El Totumo

Entertainment & Arts

South America, Colombia, Santa Catalina

El Totumo Mud Volcano (Spanish: Volcán de Lodo El Totumo) is a mud volcano located in northern Colombia in the municipality of Santa Catalina. A local tourist destination, popular for its alleged healing mud-bath, it receives most of its visitors from nearby Cartagena. The mound itself raises at about 15 m (49 ft) and it is serviced by an accessible staircase that leads to the crater, which can accommodate about 10 to 15 people at a time; there, tourists bathe in the dense warm mud and have the option of receiving personal massages from the attendants. The experience is then followed by a bath to remove the mud in a nearby lagoon. According to local lore, the volcano used to spew fire, lava, and ashes, but it was turned into mud by a local priest who believed it was the work of the Devil, and ensued to banish him by sprinkling holy water into it.