Well, a 4:30 am alarm is
way too early, but for special events we will do it!!
Plus as yesterday, it was very chilly.
We say over and over again, “Thank You” to
our host in Santiago for sending heavy coats with us. San Pedro is at the
elevation of 2400 meters (7800ft) thus it is cold in winter and perfect
temperatures in the summer.
This morning
we basically drove straight up to an elevation of 4320 meters (14,200 ft) - to
a geothermal basin the size of approximately 2 miles x 2 miles.
This basin is at the base of the peaks in the
Andes Mountains.
The drive this morning
was totally in the dark, as we needed to arrive there near day break (7:45am).
The last part was driven on snowy roads, but chains were not required today. Actually
the road has been closed the last 4 days, so we were lucky. This area is also a
National Park.
It is great the Government
is preserving these areas.
This geothermal basin has 40 geysers & 70
fumaroles. None of them erupt as high as Old Faithful – they are more steam
vents with steam going 30 ft into the air, but several did erupt water into the
air.
You can hear the hissing, groans,
grumbles & spitting of the geysers and steam vents.
At daybreak due to the temperatures of cold
river water hitting the hot magma deep in the earth they are the most visible.
Actually it was amazing how that by 9:30 only a few of them were letting off
any steam at all – not sure we totally understood the whole concept, as in
Yellowstone they are more continuous.
But
we now know why it was important for us to get up so early!
By the time we arrived at de Tatio, the
temperature was down to 10 degrees and the ground was mostly covered with
snow.
It was COLD!! We walked around the
walkways viewing the geyser, while a breakfast was prepared for us (outside) –
scrambled eggs and all!
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| Sun Rise over the Geiser Basin |
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| Silhouettes of people walking among the geisers |
However after walking around for a while, I,
Rachel realized I was not feeling the best. I drank some water which tasted
wonderful. I realized I was dehydrated, so I continued to drink water.
I only had a couple of sips of coffee for
breakfast and sat in the van (warmest location) the rest of the time, sipping
water.
When our guide realized I was not
feeling well he dug out his first aid kit and the finger blood oxygen
sensor.
I had to first remove my nail
polish, which I chipped off.
Wow! My
blood oxygen level was only in the mid to upper 60’s, sometimes in the lower
70’s (normal is in the 90’s) and my heart rate was high.
No wonder I was feeling the way I was.
Interestingly, I did not have a headache
which is often associated with high altitude sickness.
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| A friendly Fox looking for food |
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| Boiling water at a Geiser |
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| Our Drive back to San Pedro |
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| One of Chile's Active Volcano |
Finally (hours later) we were on our way “down to earth”,
but before descending very far we stopped at an Inca village (set up for
tourist).
Someone on the tour gave me
some orange juice to drink, which I thought may be good for me – I only had a
few sips.
I did not feel strong enough
to walk around the village.
Cal bought a
kabob of lama meat & onions for himself and then brought one for me.
I only had a ½ bite when I realized “this was
not going to end well”!
Thank goodness
we were stopped so I was able to get relief outside without making everyone wait
for me.
“What a relief it was”!
But I lost the orange juice and a lot of the
water that I had consumed.
I could tell
I was dehydrated by the veins in my hands.
I kept drinking water and once back at our lodge I had a cup of hot tea
before a badly needed nap.
My body had
been working overtime all morning. By the time I am writing this I am back to
normal. Needing to go to the bathroom is a good feeling after being
dehydrated.
Now back to the geysers – at sunrise it was a
beautiful sight, the sun shining through all this steam.
We were surprised how they would allow people
to walk around them - on pathways.
As
soon as the sun rises, the air temperature rises. You make sure to stand in the
sun, as it definitely warms you up and the inside of the vehicle warms up
quickly.
At one location they had built
a swimming area so people could spend time in the hot thermal water. (This is
when our guide realized I was not well – I walked around a little bit, but was not
necessarily walking in a straight line.) Some of the younger persons on our
tour did jump into the thermal pool (we were told to bring swimwear along), and
they especially loved to take photos in their swim wear with snow in the
background!!
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| Church at Machuca |
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| Machuca Village |
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| House with Satellite dish - DirectTv |
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| Lama Kabob |
Well this is our last night in San Pedro de Atacama,
Chile.
We have found three very nice
restaurants in town, each has had a fireplace in the center to take off the
night chill.
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| Road to San Padro |
Tomorrow we have one more tour on the way to the
airport back in Calama.
What an
interesting area – you think you are at the “end of the world” and you almost
are!!!
You are definitely on “top of the
world” at this elevation.
This is
definitely “adventure traveling”.
In
this “out of the way place”, we have seen lots of backpackers, and the
nationalities (languages) visiting here are very diverse. Restaurant staff and
tour guides have to know several languages and are called upon to help
different situations.
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