Aguas Calientes de Colca

The Aguas Calientes de Colca are thermal pools tucked dramatically at the base of Colca Canyon in the Arequipa region of southern Peru, one of the world's deepest gorges and home to the legendary Andean condor soaring on thermal currents above the precipitous walls. Fed by bicarbonate-rich geothermal springs warmed by volcanic activity beneath the Andean cordillera, the pools offer a sublime contrast between soothing warm mineral water and canyon walls rising hundreds of metres above. Bathing here at dawn — with golden light filtering into the gorge and condors circling overhead — is an experience that encapsulates the raw grandeur of the Peruvian Andes at its most breathtaking.