Just outside of Salento is the burnt remains of several large buildings on a large estate. That estate is the former hotel of the infamous Carlos Lehder, narco-trafficer and one-time ally of Pablo Escobar. La Posada Alemana was inspired by Carlos’ father ,Kurt Wilhelm Lehder, and the small Pensión Alemana he had owned. The senior Senor Lehder was no saint either, as a german immigrant who had moved to Colombia in 1928, he maintained strong ties to the fatherland. He is believed to have strong pro-Nazi sentiments, and to have helped the Nazi’s gather intelligence, using his hotel for meetings.

I don’t write a tremendous amount about Escobar and such, mainly because I feel like the topic has been talked to death, from Cocaine Cowboys, to Narcos and El Patron de Mal and every other quasi-documentary out there.

But since we were literally passing the burned out ruins, I felt compelled to stop and take a few pictures.

But our next destination was pretty amazing! I had actually seen it on a youtube channel. (There are a couple of great channels for information on tourism destinations in Colombia. My personal favorite is FNDCol. They have a great series on all the different states in Colombia. Another good one is FonturCol. Both pf these channels are in Spanish, but you don’t need English to appreciate the view.

This video is where we went – the thermal baths at Santa Rosa de Cabal, in the Colombian state of Risaralda.

We went on a misty, then rainy day – which ended up being perfect. The hot thermal baths (there are several pools), the chilly waterfall and cold rain on your face made for an extraordinary combination. We also took advantage of the deep tissue massages, and the adjacent restaurant and coffee bar.

For starters, there’s the view..

Then, the thermal baths themselves.. The water is deliciously hot. The waterfall provides for refreshing cool water along with several cascading showers.

There are flowers, and greenery everywhere.

We spent most of the day at the thermal baths – I could have stayed forever, honestly. And you almost can, since the falls are open until 11 pm at night on weekdays and 2 am on the weekend. Several locals advised us that nighttime visits were the best for couples, and a romantic date. Magical! But we left before that – to try the famous sausages of Santa Rosal at a charming roadside restaurant.

It was a cute restaurant, with a coverage main restaurant, a small snack shop and several little cabins for private meals. They also have a massive tree outback, with stairs that lead upwards to a lookout point. It was too misty that day for much of a view, but the famous chorizos were quite tasty.

After a late lunch, we returned to the town of Santa Rosa de Cabal (the hot springs are outside of town, a couple miles away). The town itself was underwhelming, but my impression may have been dampened by the grey rainy weather, so I will have to come back one day and give it another chance (happy to do as long as I can visit the springs again.) Of course, I might just end up staying at the folksy cabins just outside the springs – and skip the town entirely.

On our next post – we make our way to the sulty city of Cali, the Colombian capitol of Salsa dancing.

I’ve made it my personal goal to see (and experience) as many thermal baths in Colombia as possible (Paipa was fantastic too!) so I am going to include this link to 10 different thermal baths near Bogota for similar minded people to enjoy..