Sempaya Hot Springs

Sempaya Hot Springs in Semliki National Park in western Uganda are among the most powerful and spectacular geothermal sites in East Africa, where two distinct hot springs — the female Bintente and the male Nyasimbi — erupt with such force and at such extreme temperatures that they boil eggs placed in the superheated water in under four minutes, a practice traditionally associated with the Batwa pygmy people who have inhabited the Semliki forest for thousands of years and regard the springs as sacred thermal gifts of the earth. The Semliki Valley where the springs are situated is one of Africa's most biodiverse habitats, a lowland forest connecting the Congo Basin rainforest to the East African savanna and harbouring over four hundred bird species, chimpanzees, and forest elephants accessible via guided walks departing from the spring site itself. The combination of boiling geothermal springs, ancient Batwa cultural heritage, Congo Basin forest biodiversity, and the towering backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountains — the legendary Snow Mountains of the Moon — makes Sempaya one of Africa's most extraordinary multi-dimensional natural heritage experiences.