A little more
of Antofagasta, Calama.

Antofagasta, Calama · CL

El Tatio

El Tatio is a vast geothermal field high in the Chilean Andes where the Earth breathes visible clouds of steam. Perched at roughly 4,320 metres above sea level, it is the world's highest geyser field and the third largest by number of active vents, home to more than eighty geysers, hundreds of fumaroles, hot springs, mud pots, and mineral terraces spread across a basin of about ten square kilometres. At dawn, when the air temperature plunges well below freezing, the escaping steam condenses instantly into towering white columns that can climb ten metres into the sky. The sight of a plateau steaming under a burning orange sunrise is one of the most dramatic natural spectacles in South America — and it is the reason tour buses leave San Pedro de Atacama before four in the morning.