Driving for an hour over parched, rolling hills, with my daughter asleep at my side, we finally arrive at Ojo Caliente – hot mineral springs deemed sacred by indigenous Native Americans of northern New Mexico. Tranquil and serene, only whispering is permitted when soaking in the tubs, it is a gem in the middle of the desert. It is all about your health, relaxation and rejuvenation. Rustic and nestled into the mountainside, the springs receive over 100,000 gallons of water bubbling up from the depths of the earth every day. There are pools of iron, arsenic (no drinking from that pool), lithia and soda, each which benefits the blood or immune systems, digestion, and relieves arthritic and skin problems.
After soaking in each pool several times, I got a massage followed by a body scrub of blue corn, salt, and prickly pear, making my skin feel like a baby’s behind. Later I got lemonade with prickly pear in it. I hope that they don’t recycle it!
Fish tacos for lunch, and more soaking, delighting my inner-child by covering my body with mud, letting it bake in the sun to draw out toxins through skin so taut that I could barely smile, then submerging in a pool and washing it off. I looked like a dinosaur. Not sure that I wanted to see my mud wrinkled-up skin!
We left refreshed, relaxed and renewed. Can’t wait to go back again!
This sounds fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing this adventure. I am dreaming of Ojo Caliente!
We’ll have to go there together one day!