A trip to geysers requires an early start, in the dark at 5 am (winter time). We went with Flamingo, relatively small group and a good guide, but the tour was too rushed for us (same for all companies). We arrive at the last moment to catch sunrise over the mountains at the geysers, but we saw the sunrise, with mist/steam in the distance, driving the last couple of kilometers. The geysers are active only early in the morning, before the sun warms the air. It is quite cold at 4,300 masl, but we were well prepared. The temperature that morning was only -3℃. We walked on well marked paths among small geysers, had breakfast with a view right between them, and had an option to use very nice thermal pool, but with only half an hour and many layers of clothing we opted for more geyser exploration. The geyser field is nice as it is quite large (you can visit only 2 of 3 parts), with lot of steam in the morning, but eruptions are rather low. On the way back we saw vicuñas, viscachas warming in the sun, waterfowl at Putana river wetlands and an active Volcano Putana. We stopped in a small village Machuca which thrived during times of llama caravans, but now is revived as tourist stop served on rotating basis by one family of the community. There is church that locals don’t allow tourist to go into. The village was abandoned and only recently rebuilt, houses have new roofs (metal with solar panels) decorated with grass to imitate the old look. Since we went towards the church we didn’t have enough time to try llama skewers (anticuchos).
In the afternoon we walked along the river from San Pedro to nearby ruins of fortress Pucara de Quitor – at last on our own, accompanied only by very friendly dog. The ruins of Atacameño culture fortres are on steep hill overlooking river valley, well protected on all sides. There is a series of miradors on nearby hill with very nice views towards San Pedro, Rio San Pedro, the desert and Valle de la Muerte. Very nice afternoon. At night we tried to join astronomic (stargazing) tour, but we didn’t like it and opted out (I went to a wrong agency, next door to a recommended good one which I intended to go with).
Walk to Pukara de Quitor
Map combines 2 partially overlapping trails: to Pukara de Quitor and to Quebrada del Diablo.
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