It’s taking longer than I thought to find the video clips I have about driving in Colombia.. so we will defer that topic for now. Instead, let’s talk about something less death-defying and much more relaxing.. Hot springs!

I know I mentioned in my post about Santa Rosa de Cabal – how much I love hot springs.. Or maybe I mentioned it when I went to to Sulfur pools in Tocaima way back in 2010, but that would have been the earliest days of the blog.. I adored the hot springs in Paipa – but those too, I might not have mentioned since it was a client trip.

Anyway – I love hot springs! I love bathtubs, jacuzzis, swimming pools – all things water. It was so important that it was one of the determining factors when it came to purchasing my house in North Bogota. Was there a bathtub / was the bathroom large enough to install one? Now, the tub at my house isn’t some massive spa tub that uses hundreds of gallons of water. It’s just a regular old tub, but I sure do love it – especially when I can’t sleep, or the damp chill during the rainy season sets into my joints. Now the tub at my rental property is the supersized luxury type, but honestly, I’ve never used it – or the golden toilet.

So if you’ve never been to the ‘termales’ or the hot springs but you enjoy a hot bath – just think of a swimming pool of nice, hot volcanically heated water, usually in a beautiful outdoor location. I’ve recently made it my personal goal to visit as many Colombian hot springs as possible. I read somewhere that Cundinamarca has 42 different hot springs alone, and that Colombia has 130+. I won’t get to all of them – and I don’t need to. (I can’t image enjoying hot springs in 100 degree weather, which rules out several). But with just a few days left before I head back to the United States for a month, we decided to start working on that top ten list I posted recently.

A mid-week day trip was perfect, so we decided to pick a location close to Bogota. We decided to go to Termales Los Volcanes in Macheta, Cundinamarca. Minimal traffic to navigate to get out of the city since it was a Tuesday, low weekday prices and no crowds at the springs.

We arrived early in the morning, around 730 am, while the weather was still cool and refreshing. We had a nice breakfast before jumping in the deliciously warm springs. There are two big pools, one much warmer than the other, and two smaller pools.

The hot springs are set against the lush green background, with a waterfall, cobblestone paths and lots of flowers. There is a small hotel on site, along with a restaurant, snack shop and spa. Since we were on a day trip, we didn’t need the hotel, but we checked it out anyway. Weekday rates start at 315,000 COP and include breakfast as well as hot springs entry. Weekend rates start at 415,000 COP.

Since we were just day trippers, it cost us 35,000 COP each to get in. The hot springs are open from 7 am to 11 pm most days. We enjoyed the pools for quite a few hours, along with breakfast, snacks, lunch, massages in the spa, and quick dunks in the icy waterfall before we headed back to the city. It was a lovely day – and even lovelier because Andres and I got to spent it together. (We do a lot of family activities with his parents, cousins, uncles etc., but we don’t always get to spend time together.) He’s a great co-pilot, co-conspirator and partner-in-crime for our adventures. We have a lot of very different interests but he’s definitely game for my hot springs challenge.

I got a bit of a sunburn despite lots of sunscreen – so I’d advise wearing a rashguard, like Andres did. Otherwise, it the entire day was a bit of joy..