Spontaneous Stopover: Geysir el Tatio

The next day we separated from the others. They wanted to leave for Bolivia in the next few days. We, on the other hand, just wanted to quickly check our emails in San Predo and then head towards the coast. As I said, we wanted to😊 On the dusty market square we met Natalia and Andre again with their Mercedes Rundhauber. They explained their plan to us, to drive to El Tatio tonight to visit this impressive geyser in the morning. Actually, we couldn't stand to see any more desert sand and we urgently needed clean laundry, but our gut feeling told us we should accompany the two. In hindsight, it was a great decision. After we had found a sleeping place at a pleasant altitude (3,500 meters), we drank a few cups of tea for prevention and went to bed early. Because the next morning our expedition started already at four o'clock in the morning, so that we would be at the geyser in time for sunrise. The drive felt like an Antarctic mission. Around us the snow and ice glistened, the cold climbed into the cab and we followed a frozen mud track. The two trucks had to give it their all. At 5:30 a.m. we reached the national park, which had just opened. Quite excited, we drove to the first parking lot and what awaited us there was truly mystical.

The full moon illuminated the geyser field and they slowly started to smoke. Over the next hour, the geysers really got going, spouting and steaming wherever you looked. But after 1 ½ hours we were so frozen that we needed a break. To give you a better idea of how cold it was, it was so cold that even Kai voluntarily put on long underwear and wool socks. After we had thawed again, we paid a short visit to the natural pool and enjoyed the volcanic panoramas in really hot water.

We wanted to watch the evening sunset in a romantic way from an observation platform overlooking the Valle de la Luna. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones. Shortly before sunset, about 20 minibuses arrived and parked next to our Maggi. Tourists and tour guides with coolers and folding tables poured out of the buses. We quickly fled to Maggi's roof and instead of watching a romantic sunset, we watched tourists.

The spectacle was soon over and the crowds of tourists moved on, but we were also asked by the park attendant to leave the viewpoint. The next day we freed our living cabin and the cab from the sand and drove for a stopover to the desolate mining town of Calama. There we were able to replenish our pantry, drop off the dirty laundry and Maggi got another 20-liter barrel of motor oil as well as two cans of brake cleaner.