Just give your body a chance

Water is extremely scarce. We are in an oasis in the middle of the driest desert in the world, the Atacama Desert.

Around us the Chilean Altiplano, a high-altitude plateau surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes. The sights are impressive. The only problem is, I have a big headache…

Well, the big headache is due to a phenomenon called “altitude sickness”, and most high altitude hikers will suffer from it at some point during their journey. Lack of oxygen is the primary culprit.

San Pedro de Atacama sits at 2500 meters above sea level. At that altitude, levels of oxygen drop by 25%. At 3500 meters, oxygen levels are decreased by 40%. The effects on the human body can be brutal.

We crossed the border between Argentina and Chile at Jama Pass at 4300 meters above sea level. We had to wait two hours in the middle of the Chilean Altiplano to process our documents. When I got out of the bus I noticed that my heart was pounding like crazy and that I was breathing heavily. How could that be? Getting off a bus is not the most exercise-heavy activity I’ve done in my life. What was going on then? Simply said, my body was reacting to a lack of oxygen.

After our bus departed, the road that took us to San Pedro de Atacama reached almost 5000 meters. That’s where I started to have a headache, which kept pounding for the rest of the day. My body was saying : “Stop!”. Altitude sickness was taking a toll on me and I had no choice but to cancel any activity for the next day.

Altitude sickness manifests itself through primarily mild symptoms. Primary symptoms can include headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and nosebleed.

However, in rare cases altitude sickness can be extremely dangerous and if ignored, can lead to death. Severe symptoms include fluid in the lungs and brain swelling. At that point, action is needed immediately (most likely descent at lower altitude for the hiker) or death is a serious possibility.

So what is the best way to deal with altitude sickness? Acclimatization. The human body has a fabulous capacity to adapt to an oxygen deprived environment. It just needs time. That’s why any journey in Northern Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, must include a period of acclimatization at high altitude. Those arriving on a direct flight to La Paz in Bolivia – La Paz sits at a staggering 4400 meters above sea level – would be foolish to start mountain hiking in the first day. Four or five days of rest is needed before any physical exercise is undertaken.

Altitude sickness is a necessary evil to see some of the most beautiful landscapes of South America. Just give your body a chance.