March 29 Day 42
Yes, we got up at 4:30 and our shuttle picked us up just after 5 for our tour to the geysers. We went around town until we had our 10 members and then had a 90 minute ride in the dark along a very rough road to get there before sunrise. This is the third largest geyser field in the world and the one at the highest elevation. The morning air was about -5 degrees so the steam in the morning is much more prominent than later.
We got there, groggily paid the entrance fee and entered the area. We were warned to stay on the paths as the geysers create underground shafts that can cave in and we were told the cautionary tale of the tourist who toppled in on one and died of her burns soon after.
The field was otherworldly, with high plumes of steam everywhere, strong smells of sulfur, strangely coloured bubbling stuff everywhere and a few large geysers that took in water for several minutes before shooting it up into the air. Lots of people were there but the field was large enough for everyone to more or less keep out of the others' way.
After walking around a bit our driver got us a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee with a basket of cookies and chocolate bars for good measure. We had more time to stroll around after the suns rose when the light was better but the steam plumes had definitely settled down a bit.
We packed up for the geyser field and took a nice dip in a hot springs, which was mainly a large tepid spring with everyone gathered around the hot stream that fed the entire pool. We talked to friends we made from Seattle and Singapore and felt much better after our dip. The altitude of the place was about 4300 metres so some of our group were really feeling it after awhile.
On the way back we were able to see the exceptional scenery on the way back down. We stopped at a wetland and watched some ducks build some weedy nests in the middle of the lake. As we left, some vicunas walked onto the road, trying to join another group that was on the other side of the fence. They came quite close to us but finally got across once the vans left.
The stopped to look at boring llamas (like looking at some cows) and saw a few flamingos before we took a final stroll along a canyon full of cacti. They were related to the famous saguaros of Arizona and looked exactly like them to my eye. The walk was rocky but beautiful and it felt nice to get out of the bus. By this point we had shed all of our winter clothing as the day had returned to baking desert temperatures.
We piled back in the bus and headed back to town. We asked for a dropoff downtown so that we could take a 3 pm walking tour. We were pretty tired but some tasty empanadas cheered us up a bit and we headed to the main square to meet our tour. We and another couple waited and waited, no tour, so we had more than 2 hours to kill before our pick up with Javiara.
In the square they were setting up for the next day's culinary festival. We had a few things to buy and so got a local map and tried to get things at food shops. No place had what we wanted and very few places were allowed to sell beer. It was hot so we settled down at a nice cafe with coffee ice cream floats and watched the drama of the square. We picked up some nice chicken and fries to take home and Javiera was right on time.
Back at her place, we ate, planned the next few days and looked at the night sky for whatever we could remember and any shooting stars that were about. No meteorites were co-operating so we went to bed to collapse under a fan and fight off a few mosquitoes that found their way into our room.
Yes, we got up at 4:30 and our shuttle picked us up just after 5 for our tour to the geysers. We went around town until we had our 10 members and then had a 90 minute ride in the dark along a very rough road to get there before sunrise. This is the third largest geyser field in the world and the one at the highest elevation. The morning air was about -5 degrees so the steam in the morning is much more prominent than later.
We got there, groggily paid the entrance fee and entered the area. We were warned to stay on the paths as the geysers create underground shafts that can cave in and we were told the cautionary tale of the tourist who toppled in on one and died of her burns soon after.
The field was otherworldly, with high plumes of steam everywhere, strong smells of sulfur, strangely coloured bubbling stuff everywhere and a few large geysers that took in water for several minutes before shooting it up into the air. Lots of people were there but the field was large enough for everyone to more or less keep out of the others' way.
After walking around a bit our driver got us a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee with a basket of cookies and chocolate bars for good measure. We had more time to stroll around after the suns rose when the light was better but the steam plumes had definitely settled down a bit.
We packed up for the geyser field and took a nice dip in a hot springs, which was mainly a large tepid spring with everyone gathered around the hot stream that fed the entire pool. We talked to friends we made from Seattle and Singapore and felt much better after our dip. The altitude of the place was about 4300 metres so some of our group were really feeling it after awhile.
On the way back we were able to see the exceptional scenery on the way back down. We stopped at a wetland and watched some ducks build some weedy nests in the middle of the lake. As we left, some vicunas walked onto the road, trying to join another group that was on the other side of the fence. They came quite close to us but finally got across once the vans left.
The stopped to look at boring llamas (like looking at some cows) and saw a few flamingos before we took a final stroll along a canyon full of cacti. They were related to the famous saguaros of Arizona and looked exactly like them to my eye. The walk was rocky but beautiful and it felt nice to get out of the bus. By this point we had shed all of our winter clothing as the day had returned to baking desert temperatures.
We piled back in the bus and headed back to town. We asked for a dropoff downtown so that we could take a 3 pm walking tour. We were pretty tired but some tasty empanadas cheered us up a bit and we headed to the main square to meet our tour. We and another couple waited and waited, no tour, so we had more than 2 hours to kill before our pick up with Javiara.
In the square they were setting up for the next day's culinary festival. We had a few things to buy and so got a local map and tried to get things at food shops. No place had what we wanted and very few places were allowed to sell beer. It was hot so we settled down at a nice cafe with coffee ice cream floats and watched the drama of the square. We picked up some nice chicken and fries to take home and Javiera was right on time.
Back at her place, we ate, planned the next few days and looked at the night sky for whatever we could remember and any shooting stars that were about. No meteorites were co-operating so we went to bed to collapse under a fan and fight off a few mosquitoes that found their way into our room.
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| Geysers at sunrise. |
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| Vicuna identification. |
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Nice cactus landscape. |
Nice photos! The steam in the morning is beautiful. And I love looking at llamas, btw, but then I also enjoy cows.
ReplyDeleteWe deleted the pictures of sheep, too mundane.
ReplyDelete