The El Tatio geyser field can be found in the Atacama Desert in the South American country of Chile. El Tatio—translated “the Grandfather”—is the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere with more than eighty active geysers. That distinction belonged to the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand until many of the geysers on that island were destroyed by a combination of man’s intervention and natural occurrences. The El Tatio geyser field is also the third largest geyser field in the world trailing Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers in Russia.
Another unique feature of El Tatio is that it is situated in the Andes Mountains, which puts it at an elevation of 4,200 meters above sea level. Even though it is high up in the mountains, El Tatio is not the geyser field with the highest elevation in the world. The eruptions of the geysers at El Tatio are actually quite small. The average eruption is only 75 centimeters (29.5 inches) and the highest one measured about six meters (under twenty feet). Considering other active geysers–like the Great Fountain in Yellowstone National Park–reach over 200 feet, the geysers at El Tatio are not large.
In addition to the attraction of the geysers, the field is quite scenic because of a combination of the geysers, the formation of the ground, pools that are vibrantly colored as a result of the bacteria and microbes that live in them, and because the geyser field is set among a group of active volcanoes.
It is not surprising that like the world’s other geyser fields, El Tatio is a popular tourism attraction. In fact, it was named one of the seven wonders of South America. There are numerous tours of the El Tatio geysers although some of them are fairly expensive. The El Tatio geysers are best viewed at sunrise because you can see the steam to its full advantage. This means that you would have to leave at 4 a.m. from the nearby city of San Pedro for some tours to reach the site by sunrise.
Because this geyser field is in a remote part of the Andes, it is not as accessible as some other geyser locations, such as Yellowstone National Park. Tourists can also drive up on their own or camp at the geyser field, and there is a visitors’ center with indoor plumbing and a small kitchen for the campers’ use.
If you do take a tour of these geysers, you should watch where you are going. There are no park rangers like at Yellowstone National Park, and the geysers can be dangerous. Many parts of the geyser field are covered with a thin crust that looks like solid ground but will not support a person’s weight. Visitors to the geysers do get burned by the geysers and boiling pools quite frequently. Although difficult to reach, El Tatio is a place of great beauty and is an incredible sight to see firsthand.
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