An unusual and fascinating morning in the altiplano
If you stay at San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile for around 2-3 days, you will be more acclimatised to the altitude and so we highly recommend a visit up to the geysers of El Tatio. Being at 4312m, you really feel the altitude here.



The geysers
The highlight of the trip is, of course, the geyser field. Up in these cold, often icy mountains is a large area of land where the earth’s crust is thin and jets of steam and hot water are thrown forcibly out into the chilly air. The geysers are most active on colder days and early in the morning, which is why you need such an early start. Billowing white plumes of steam shoot up from the earth everywhere you look, and some of the geysers also release impressive fountains of hot water or gently bubble and hiss. With a backdrop of mountains and mostly blue sky, the whole sight is mesmerising and very photogenic.
An early but worthwhile morning
You leave San Pedro de Atacama at about 6.30 am. By about 9.30 to 10am, the show is mostly over, so it’s time for some breakfast and then the return to San Pedro, perhaps stopping to photograph the picturesque old adobe church in the remote llama-herding village of Machuca.