Puritama Hot Springs (Spanish: ''Termas Baños de Puritama'') is a series of eight large pools of geothermal spring water located at the bottom of a canyon in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

, in the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

in the north of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. It is located at an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of 3,475

meters above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The com ...

, 30 km northeast of the town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. ...

and 348 km northeast of

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

, and is a popular tourist attraction. The springs stretch over a length of about of the Puritama River, which has cut a winding valley.

Travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

deposits have been reported from the area.

Attractions

The hot springs are managed by now, since 2011, the Explora hotel, charging for $15,000 Chilean pesos to get in (Spanish: ''Consejo de pueblos Atacameños'') who are responsible for maintaining the modern tourist facilities. Facilities include the outdoor pools connected by wooden footpaths, some waterfalls, and changing rooms. The town of

was declared a “traditional zone” (Spanish: "Zona típica") in 1980. In 2007, the springs were the subject of a legal controversy between the hotel and the Atacameno community, with the latter charging that the hotel was taking over the springs. Nearby, other places to visit include the Valley of the Moon, Atacama Salt Flat, the characteristic town of Toconao,

Los Flamencos National Reserve Los Flamencos National Reserve is a nature reserve located in the commune of San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region of northern Chile. The reserve covers a total area of in the Central Andean dry puna ecoregion and consists of seven separate sec ...

and the

El Tatio El Tatio is a geothermal field with many geysers located in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile at above mean sea level. It is the third-largest geyser field in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Various meanings have been ...

Geysers.

Activities

The Puritama Hot Springs were known for centuries and used for medicinal purposes by the local

Atacama people The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia, mainly Antofagasta Region. According to the Argentinean Census in 2010, 13,93 ...

, or Atacameño. However, they only opened to the public relatively recently. The sodium sulfate waters are recommended for

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including ar ...

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

, physical fatigue and other ailments.

References

External links

Puritama on www.visitchile.comTermas de PuritamaSan Pedro de Atacama on www.thisischile.cl
Hot springs of Chile Landforms of Atacama Region Tourist attractions in Atacama Region {{Antofagasta-geo-stub

Attractions

Activities

See also

References

External links