Papallacta Hot Springs

One of the most beautiful parts of Ecuador is the mountains. One of my favorite places to visit are the hot springs in Papallacta. The water comes from the mountain streams and are heated by the heat from the volcano in the mountain. This is called geothermal heat.

Here's a picture of some of the pools:

This one is pretty hot. When you sit by the stream that fills the pool it can get so hot that it will burn you. The air cools off the baths pretty quickly. Some of the baths are shallow, like this one, which makes it a cooler bath.

We went on a rainy day, which made it cold when we were out of the water, but made it even better to be in the warm baths! If we got tired of sitting in the water, they also have a playground to use.

When you visit the springs, there are also beautiful plant life like these trees. (A)

And these bushes: (B)

This one looks like it has been spray painted white! (C)

And these flowers: (D)

And these neat bushes were in bloom: (E)

When you leave the park you can go to the "duchas" which are the showers, which also come straight from the mountain springs.

Before we left, I took a picture with my husband on the bridge that goes over the rushing river.

On our drive home, we almost ran into a cow that will milling around in the road! We said hello.

Then we finally got back home. What a day! (Who knows the names of the plants? A, B, C, D, and E?)