On Sunday, after a couple of days inside my mom’s place and two malls — it was raining a lot — (fyi, i HATE malls) I was feeling claustrophobic. My mom, who became an excellent hedonist after her retirement, knew exactly where to take me: hot springs.
A two hour drive across the “Sabana de Bogota” (Bogota’s plateau) brought us to “Los Volcanes” (The Volcanoes), a very rustic hot springs center, after a quick stop to drink “masato” — a grain fermented drink, in this case rice with sugar, cinnamon, and clove fermented in a clay pot that has been buried and yields a sweet and deliciously sour potion.
Hot springs was just what I needed: warming, comforting, healing. Two hours went by effortlessly bringing wellness and hunger. We drove to a beautiful restaurant by the Sisga reservoir. Weather was gorgeous so we could see the reservoir in all its magnificence, surrounded by mountains with snippets of different grasses, forests, and crops like a huge, uneven quilt.
The reservoir is abundant with trout, so that was the obvious election for lunch. I got it broiled with a white mushroom sauce, my mom went for the one “al ajillo” — with garlic paste. They were fresh and tender, not even the skin — yes, I eat it — tasted fishy. I ate a portion that would’ve seemed too big under different circumstances with gusto.
For dessert, one of those fruits I had forgotten about: chirimoya — a.k.a, as cherimoya or custard apple. We were lucky, chirimoyas are not easy to find. From a website, I learned that “the cherimoya is often considered one of the best-tasting fruits in the world, its commercial production hampered by its short shelf-life, often tender skin and difficulty harvesting the fruit. The cherimoya’s rich and creamy pulp, with a hint of a sweet fruity flavor, makes an excellent dessert fruit and is becoming increasingly popular in temperate climates”. Chirimoyas are native to the mountains of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
It was just what I was looking for… local delicious food after feeling relaxed and renewed. As my brother Juan Carlos says, this is the life I deserve 
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