Volcon del Totumo, Colombia

Volcan de Lodo del Totumo, Colombia slideshow

Today is my last day in Cartagena, and it has been a relaxing one. After a yoga session, I had a fresh pineapple juice, a large bowl of fruit salad and headed out to the Volcano El Totumo, 35 miles northeast of town. A dozen other tourists were already sitting inside the minivan when I joined them. Forty-five minutes later we were all floating on mud and being massaged by a crew of three experienced locals.

The crater of the volcano is 50 feet above ground, and although very deep, (I think I've heard it is 200 meters, or 650 feet) it is easy to float on top, once we are helped into a horizontal position on the thick mud.

Wikipedia tells me that approximately 1,100 mud volcanoes have been identified on land and in shallow water. This one was active nine years ago, our guide informed us, but instead of lava and ashes, it spews mud, a phenomenon caused by the pressure of gases emitted by decaying organic matter underground. After the massive mud bath, we were helped washing it all off in the cienaga, a lukewarm lagoon a few feet away.

We were also informed that the mud has over 50 minerals in it and it gets constantly renewed. I asked, because I was a little concerned with the large number of people and small surface where we bathed. But whatever there was in the mud, it made me even more relaxed than I was. Right now, as I write, it is difficult to keep my eyes open, despite the three small cups of coffee I get for free at my hotel lobby.

Tomorrow I am off to Leticia, and may as well be crossing yet another border, maybe the last one for the next while. Leticia is a border town, next to Tabatinga in Brazil and Santa Rosa in Peru. My plan is to go on a four-day boat ride from Tabatinga to Manaus to meet Peter there in a few days.