We Got Wet

We’re on our “Los Barriles Count-down”, having decided we’ll hit the road northbound sometime next week, so we came up with a list of things to do before we leave. Some items on the list are chores, some are fun. Today’s activity was a trip to the Santiago Hot Springs, one of the fun items. The hot springs are in the same general vicinity as the waterfall, but a few miles further south. The drive is 45 minutes and took us through the town of Santiago, then up to the village of San Jorge, which seemed more a concentration of a dozen small ranchos than a village. But the village did have a paved area with a small, nicely painted stage, a common feature of “town squares” ranging from cities like La Paz to villages like San Jorge.

The hot springs were about 2 miles outside San Jorge. The well-graded dirt road ended at a parking area in a small rancho where we were met by Braulio who collected 50 pesos (about $4) from each of us, then lead us ¼ mile down a path to the hot springs themselves. We had the place entirely to ourselves for the couple of hours we stayed. We understand there are actually several pools and that Braulio takes people to different spots so you don’t generally have to share space. The water was 37 degrees (99 F), and immediately adjacent to the hot pool was a cold stream to dip into occasionally, so the conditions were perfect, along with an air temperature of 78. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon and well worth the time and money.