Termas Geometricas

We had the privilege of visiting this amazing thermal resort while we were staying on Conaripe, Chile.  We did our research and to our estimation, this was by far the best.  Seeing as this is a geothermal area, it makes sense that there would be thermal pools to enjoy.  The people who designed this place knew what they were doing.

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This thermal attraction is built in a small canyon.  There is a narrow wooden walkway which takes you along the path from the lodge, past the seventeen different temperature pools, all the way to the waterfall at the end of the canyon.

It is really breath taking.  Dave took a video on his iphone when we first arrived.  I will post that tomorrow.

We were here in March which is the fall in Chile.  The kids are back in school and the tourism season is basically over.  This was definitely to our advantage.  The entire day that we spent here, there were only 20 visitors.  We were able to have any pool that we wanted all to ourselves.

The red wooden path winds through the canyon as you enjoy the tropical vegetation, birds and lizards.

This moss covered waterwheel half way up the path is so charming.

We quickly found which pools we enjoyed to most and at what temperatures we were most comfortable.

A third of the way up the path there is this smaller falls from river water.  It is so nice to listen to a waterfall while soaking in the thermal pools.

All the kids had such a great time.  The river water and the falls made such a lovely sound and helped to drown out the kids playing noise.  We didn't feel like we had to keep shooshing the kids all day for fear of disturbing the other visitors.

The pool bottoms were made from slate tiles and the sides were the natural stone of the canyon walls.  It was so beautiful!

Emily and Dave

Each pool had its temperature posted on the path.  We thought it was funny that they also posted the temperature of the water in the falls.  7 degrees celcius is about 45 degrees fahrenheit.  I suppose if you got too hot, you could use the falls to cool down.  I didn't have that desire.

Ahhh, that's better.  The pools ranged from 36 to 42 degrees celcius.  This pool at 38 is about 100 degrees farhenheit.  We found that 37 or 38 degree pools were the most comfortable.

We thought is was funny that Andrew was trying the runoff from the ferns.  Then, we warned him of the possibility of bacteria in the water.  Luckily, in the lodge at the front of the canyon, there was a endless supply of filtered water for drinking.  It is amazing how dehydrated you can get sitting in hot water all day.

Remember that the river water was around 40 degrees?  I don't know how Dave was able to wade through is to get to the waterfall.  I stood in a couple of inches of it for just a minute or two and could barely take it.

He made it!  Unfortunately all of the zoomed in pictures I took of him in the falls were blury.  Crazy guy!

BJ is feeling how cold Dave's legs are after he came back from the falls.  Luckily, a nice warm pool was not to far away to recooperate in.

I just love these giant leaves that surround the walkways.  Those buildings on the right of the above picture are changing rooms which are places all throughout the resort.

Occasionally pools become too hot to be safe and they are careful to measure the temperature through out the day to make sure the visitors are safe.

The lizards must like the warm, most air near the thermal pools.  We saw so many of them.

We even got to witness one cool lizard fight.

Lunch time!  The lodge offered some nice choices for meals.  Here I have a hot ham and cheese sandwich and what is called Kuchen.  It is an apple tort of sorts.  It was really good and not very sweet.

Evan knows how to chill out.  His cute little body got over heated easily and he was careful not to stay in the pools for too long at one time.

Later, BJ was feeling adventurous and wanted to go by the waterfall like his dad.  Luckily Dave was willing to give him a piggyback ride there.

You two crazies!

The plan was to spend he day here.  The weather was gorgeous and we were having such a great time.  After hours and hours of soaking, we had a contest to see who was the pruniest.

BJ definitely won.  His feet are the third from the left.

This pool ended up being our favorite.  It was 37 degrees and just right where we could stay in and not feel too hot.  Plus, with only a few other people at the resort, no one else wanted to join a family of six in this smallish pool.  They told us that in peek season one day they had over a 1000 visitors.

Dinner time!  More hot ham and cheese sandwiches.  Evan and BJ chose plain cheese sandwiches.  It was fun to eat dinner in the lodge next to a nice fire.

We stayed all day and when the sun went down we could see the stars in the clear night sky and we soaked in the relaxing thermal waters.  It just doesn't get better than that.  After 10 hours and the fact that they were closing for the night, we were on our way glad to have enjoyed one of southern Chile's best attractions by far.