Moshi's Paradise - The Hot Springs

The first glimpse of the springs

Cool rope swing into the pool

Our recent trip to the Hot Springs right outside Moshi was one of my personal highlights thus far. For such a beautiful place, the Hot Springs are hidden away and unadvertised in Moshi.  No signs line the dirt roads there, you pass through a few little villages, take some crazy turns, pass some Maasai herding cattle and goats, offroad a bit and suddenly you find yourself at a true oasis. Moshi gets increasingly hot as the year comes to an end, and the blistering heat can really sap your energy to do anything. So in the midst of an endless dusty area, the appearance of the cool and shady Springs surprised me.

Now when I say Hot Springs, it doesn't actually mean they were hot. No picture of a jacuzzi should be forming in your mind. Most of the water that flows through Moshi comes from the snow melt or glaciers on top of Mt Kilimanjaro. So swimming in that is beyond cold--even on the hottest day, you would only enjoy a few minutes in that water. The Hot Springs, on the other hand, flow from Kili through some heated underground thermal areas, and come out to be cold and refreshing but not icy.  The water is a perfect temperature for swimming. Just make sure that swimming is done during the daytime only, apparently at night, it is home to many hungry crocodiles.

Look at that water!! Crystal clear!

We swam for hours, enjoying the clear water and shade. The water is clear enough to see all the fish swimming around the bottom -- some of the fish delight in nibbling the dead skin off your feet, which terrified me at first, but I adjusted to the ticklish feeling after a bit. Some parts of the pool have underwater caves that you can peek into when you're swimming around.  But the most fun came from the rope swing into the water, and the overhanging trees which some of our group enjoyed monkeying around and jumping from into the water.  We swam and relaxed until our skin shriveled - had a lunch picnic and then swam some more.  

Lovely ladies enjoying the water!