Aguas Termales La Calera

Aguas Termales La Calera are located in Macari, in the Puno region of southern Peru, on the Andean altiplano at over 4,000 metres above sea level. Macari is a rural district in Melgar Province, set in open puna grassland where Quechua-speaking communities have raised llamas and alpacas for centuries. Geothermal springs here are a geographical rarity that breaks the cold austerity of the plateau.

The water is thermal and bicarbonate in composition, emerging at 37 °C with an alkaline pH of 8.0 — warm enough to be a genuine refuge from the sharp altiplano temperatures, and with a mineral softness that characterises bicarbonate waters. The alkaline composition makes the water feel gentle and smooth, a striking contrast to the dry, thin air of the high plateau. Bathing here, surrounded by the vast silence of the Puno puna, under an intense Andean sky, with camelid herds grazing nearby, is an experience of rare, unmediated authenticity.