Travel on Film: Ojo Caliente, New Mexico
Happy almost fall, friends!
Back in May I celebrated my 30th birthday! 30! I have had this site for 10 years and have been writing on here since I was 21 years old and that is just…insane. In that time I have graduated college, worked as a charter flight attendant, moved to Colorado, and posted about travel/photography/life events sporadically. Maybe I’ll be more consistent in my 30s? I recently went back on this site and archived a lot of posts- rambling posts about feeling lost as I got closer to graduation, hopeful posts as I navigated young adult life and heartbreak, random posts with no words but only a few photos…even an old Myspace survey (why?!). It’s funny (and cringy) to look back at those posts now, but ultimately, they were only taking up space in this little corner of the internet that I love to share with you. So…cheers to a decade of life and blogging! But let’s get on with the fun stuff.
Nestled outside of Taos, Ojo Caliente is the perfect, serene oasis- I do not say this lightly at all.
Resort Info: I’ll get this out of the way now, but this place is a little pricey. If you choose to stay at the resort (which you should if you can!), there are several suite and room options that range in price from $250 – $500 per day. For our first evening there we stayed in a Plaza Suite which perfectly suited what we needed: a big bed, air conditioning, a private bathroom, small kitchenette and table, and some chairs on a covered patio. It was a perfectly nice room. Then we upgraded to a Cliffside Suite. This room was definitely a fancy upgrade. As the name suggests, we did in fact face a cliff. We had our own private pool in a private patio. And our room had a Kiva fireplace, which we enjoyed in the evenings.
We spent most of our time in the hot spring pools, soaking, and enjoying the silence. Ojo Caliente has a strict “whispering only” policy that (most) of the guests followed. This made for the perfect, truly relaxing environment. We hopped from pool to pool, testing out the different qualities they aimed to aid, such as the Arsenic Pool which is thought to help with arthritic pain. There are also plenty of hammocks, chairs, a mud pool, a sauna, and private pools you can rent. As a birthday treat, Kevin and I both got massages and let me tell you, I don’t think I have ever been so relaxed before.
My only qualm with this place was the lack of food options. There is a main restaurant and a bar area. with the same menu everyday. We would have loved to drive to get other food options, but it didn’t seem like there were any restaurants outside of the resort. Still, the food we got was delicious (but pricey), and we enjoyed the meals we had there.
Hiking: What I did especially love about the resort (obviously aside from the springs) was the ability to hike from the resort! We started our morning with breakfast and then embarked on a hike that overlooked ancestorial Puebloan land. We completed the P’osi Ruins trail where you can see fragments of pottery throughout the trail. We had a great time bird watching and enjoying the views before heading back down for lunch and a private soak.
Film Info: As always, I took one too many cameras on this trip. I shot Portra 400 on my Contax G1, a Kodak Ektar H35 (half frame) with Kodak Gold 200, and an Olympus Stylus Epic with Ilforfd HP5. I never used to shoot black and white film, but ever since this trip I consistently keep a roll in a camera now. Plus, I had my newer Fujifilm X100v, but this is a film post. If you do care though, I post way more photos (and more consistently) over on my ‘gram.
Conclusion: Would I go back? Absolutely, I would. I’d need to save a pretty penny again ahead of time, but I would repeat this exact trip, and maybe try to stay one more day. I do hear there is another Ojo Caliente in Santa Fe though…so it may be worth another New Mexico trip in the future…
Well, ’tis all for now, friends! I’d love to hear if anyone has been to any Ojo Caliente or similar type of resort in the US (or abroad!)
Until next time!
-Mary A.
The Life Of Mary Reyes 