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The El Tatio Geysers in the north of Chile are a unique spot in the Atacama, the driest desert in the world. Photo by dennis_fidalgo on Flickr.
The El Tatio Geysers are one of the most exciting, unique and photogenic spots in the north of Chile. They are visited from the small desert outpost town of San Pedro de Atacama, the seat of tourism for Chile’s part of the Atacama desert, the driest in the world. The village is small and easily walkable, and is a great jumping-off point for visits to the El Tatio geysers, the Valle de La Luna (moon valley), salt lakes (where you can see flamingos) and hot springs.
Geysers, and the nearby fumaroles are a product of specific geological conditions, mainly the presence of magma, water and conduits to the earth’s surface. There are only 1,000 geysers in the world, most of which are in North America. Geysers are named for a an erupting volcanic spring in Iceland called geysir, originally coming from a word that means “to gush.”
The geyser field at El Tatio is one of the highest in the world, at 4300 meters (more than 14,000 feet) above sea level. As the atmospheric temperatures rise from the frigid early morning temperatures, the smoking geysers bubble and spit, though most of the show is steam, much of the water “fountains” will not exceed a few feet in height. There are more than 70 geysers, and hundreds of fumaroles, in low temperatures, are ringed with ice in the bluish pre-dawn morning light. As the light intensifies, you can see the various colors that ring the fumaroles and geysers, minerals deposits have formed around them over time.
Tours generally leave for El Tatio in the week hours of the morning, with most picking up around 4 AM. The geyser field is 95 km (just under 60 miles) from San Pedro de Atacama, up an unlit road in rough shape, which makes taking a tour ideal. Wear your warmest clothing, in layers, as in the low morning temperatures, both on the bus and at the geysers, you’re likely to be cold.
You can shake off some of that cold in a thermal pool not far from the geysers (though not at the geysers themselves, which are far too hot to swim in. Tourists typically take about 20 minutes to take a dip in the pool before bundling back onto the bus for a ride down, stopping at a series of points of interest, where you will see birdlife, vizcachas (a relative of the chinchilla) if you are lucky, and stop in the town of Machuca, where there are often llama-kebabs on offer.
- Eileen Smith
