James’ and Sara’s Excellent Atacama Adventure

Day 4: The geysers

Dina has asked why llamas are so colourful… people place ribbons on them as a sign of affection and thankfulness because the llamas enabled transport across the country

Early start to travel to the geysers at Il Tatio which has the third largest in the world, after Yellowstone and some place in Russia. Travelled to an altitude of 4200 metres above sea level (higher than Aspen, Kosciusko, Lake Titicaca, La Paz) . Highest place I’ve ever been to and you certainly had to move around in slow motion. We arrived just as the sun was rising and our guide showed us how to take some creative photos.

Here’s something you don’t expect to see in a field of geysers, but there is an interesting story……..

This piece of equipment is in the middle of all the geysers and cannot be moved. It is a constant reminder of the bad decision taken by the Chile govt to allow a company to begin work on a geothermal energy plant in the Region. The plant would use the same kind of heat and steam that pushes 90-degree Celsius water out of the geysers to turn turbines and generate electricity.

The company was digging test-drilling wells a few kilometers deep when the artificial geyser began to erupt on September 8th 2006. The unexpected geyser lasted 27 days, attracting national and international attention. Most eruptions in the field are no more than one meter high and the largest eruption ever recorded previously was less than six meters. The incident was caused by failure of valves and pipes in the deep well.

The key issue was that It caused all the other geysers in the area to lose power, and not bubble ( which would have removed a key tourist attraction in the area) The govt withdrew permission for the project but the equipment remains in place to “plug the hole”.

After our geyser visit, we stopped for breakfast ( African safari style) by a grassy spot where we could see vicuñas, a breed similar to llamas but they only exist once you reach 4000 metres.

Being in such high altitude was an interesting experience. More from Atacama tomorrow.