When I was planning my trip to Colombia, I started doing some research on sites to see. One thing that I came across was the San Antero volcano. This grabbed my attention. As I started to look more into it, I saw pictures and videos of people swimming in a pit of mud. Working in a spa, I am very aware of all the benefits of all different types of mud, but being in an area where volcanic mud is hard to come across I did not have the opportunity to try this one out. I told my boyfriend, who was also my tour guide that I had to go there.
We left his town early in the morning and after 2 buses and riding in the back of a truck we finally arrived to our destination. I know that mud is very remineralizing and it can help with all kinds of inflammations, muscle and joint pains, and it does wonders for skin problems like eczema and psoriasis. In my case, I had a wicked sun burn from spending time at the beach a few days earlier and I was anxious to see the healing mud work it’ s wonders on me.
As we walked up a hill, we arrived to the entrance of the pit. We were the clean people walking in to a population of muddy people. Anxious to join the fun, we quickly found a spot to put our stuff and got into our bathing suits. Our major concern was how much we would sink in this pit but looking at the crowd, nobody seemed to be drowning. To enter, we had two options, either jump in from up high or go in slowly, holding to cords as to not to slip and fall. Since we still weren’t convinced on the sinking part, we opted to go in slowly.
As I was making my way into the pit, I was crossing muddy bodies looking for a hand to help them out. It didn’t take long for my clean body to become dirty. I finally made my way to the surface of the mud and dipped one foot it. Ohh!! Warm and slimy, I thought, but very nice, enough to convince me to submerge myself fully. Once all in, I used the chords that ran across to pull myself towards the center. Because the mud was so thick, this ended up being quite the workout and I was once again reassured that I wouldn’t sink. In the center the mud was a bit cooler, probably because there was less action here. On the hand, it made it the perfect place to relax. I was enjoying the feeling and decided it was time to cover my face and hair. It didn’t take long for the mud to dry up in these areas but I knew it was a good thing because it was working at pulling out all the toxins. After about 30 minutes we decided to start making our way out knowing that it would take some work. It was now our turn to rely on the incomers for a helping hand.
Once out, we started removing some of the layers of mud with our hands. This mud had literally gotten everywhere and it was time to head over to the showers. Once there, I was greeted by a woman that offered to wash me for a tip. I hesitated at first, feeling funny to have other people doing things for me but quickly realized that if I was alone working to clear off the mud, it would take too much time and I’d be holding up the line. As I stood under the stream of water, she started to give me a complete scrub down. If the mud alone wasn’t enough to increase the circulation in my legs, her vigorous hands would certainly help.
When I was all cleaned up, my boyfriend noticed that my face was slightly red. I could feel it tight and tingly, which made me feel that it was working. The heating sensation I had from my sunburn was alleviated and the swelling came down. I noticed my skin went from raw burnt to flaking and healing the days following this treatment. My experience has made me a believer of the healing properties of San Antero’s volcanic mud.
