Thousands of years of calcium carbonate-laden water cascading over cliff edges have formed the rock formation known as Hierve el Agua (literally “the water boils”). Roughly 70km east of Oaxaca City, the formation appears as frozen waterfalls proudly jutting out from the mottled green hillsides. Jordan and I, along with our travel companions for the next week or so, Jenna and Jon, camped here on our way out of Oaxaca and towards the coast.
The final approach to the site involved a rough dirt road along the mountainside. At a closed section of the road that our maps told us was the way to the campsite, we threw caution to the wind and moved the roadblock out of the way. After all, it was a weekend and past working hours. Two minutes later, we found ourselves backtracking after discovering that the roadblock was in place because the road ended in a mudslide shortly past that point. Lesson learned and we made it to the campsite just past dark via an alternate, tope-covered route.
We awoke with the sun to a nearly deserted place. The top of the “falls” is covered with a touristic area of shops, eateries and cabanas, along which lies the campground. Looking over the cliff, down towards the mineral springs, we saw only one other lone camper taking in the sunrise.
As a group, we do not move quickly in the mornings and by the time we had dressed and prepared coffee, the first tour group of the day had arrived, delivering a clutch of people to the clifftop. We waited them out and then dove in the infinity pool of a mineral spring that abutted the cliff’s edge. The water was far from boiling.
We swam for a while and when we felt cold enough, we dried off and hiked around the clifftops, taking in the surrealistic curves of the water-sculpted carbonate. The views were impressive and trails along the valley floor and up the steep mountain slope tempted us, but with a long drive still ahead of us, we finally packed up and hit the road in search of one last surf break before our time in Mexico came to an end.
