TANZANIA is soon going to start promoting a circle of magic pools in Ruaha National Park, natural wells whose water contents are believed to cure a number of human health ailments.

MarckyFarreny Rwezaula, a senior conservation officer said in an interview here yesterday that just like the ‘Pool of Bethsaida’ in prophetic books, the magic well in the middle of Ruaha National Park may serve as a centre of medical tourism.

Visitors who seek cures to look younger, heal acne and other skin ailments, as well as relaxing in an outdoor bathtub while gazing at wildlife are likely to think of visiting the park for a stay at the site, he said.

Located some 60 kilometers from Ulanga ranger’s post in the vast park, the pool of gushing water shooting from underground is poised to be added to the country’s tourist attractions, with a team of experts from South Africa having confirmed the healing property of the pool water, he stated.

The park management is building a natural and outdoor Jacuzzi into which people soak into the warm water spring, with expectations that from the first day of July 2024 the magic pool site will open to visitors.

“We anticipate positive reactions from people who sample the waters of our natural hot springs,” she said, noting that the natural magic pool is located close to the Great Ruaha as it flows through the park.

It has been found to have outstanding properties of healing dermatology complications and clearing the skin of wrinkles, making a person look younger after a series of soaking in its water, thus the comparison with the Biblical pool, she elaborated.

Gasper Kahabi, a tourism officer at the park, affirmed that the water is at its point of gushing out of the earth extremely hot, “capable of boiling meat into tenderness,” thus it is channelled through rock-etched channels into pools so that the natural piping cools down the water.

Roads and walk routes to the pool site will be built from the various entry points to the park, while in future accommodation facilities will be established near the area, he said, vibrant on the sparkling prospects of the park, the second largest in the country after the Selous, now renamed Julius Nyerere. Authorities say Ruaha is mapped within 20,000 square kilometers, with more than 70 percent of its area yet to be fully explored, home to 15,000 giant elephants.

It also harbours over 20,000 buffaloes, 575 bird species, 300 ostriches, 15 species of reptiles, including oversized crocodiles and snakes, prides of rather big lions, and other exciting wildlife species.