Thermal base layer, fleece, packable gilet, waterproof, woolly hat - we’d been warned to dress warmly for our morning expedition. Two reasons: first, it was early (leaving at 7am); and second, it was high - we were going up to 4300m to the geyser field.
Kevin decided to stay in bed, so Jemima and I nabbed the front seats in a full van - 9 of us and two guides, watching the sun rise over the desert as we drove up into the Altiplano. We were glad of our layers - it was 5 degrees outside.
Soon the view was rolling green plains similar to the area where we nearly lost Baby, but skirted with more red rock (that I now know is volcanic ash), and as ever, ringed by the volcanoes on the horizon. And then we came upon another difference: a high altitude wetland brimming with birds: not just the flamingoes we’d seen on the salt flats, but all sorts of wading birds, Andean geese, and even giant coots, just like the English ones but on steroids. They had built nests in the middle of the water by gathering algae, and we could see baby coots, tiny balls of grey fluff staggering around them thanks to the binoculars of another guest (David and his wife Jane, from Putney as it turns out).
It was a day for animals: as we continued we saw a South American rabbit perched quietly on some stones; and three what looked like the South American version of a squirrel (I can’t remember what it’s called) scampering up a sheer rock face at lightning speed (no trees here). We also went through a couple of villages, one dominated by its huge flood-lit astroturf football pitch.
After an hour we reached the geyser field of El Tatio, at 4370m - the third largest in the world, by spread (not by height of the spouts, to Jemima’s disappointment). After a warning about not falling into the boiling water pools and dying, we were set free to walk on marked paths among the geysers. It didn’t smell strongly, unlike Rotorua in New Zealand which was very stinky - more like burnt milk than rotten eggs. You could see columns of steam rising from the ground, which looked very striking against the blue sky and snow-capped volcanoes, and when you got closer you could see geysers themselves bubbling up from the ground, but to no more than half a metre. The weirdest thing was watching families of vicuñas walk through the boiling water streams completely unharmed - including a gangly-legged baby, that looked very similar to a baby deer. (“Can you die from a cuteness overload?” asked the guide.)
Unfortunately the altitude was taking its toll on Jemima again - she seems fine up to 4000m, but struggles after that, so we went back to the van to wait for the others. Once we’d gone down a bit for our second breakfast stop she was fine again - we parked up opposite a beautiful green hill with more vicuñas and the remnants of shepherds’ shelters on it, and the guides and driver got out camping chairs and a breakfast picnic (much to the interest of the very nosy Andean gulls, which we’d had strict instructions not to feed).
And then it was home time. The cuteness continued with a sighting of an Andean fox (like ours but bigger and greyer), some escaped llamas who were now roaming wild, some wild donkeys, and even more baby vicuñas up to their knees in the wetlands - just adorable. But unfortunately, on the journey a Brazilian lady we’d done the hot springs hike with started feeling very unwell - either car sickness or delayed altitude sickness - so I took her seat at the back so she could sit near the front (Jemima stayed at the front as she can get car sick too, next to Mary Beth from our previous afternoon’s hike). It turned out Mary Beth had to look after her as Jemima started feeling sick too, which I didn’t know about. But she quickly recovered once we were back at the hotel, ready for some maths by the pool before our afternoon adventure…
(One postscript: at dinner that night Juliana and her husband came to our table with a bottle of wine to say thank you to me for moving on the bus - but it was Juliana’s husband (who wasn’t sick) who gave the wine to Kevin (who wasn’t even there). VERY kind of them, so generous - but an interesting choice of process…)
Dawn over the volcanos:
Vicuñas in front of a shepherd’s shelter:
High altitude wetland, and a coot’s nest:
Geyser field:
Mum and baby vicuña unbothered by boiling water:
Second breakfast:
Jemima and Mary Beth:
The very hopeful Andean gull (the real humour comes from when they walk, which is sadly missing from a photo):
Baby vicuñas in the wetland:
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