Termas de Jordán 

Trekking in the Jujuy yungas and the magic of San Francisco 

Together with great friends we arrived to San Francisco, department of Valle Grande, Jujuy, late at night, after crossing the Calilegua National Park.

In the last few years, this region has been attracting the interest of adventure seekers.

For us it was precisely that, the first stop on the route that links the Yungas with the Serranía del Hornocal, in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, during an epic extra long weekend in October.

Precisely for that reason -its brand new notoriety- although in the town there are as many lodgings as local houses, the tourist service is still a developing activity.

Both in terms of lodging and gastronomy as well as in tourist circuits, the desire of the people of San Francisco to learn how to meet the needs of visitors is noticeable.

We knew where we were going, so it was a matter of softening the expectations and adapting to the comforts that the small town offers, which in that context are a lot.

In those days it was announced an invasion of tourists to the quiet San Francisco. Therefore, without hesitation, as soon as we arrived we went to what would become the main square, the Plaza de la Pachamama, and once inside the market fortunately we were assigned to the table corresponding to Doña Norma's stall.

There were only potatoes, a few portions of chicken and a milanesa and a half left, so we ordered! When we asked for a red wine, Norma approached us with a magnum bottle of Viñas de Balbo. We explained that it was too much and that the next day we had to do the trekking to Jordan Hot Springs. With an amused smile, she replied: "With three of those, I'm just starting to get drunk!" Finally, the choice was a red Toro, the only alternative to the magnum. When we looked at the label and saw the legend "where there is a working man, there is a Toro", we could only feel the joy of someone who appreciates every place visited, every moment shared. 

We immediately knew that Norma was the first proof of the grace and sense of hospitality that awaited us.

Then, through the dirt streets we arrived at our lodging, Tía Carola, where Lucy showed us the stairs that led to our room, with private bathroom and hyper hot water. A luxury.

Our rest was somewhat interrupted first by the noise of the dogs when the night owls passed by, and then by the roosters of the town -there are hundreds of them- who made it clear that this was their empire during the whole dawn.   

We woke up early getting ready for the trip. Lucy served us breakfast with hot pastries and homemade buns and we set off to meet Nieves Huanco, the guide we had contacted some time before.

Her recommendation had been to leave very early in the morning, so as to avoid the heat on the way back and also to get to the hot springs first, before anyone else.

From the small tourist office where they took our data we went by car to the entrance, where the people who visit the hot springs, owned by native communities, are controlled. Thus began the hike along a well-marked trail, with a slight initial incline. Halfway down, the slope began to be felt. We descended to the height of the river and an intense smell of mineral began to be felt. Ever thicker and greener vegetation surrounded us, when suddenly, at the bottom appeared the emerald-colored natural spring sheltered by rocks.

We had arrived.

Ready as we were, we got ready to take a thermal bath in that wild oasis.

The water was warm, much less hot than we had expected, but the October sun helped us to relax.

When it was time to go back, we visited the mother spring from where the hyper thermal water emerges. The color of that puddle is beautiful. Such purity allows microorganisms to develop to the point of forming a film that surrounds the stones.

Nieves, along with Patricia, the other guide who accompanied us during the tour, decided to take another way back so as not to repeat the outward journey.

We went through a path encased in rocks, which in the summer season forms the course of a branch of the Jordan River.

Giant boulders cover the passageway, in which we have to go over large stones dragged by the voracity of the water after the summer rains, until at one point we reached the Stairs to Heaven, a perfect amphitheater formed by nature, a propitious place for a break in which we enjoyed snacks to recharge energy and continue the way back, in which the heat began to be felt, so we were grateful for the wise advice of our phenomenal guide. At twenty-nine years old, Nieves is not only qualified in tourism, but also trained as a special teacher and by then she also shared with us that she studies native languages.

The difficult return, uphill, was made more pleasant thanks to the company of Lucía Coppini, a fellow trekker dedicated to tourism. Although she is from Buenos Aires, she is getting closer and closer to the north because of her project aventurate.ayl that offers premium and personalized tours in Salta and Jujuy. Very interesting coincidence with another travel and challenge lover!

After such a phenomenal journey, we returned to the village in the afternoon. It was time for a good shower and a rest, but around six o'clock in the afternoon we were tempted to get to know the micro-enterprises that were developed in San Francisco, which the extraordinary Nieves had urged us to get to know. That's why we headed to that "little blue house with a grass roof", which we later learned was one of @tripticity_, the suico. 

We entered the store and to our immense joy we were welcomed by Dolores Gutierrez. Super friendly, active and determined, she began to tell us about her spirulina cultivation project, EspiruYungas. The passion with which she recounted her years of learning and the relationship she ended up having with this healing algae moved us. In fact, at one point she confessed that she feels spirulina as her fourth daughter, having baptized it with the name of Amayal, which in Quechua means purity of water. She explained that if she feels hot, then spirulina also feels hot, if she feels cold, spirulina feels cold, and that is how she knows when to cover it or uncover it. The pools where she grows it are provisional for the moment, but her goal is to finish a large stone pool soon.

Then it was Pamela's turn to tell us about her clothing micro-enterprise, Darkas, designed with dyes made from onion peel, avocado pit, walnut or tree bark.

The store also displays and offers biocosmetics products such as insect repellent and solid soaps made with natural oils that are marketed under the Nutrients brand, Nutrientes. 

These small industries were promoted in San Francisco thanks to the support of the Roemmers Foundation, a giant of the Argentine pharmaceutical industry.

The chat with Dolores was so lively that when she confessed to us that she had to leave to take care of her spirulina, we were tempted to ask her to accompany her. So Dolores climbed into the truck, the 2007 Toyota Hilux that takes @tripticity_ on her adventures, a noble chariot that unconditionally accompanies us on the most difficult off road trips, and we headed towards the pools and the organic vegetable garden of her husband, who although works as a town policeman, at her request also signed up for training to become a fruit and vegetable grower.   

There we learned about the cultivation of spirulina, then she showed us the rabbits she raises in order to use their droppings as fertilizer for the adjoining garden.

Meeting people like Dolores is not only inspiring but it feels like a shock of energy in the soul, the same as it feels to drink one of the smoothies she offers in her pantry, made from natural fruits and spirulina.

We were so entertained that we did not notice that it was already eight o'clock at night, the time when the cadet and driver of @tripticity_, who had not participated in the hike to the hot springs, had agreed with Norma for dinner. 

Early in the morning he had gone up to the market and when he found her he gave her a chat, where he learned that she had been the village's chief. She also confessed to him that she promoted tourism always taking care of the locals, giving them preference as providers of either lodging or dining facilities.

Norma had promised eight portions of vegetarian gnocchi accompanied only with tuco. And they were memorable, delicious, unforgettable as much as the rest of the night we shared celebrating that great getaway and the friendship with Mechi and Gabo, Romi and Victor, and Jero and Jose. 

The next sunrise we could not say goodbye to San Francisco without a strawberry and spirulina milkshake specially prepared by the colossal Dolores. Before leaving, it was the ideal natural energizer for the arduous road that awaited us on our way to Caspalá.

San Francisco will remain in our memory as the town where we discovered great examples, wonderful people that mobilized us. Thank you San Francisco! Thank you Nieves, Patricia, Pamela, Lucy, Norma and Dolores for your kindness and courtesy!