Hierve el Agua

Sunday I went to Hierve el Agua. The colectivo site was easy enough to find, since it was right by the bus station where I arrived, but getting a ride proved to be a little more difficult. Right now, it is the temporada baja, or low tourist season. Which is great for a lot of things, but makes it harder to get a large enough group. I tried to go Saturday afternoon, but by the time I was ready it was late afternoon and there weren’t other people around to go. So, Sunday it was, and by 11:00 we had enough people to go. Because Hierve el Agua is up in the hills with about an hour’s worth of dirt road to travel, this colectivo was really a small pickup with benches rigged up in the back. With 7 of us piled in the back and a family squeezed in the cab, we were off. It reminded me of driving up forest service roads with magnificent views and steep drop-offs.

Literally, hierve el agua means boiling water. It doesn’t boil. They are mineral springs that bubble up lukewarm water. But they are pretty cool. They form pools to swim in, as well as amazing mineral formations. Check it out…