Bathing in the Atacama

Preparing for the Plunge

Wait a minute, I thought the Atacama Desert was a desert... then why is there so much water in this picture?!  

According to our tour guides, deserts are categorized based on their precipitation, and the Atacama desert does not get much precipitation.  Despite this, we found ourselves at many diverse water-oriented attractions during our week in the Atacama.  From what we understood, the waters we visited primarily come from underground and are heated by geothermal activity.

First stop: the Lagunas Escondidas
For this trip, we hired a private guide to take us to the Lagunas Escondidas, or "Hidden Lakes" reserve.  They're located about an hour's drive outside of downtown San Pedro.  The road was definitely bumpy, and our tour guide claimed he ends up with a flat tire on about half his excursions this way.  This is largely in part to the unusually hard volcanic rocks throughout the region.  At first we contemplated renting a car and doing the tour on our own, but armed with this new information, we were definitely grateful for the guide.

We left in the morning, to beat the afternoon crowds, and definitely enjoyed some perks from this strategy- the park was pretty quiet and we got the lagoons to ourselves for a solid chunk of time!  The reserve consists of an easy boardwalk that takes about 10-minutes to walk and weaves between a beautiful mix of salt formations and lagoons.  We were told that the lagoons change color depending on how recently it has rained- when it has rained more recently, they appear brownish in color because the rain washes dirt onto the pool surfaces.  When it has not rained in a while, the lagoons appear more turquoise because new salt crystals form over the dirt sediment.  This pattern has resulted in 100s of layers of dirt and salt in the lagoons!  Here are some sights from the Boardwalk.

The salt formations include several different minerals and grow to form a cauliflower-like shape. 

The largest and most famous of the Lagunas Escondidas, is the Laguna Baltinache.  It is one of two lagoons where visitors are permitted to bathe.  Here are some quick facts I remember from the tour:  The Laguna Baltinache's deepest point goes several meters down (we couldn't see the bottom).  Salinity is approximately 30%, so you float, just like in the Dead Sea.  In terms of temperature, the lagoons were at approximately 60F, which is chilly but tolerable.  (reading this post now, Matt says it was "frigid") Despite this, Matt managed to stay in the water for a solid 15 minutes.  He doesn't last 5 in the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.  One neat feature of the lagoons is that each one has at least one "vent" with slightly warmer water currents flowing out.  This is due to the geothermal activity underground.  When swimming in the lagoons, we saw lots of neat salt formations along the walls!  However, swimmer beware- these salt formations can have sharp edges that cut 😲

Getting Ready to Cool Down

If you squint, you can see us at the farther end of the lagoon.

Karen jumped into the second lagoon as well!  Because of the salt water, you can lift your arms directly up without standing.

Next Stop: Piscina Termal del Tatio

This next hot spring caught us by surprise.  We were picked up at 5:15 am by our tour agency and told to dress WARMLY to watch the sunrise over a geyser park, where temperatures regularly hover below 0F.  The paper pamphlet outlining the tour included a note that said to bring a bathing suit.  This same note applied to multiple different tours, so I assumed it was a typo.  WRONG.  After watching sunrise over the geysers, we stopped at this hot spring just a 3-minute drive away.  By now, the temperature outside was comfortable.  This spring is heated by the same source that gives rise to the geysers, so you have to be careful.  If you step to close to the the heat sources of the spring, you can easily burn yourself.

Karen caught unprepared in a hot spring.  Note the HOT water burbling out in the foreground.

Las Termas Puritamas

Fortunately, we came prepared for a relaxing afternoon of bathing at Las Termas Puritamas.  These hot springs are the most integrated with nature we've ever seen.  Originally, we planned on skipping them because we feared they might be dirty (because they are so natural), but several people we met in town raved about them, so we went for it!  The resort is built along a naturally-heated river and we were impressed by the relative cleanliness of the bathrooms, lockers, and boardwalk.  When approaching the river, you have to walk a short trail that descends into a canyon.  From above, it's quite neat to see the greenery around the springs in contrast with the dry and brown surrounding desert landscape.  

View of the Hot Springs from the Trail Above.  Photo from La Sexta news.

The resort includes 8 different pools along the river that get slightly warmer as you ascend.  We spent a full hour floating and admiring, but once the sun went down it got chilly fast.  They definitely don't reach hot-tub hot.  Because we were enjoying the water our entire time here, we didn't take many pictures, but I'll leave you with this one from a news outlet.

A closer look at the Hot Springs.  Photo from La Sexta news.

Karen feeling chilly after an hour of swimming (and no jacket during sunset).