Wikki Warm Springs

Wikki Warm Springs in Yankari National Park, Bauchi State, Nigeria, is one of West Africa's most extraordinary natural phenomena — a natural spring where water at a constant 31.5°C and extraordinary clarity emerges from underground limestone aquifers and flows through a lush riverine forest frequented by elephants, baboons, and hippos, creating an unparalleled wildlife swimming experience in the heart of Africa. The springs, the centrepiece of Nigeria's premier game reserve, have been used for bathing by travellers and wildlife viewers since colonial times, and the combination of limpid warm water, mega-fauna wildlife encounters, and the surrounding baobab and mahogany woodland of the Nigerian savannah creates a genuinely unique African thermal experience. Yankari's concentration of elephants — one of the largest remaining in West Africa — and its remarkable spring system make it one of the continent's most distinctive wildlife and thermal destinations.