Why a Mud Volcano is the Must-Try Beauty Experience in Cartagena
Mud is surprisingly good for your skin. (Photo: Alexander Straulino/Trunk Archive)
You’ve heard of mud baths, mud masks, and even mud wrestling. But floating in a mud volcano? Not so common. Take it from me, it’s an experience you need to have in your lifetime. It can be had 45 minutes from the exceedingly charming colonial town of Cartagena, Colombia. Legend has it a shaman turned El Totumo from a traditional volcano spewing blistering lava into one filled with cool, super buoyant, therapeutic gray mud. Now the mud volcano is a landmark with its own little micro-economy, where dozens of locals put visitors through their muddy paces.
Always on the search for weird wellness and beauty rituals to try, I decided the volcano was a must on my recent trip to Colombia. Just past a stand holding bottled mud to go, I climbed the rickety wooden steps up what looked like a large anthill to a platform at the top — 49 feet. There, two dozen people in bikinis and swim trunks waited, looking down into the mouth where another dozen floated, covered in the slick, scent-free mud. It was bizarre.
The Volcano in Cartagena. Photo courtesy of the author.
It wasn’t until my turn that I recognized the bliss and joy that could come from bobbing around in a supposedly 2,000-feet-deep vat of mud. After handing my iPhone to the “official” camera guy who would ensure an Instagram-worthy photo op, I carefully descended the ladder and slipped soundlessly into a supine position. Though everyone else seemed very buoyant, I was worried about floating. I notoriously don’t — my right leg sinks first, then my left, then the whole ship goes down. But when, without a word, one of the local massage guys began rubbing me down, I miraculously stayed right on the surface. He gently covered me nose to toe in the thick, slightly gritty mud, which elicited a sensation of getting a light exfoliation as he massaged my legs, back, arms and even stomach in long sweeping motions.
A volcanic mud bath in Cartagena. Photo courtesy of the author.
Initially I held some tension in my neck, thinking it would sink if I didn’t. But when my guy started massaging my neck I totally let it go. Surprise surprise, it stayed up. After the massage, which I could have enjoyed for hours, I discovered the most mind-boggling thing: I could float in a vertical standing position. No doggy paddle necessary, totally suspended. When my sister tried to push my shoulders down and dunk me, I didn’t budge. I imagine it’s the closest you could get to zero-gravity without going to space.
When I emerged, a guy squeegeed me off at the top of the ladder and said “cuidado” (careful) as I slowly descended the slippery steps. At the bottom, a local woman grabbed my hand and led me to the nearby lagoon, where she bathed me like a newborn. As I sat on the sandy bottom, she dumped buckets of water over my head, leaving me sputtering, then deftly removed my bikini top to wash while I clutched my chest. Initially it was a little traumatic — especially when I realized the men were having their trunks removed, too — but ultimately it was all part of the once-in-a-lifetime experience. And, after tipping everyone involved, getting a fresh coconut, and air-drying off, I realized my skin was baby’s bottom-soft.
Covered in volcanic mud. Photo courtesy of the author.
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