Yesterday, we were invited by some friends to join them for the day at some hot springs near the Tanzanian village of Boma'Ngombe (you can read a little about this village in the blog post 'Ice Cream Kids' which I wrote over here). Despite having lived in Tanzania for over a decade, and in this particular area for over 4 years now, we had never heard of these hot springs before ! (But that's Africa for you - always full of unexpected surprises !) (Because I know that my blog is often found through Google searches by people researching travel in Tanzania, I will include directions on how to get to these hot springs at the end of this blog post - so scroll down to the very end if you'd like to read those).
The springs are just under 2 hours drive from our farm, and the scenery along the way was really pretty. Most of the landscape we drove through was very dry & rocky.
The areas we drove through were not very densely populated, and as you can see by the photo above, the road (although dirt all the way) is in quite good condition. (By African standards, that is !) There was one particularly bad section of road which only lasted for about 1 kilometre, but during the rainy season large sections of the road could be very difficult to drive on.
As we approached the springs, we passed through a small village where we were flagged down by two friendly Mama's who had been out collecting firewood. They asked us if we'd like a guide to show us exactly how to get to the springs, and a young man quickly ran up behind them, smiling and shaking our hands and welcoming us to the area. We decided to make use of his services (as we had taken a few wrong turns along the way already !) so he hopped into our vehicle with us, and off we went. The photo above shows the 'car park' area at the entrance to the springs. As you can see, it's very flat and quite a barren looking part of the landscape.
There are 3 springs/pools and the one pictured above is a smaller, shallower one which the guide told us was perfect for children to swim in. (Cattle had obviously been here drinking quite recently as there was a lot of excrement on the surrounding rocks - which made it quite impossible to use this pool !)
The pool in the photo above actually runs from the 'cattle drinking kiddies pool' in the first picture, with a small waterfall tumbling over rocks between the two (my photo of the waterfall did not come out very well though). This pool seemed to be a popular spot for people to come and bath & wash their clothes in (!!)
The pool pictured above was the largest and most popular pool. It had a gorgeous green colour to it and you could see right down to the smooth, clear rocks at the bottom. When we arrived it was very crowded, but as the day wore on there were less people there so it was much more pleasant. We were with a group of friends totalling 10 adults and 8 children, and we strung a rope up on one of the tree branches and everyone had great fun swinging into the water 'Tarzan' style ! (No, I did not attempt this or even swim yesterday as there was no way I was squeezing my almost 8 month pregnant body into a bikini - thank you very much !)We had all brought food with us, so had a lovely selection of salads, breads and sauces and one family had brought a cold roast leg of lamb to share with everyone and we also cooked meat on the barbecue - fresh tuna caught recently off the Tanzanian coast (Pangani region), beef, pork, chicken and sausages (the kids had 'hot dogs'). We finished the day off with an Easter egg hunt for the kids, as someone had brought a bag of Eggs with them and the children had a great time hunting around the trees and surrounding bush for them !
All in all it was a lovely day, although facilites such as toilets, barbecue grids, dustbins for throwing away all your rubbish at the end of the day etc are are non existent but then you are, after all, in the wilds of the Tanzanian bush (crocodiles have been reported in the area but I honestly don't know whether the story about them eating 2 overland/backpackers several years ago out of the main pool late one night are true ?) so this is to be expected but the upside of things is that you really are in a beautiful & scenic part of the country, where the people are friendly and welcoming and a fun filled day can be had by all !
Actually, speaking of toilets - they did have a couple set up - but they are going to be the main feature of my blog post on Wednesday (since posted - you can read it here) .... because I just know that you'd love to see what I'm talking about ! (And yes, my husband has once again rolled his eyes that I am doing a blog post on toilets and wonders why on earth anyone would be interested in reading about them ?!?!)
Directions & Tips if you plan to visit the hot springs -:
In the village of Boma'Ngombe (in the district of Hai), take the first (dirt) road to your right immediately after the red/white 'Mr Price' shop. The road weaves through some small village's, keep straight/to the wider section of the road. You'll cross a railway line - continue over this. There are lots of smaller roads off the 'main' road, stick to wider section of the road at all times. We stopped often to ask passerby if we were on the right road to 'Maji Moto' (Hot Water) or 'Chem Chemi Maji Moto' which seems to be the local name used for the hot springs. We picked up a passerby to come with us in the car to guide us the last part of the journey - he charged us 2000/= Tanzanian shillings for this.
The total distance from the tar road/Boma'Ngombe turn off to the springs, is around 16 to 18 km's (but took us a little under an hour).
When you arrive at the site of the hot springs, you'll be approached by a local village representative who will ask you to pay an entrance fee of 3000/= Tanzanian shillings per person, & you'll be given a handwritten receipt for this (same price for children). He'll also show you around the springs if you ask. It's safe to leave your car parked there unguarded as the village representatives stayed in the carpark all day.
The area surrounding the springs where you can picnic is well shaded so you don't need to take an umbrella. It's a good idea to take blankets/chairs to sit on. If you plan on having a barbecue, no facilities are provided for this so take your own grids, charcoal etc. There is no running water or kiosk selling any sort of refreshments, so take your own. Toilet facilities are almost non existent, best to use the surrounding bush & to take your own toilet paper ! There are no rubbish/litter bins so take empty containers with you to bring your rubbish back with you. (Plastic bags have recently been banned in Tanzania).
We went on a Sunday & it was quite busy with a tour bus of what seemed to be a Church group of some sort. So get there early if you can, to pick a good spot. The springs were not actually hot per se, but rather like tepid bath water and still very pleasant.
I believe that you can also camp out for the night around this area (bring all your own equipment though) but am not sure what the fee's are for this.
One of the lesser known 'things to do' in Tanzania, a visit to these hot springs is all in all a lovely day out and easily accessible as a day trip from the towns of either Moshi, Arusha, USA River or the Kilimanjaro International Airport. I believe that this is a particularly popular spot with backpackers, overlanders and people who have recently climbed Kilimanjaro and are looking for a bit of R & R before heading back home again.
