Every time we turned a corner, I thought we would plunge into the silvery Lake Kivu below, but Jean – my moto taxi conductor – chirped merrily away, completely ignorant of my terror.

Jean Damascene Nsengiyunva was telling me about the place that I had set myself to see: the Gisenyi hot springs. He kept referring to them as ‘magic waters’.

"Do you want to bathe in the magic waters?” he asked more than once.

As it turned out, Jean is just one member of an entire community that is convinced of the therapeutic properties of the steaming springs of Gisenyi.

Indeed, it is a custom for people here to come for a bath in the hot springs whenever they experience any illness or discomfort.

‘Motos’ making a killing

Visiting the hot springs for a cure is not news here- they attract lots of visitors all through the year.

One group that is making a killing from the constant stream of visitors is the moto taxi operators. Nsengiyunva, who works in Gisenyi town centre, says that Saturday and Sunday are his busiest days because he transports all kinds of people and they rarely haggle over whatever price he asks.

"Because I have many clients over the weekend, I only charge a few francs, just Rwf 3000, which includes traveling to and fro,” he explains, a sly smile playing on his lips.

Enter the village sick bay

The hot springs are about 2km from Bralirwa, the beer and soft drinks manufacturer, just above an elevated cliff.

The corners are visible with deposition of silt, oxidized Sulphur and lime deposits.

Obviously this composition would require a lot of time to understand all the physical processes behind this hot "bath tub” but it was clear visitors were having a good time and cared less.

Bare-chested men lying peacefully in the waters, children boiling eggs in tins under poached openings of the well, every one defended his actions saying that it is much healthier to prepare food there.

A drink of the water after eating does much more in aiding digestion or clearing any congestion within the stomach, one of the residents claimed.

And without a doubt this has become the sick bay for the village of Nyamyumba.

"It is rare to find local residents going to hospitals for any sort of illness. All they do is to come and take a bath here,” says Marie Chantal Ayinkamiye who is in her late 60s.

Even with these claims, she is an example and continues to assert that it has been her solution to sickness and knows little of medical centres.

"When I feel ill, I wake up very early in the morning and find my way down to the hot water, and in just a few hours my ailments are gone,” Ayinkamiye said.

"For flu, stress and chest pain, there is no need to visit a health facility”.

According to her, only cough and stomach problems require drinking water but the other common ailments such as joint pains disappear after contact with the magical waters.

She insists that if she had no access to these waters, she would not have lived this long since the cure has always been used by her family.

Her views are not any different from 42 year Veronica Niyibizi who has endless arguments in defense of the healing properties of the water. 

"My son used to get congestion in the throat when it became cold and his skin would itch a lot. It was not until we told him to bathe at least twice a week in the hot spring that he felt better,” she explained.

Tourists flocking to the site

The hot springs are not only a place for local residents to seek cures but people also travel long distances to the healing water.

Residents also explain that tourists come to take a bath because they have learnt that there is natural medicine here.

For seventeen years, Emmanuel Nsengimana has been crossing the border from Congo to come and enjoy the water. He explained that he was advised to wash in the ‘magic’ water because of the salt in it has healing powers.

"This is why I always carry an empty bottle once I finish taking a shower, I can drink part of this water before returning home although the bottle is basically for me to carry home for use in case I get any complications like stomach problems,” Nsengimana claims.

Maintaining privacy

Despite the fact that there are no specific authorities watching over the hot springs getting access, the locals have dedicated one wing to men and the other to women for privacy reasons, but maintain that there are no strict limits to bathe in either wings.

Yvette Kabahozo, a resident also shared with us her experience with the hot springs  and said that it is her routine to spend more time in the hot springs in the women’s wing.

"I spend like 2 hours daily and after that I also take some water through the bottle, it is on the women side that I feel more comfortable and most times I come with my family here so we may want to chose one side where we can stay,” Kabahozo says.

Although many residents agree that the hot springs have medicinal process, they are unaware that research has been done in support of salty waters. 

Medical benefits of hot springs

A lot of research on hot springs reveals that if you suffer from chronic muscle pain, arthritis or even fibromyalgia, soaking in a pool of hot-spring water can effectively reduce pain.

An Israeli study found in the journal "Rheumatology International,” shows evidence that hot mineral baths may aid in pain relief and fibromyalgia fatigue.

Additionally, when one’s body is submerged in hot-springs, it encourages free movement by naturally supporting your joints.

Also a recent study at the US based Mayo Clinic found that soaking in a hot bath gives many of the health benefits of exercise with less strain on the heart whereas soaking in a hot bath increases the heart rate while it lowers blood pressure rather than raising it as does other forms of exercise.

It also points out that immersing in hot water speeds up the heart rate to send blood to the surface and disperse extra body heat into the air. But after a few minutes, the warm blood causes the blood vessels to dilate, which lessens resistance to blood flow and lowers the blood pressure.

Most studies therefore agree that the water found in natural hot springs contains a variety of different minerals, including calcium and sodium bicarbonate and when you take a bath, your skin soaks in these minerals and your hydrostatic pressure rises which improves blood circulation.

But Dr Osee Sebatunzi, the director of Kibagabaga hospital does not completely concur with the medicinal claims of the Gisenyi hot springs because there has been no concrete research its benefits.

"I want to believe that most of these complaints are myths, you cannot just cure an illness that you have not diagnosed,” he said. 

"It is only after proper medical research that we can conclude about the health benefits of the hot springs”.

Although more people continue to believe in the magical waters, it is unfortunate that their immediate environment seems neglected..

In the meantime, the residents and the visitors to the natural phenomenon of Gisenyi can continue enjoying and singing its endless benefits. After all, health of mind and body is the greatest wealth anyone can have!