and it was freezing. The landscape looked spooky, as it was still dark and the moonlight illuminated the shafts of steam that rose into the air. As the sun began to come up, the landscape was transformed and I was stunned. I have never seen a geyser before (unless you count the geyser at Flaming Geyser State Park in Washington, which I recall as an unimpressive trickle of water that occasionally omitted a bubble or two). There were so many geysers I almost didn't know what to do with myself! There were gesyers that ommitted steam, there were bubbling geysers (and even better, they bubbled at different speeds, so some were bubbling super fast with tiny bubbles, and others were lazily bubbling larger bubbles), there were geysers that exploded water like firework fountains on the Fourth of July, there were geysers that steamed from mounds of earth so that they resembled miniature volcanoes, there were geysers that slowly trickled and illuminated brilliant, mineral-stained earth. I wandered quietly around the field all morning, watching the sun come up and appreciating the changing scenery in the different hues of the morning light.

Geysers are formed, by the way, by water that is heated under the earth by magma. When the water gets hot enough, it explodes out of the ground. The reason we arrived at El Tatio so early is that, not only is it beautiful to see the sun rise up there, but that is when the geyser field is most active. Apparently, as the day drags out, the magma underground does not do its job effectively. My shitty Spanish interpretation skills missed the reason as to why. Pucha!

Me with a geyser that I liked. I was drawn to the short, squat mound. Also, please note, this is the coldest I have ever been. I have on two sweaters, a sweat shirt, long underwear, jeans, two pairs of socks, my parka, a hat, and two hoods, and I was still freezing.

Watching the sunrise and the steam rise.

Cool mineral colors! It looks like a 70's kitchen palette!

I met this cute couple, Jose and Elisabeth, who kept offering to take my picture at various sites.
A little, bubbling geyser.

Pretty! I like the blue tones of this photo.





The sun illuminating the steam from the geysers.

This geyser was awesome. It would be silent for minutes at a time, and then all of a sudden it would start exploding hot water. You can't really tell from the picture but the spray of water looked like a firework fountain. Then, everything would get really steamy. It was rad. I stayed here for a long time, watching other tourists get surprised by the eruptions.


There was a thermal bath where you could take a dip. I love swimming, but I would have to be nuts to strip down to my swimsuit in that cold! However, I did dip my hand into the water, and it was nice. I just didn't want to fuss with being cold and wet after the fact. I know, boring, but I was happy with my choice. I used the extra time to wander among the geysers some more.


After sufficient time at the geyser field, we started the long trail back down to San Pedro. Along the way, we spotted many vicuñas, which are a camelid related to the llama. They kind of look like llamas, but smaller. They have the same long neck, but their faces look a little more goat-like. Our van didn't stop, so I don't have pictures, and all I kept thinking is how I would be letting my shutter-happy mom down if I didn't have a picture of a vicuña. Apparently, they are an endangered species!

We stopped to peek at this strange plant. It looked like lichen, but it was hard and it felt kind of like the scales of a lizard. After you touched it, your hands smelled like pine. Apparently, Bolivians use it in their stoves.

As we got closer to San Pedro, our van stopped in the town of Machuca, where we could buy snacks at a little shop on the corner of town. I ate a cheese empanada, and, best of all, llama shishkebab! The llama was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Seriously. I think I will be fantasizing about that meat for the rest of my life. It was so delicious, seasoned to perfection. I ate two sticks full, and as I was waiting for my second one to come off the grill, I was chatting with the cook about what seasonings he uses, if you can buy llama in the stores (you can't), where he keeps his llamas, etc. He told me everyone calls llama "carne lite" because it doesn't have any fat and is low in cholesterol. Oh man! It was soooo good. The meat was so tender, the onions sweet! Because I chatted with him for so long and built up a rapport, the cook gave me an extra-loaded stick, which I can't even say I savored because I gobbled it up pretty fast! Yummy!

Llama shishkebab, which in Chile is called Anticucho de Llamo.


I think this was the best tour I took in San Pedro. I would do it again!