Hot springs at Boma Ngombe Trip II

Baobab tree on a hill.

I had been to the hot springs over two years ago so I figured it was time for another trip. The hot springs (perhaps a more appropriate name may be luke warm springs) is a very popular destination of tourists from both Moshi and Arusha due to the ability to visit in a day and provide a different type of activity than the usual safari and game watching.

We were actually motivated to return to the area as a result of one of our bird watching friends telling us that it is a nice area. A few months ago my sisters were here for a visit but I had to work one of the days so I sent them to the hot springs. To be honest I had somewhat forgotten about the place and due to what I had heard was over crowding on weekends I had pretty much written it off.

We also chose the trip as it is nearby and with all the rain we've been having we wanted to choose a trip that wouldn't bring too much disappointment if it was canceled. We ended up really lucking out with a cloudy and overcast morning followed by a sunny afternoon. The road to the springs isn't well marked but but straightforward enough with only a few confusing forks in the road.

The road was pretty rough after the rains we've been having and we even had to cross a small river, which is always a treat. The bird life was interesting and we enjoyed a slow pace puttering around. When we finally reached the hot springs my worst fears were realized; the place was packed. In fact, right after we pulled up, two buses came, one full of about 25 Tanzanians who promptly went to the swimming area and watched the 10 or so foreigners swimming.

I had heard the area's infrastructure was much improved and I wanted to take a peek so I insisted to the fee collector that I just wanted to take a look and much to her behest, and possibly aided by the arrival of the buses, we entered the springs and saw a new cooking area and a nicely manicured place.

I was going to stick around for one of my favorite foods, a chips mayai, but when I saw they were only just starting to peel potatoes I figured if we weren't going to even swim, it wasn't worth it.

We followed the springs south and found a few cool spots that weren't necessarily great swimming spots but were beautiful nonetheless. I will take the advice of the fee collector as she noted that Saturday and Sundays it's packed while weekdays it's almost empty. If we return on a weekday I'll bring my swimming suit!

Birding with the Masaai Mountains in the background to the south.

People enjoying the water.