The Sol de Mañana geysers are located in the breathtaking desert landscape of Bolivia in the department of Potosí. At an altitude of 4,850 to 4,910 metres, Sol de Mañana is the highest geyser field in the world.
The Sol de Mañana geyser field in Bolivia, which covers about 10 square kilometres, is famous for its spectacular volcanic activity. It is located southwest of the emerald green Laguna Verde and very close to the Laguna Colorada, which is populated by flamingos.
Located at an altitude of 4,850 to 4,910 metres, it is the highest geyser field in the world. It has a permanent place on our list of the top 10 sights of Bolivia.
Why is the godforsaken geyser field called "Sun of the Morning"? Because its appearance appears even more spectacular in the rising sun than during the day.
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PICTURES: Geysers of Sol de Mañana
Photo gallery: Geysers of "Sol de Mañana
Behind the colourful mountains...
Even the drive to Sol de Mañana is a little adventure. The road leads through a lunar landscape of yellow-orange-red-brown mountains, which are an unforgettable sight against the azure sky at an altitude of almost 5,000 metres.
This chain of hills is not called "coloured mountains" for nothing. The splendour of colour is the result of volcanic activity during the folding of the mountains. Deposits of copper, iron and other sulphates give the mountain flanks their colourful appearance.
The barren desert landscape is repeatedly interrupted by whimsical figures shaped by wind and weather. At an altitude of about 4,400 metres, the first hot springs appear, in some of which you can warm your feet.
...lie the seething holes
The further you drive into the Sol de Manana area, the wilder the landscape becomes. Bubbling lava lakes, boiling mud puddles and hot springs alternate with smoking rivers and spraying holes in the earth. At times, the atmosphere is like that shortly after the earth was formed. Everything is hot and steamy, the ground smokes and hisses and spouts white fountains of steam and water up to 50 metres in the air.
The fumaroles, smoking holes in the ground, and the geysers, the water-spewing holes in the earth, give off a hellish smell of sulphur. The hostile environment of steam and gases and the high altitude create rather difficult survival conditions for animals. Only a few vicuñas, llama-like creatures of the South American highlands, prowl among the bubbling holes in the ground.
