Bela-Bela

The Sotho people knew this region as Bela Bela (the boiling place) but the former English name of Warmbaths is a little more obvious. The town was built near the largest of the several mineral hot-springs that punctuate the area.

A settler named Carl van Heerden was the first to establish a farm around the powerful hot-spring which bubbled up at 62°C amid a mass of soggy vegetation. When Carl drained the swamp, he found that the mud had been a death trap for elephants and other wild animals whose skeletons littered the marsh.

The warm baths soon attained considerable renown and visitors attest that the spring water has a markedly beneficial affect on them. Devotees believe that taking the waters is useful in easing rheumatism and arthritic ailments. The government purchased the hot-springs, which then became public baths and a holiday resort grew around it.

The Bela-Bela springs are rich in sodium chloride, calcium carbonate and other chemicals. They are also slightly radioactive, subjecting anything within to a small degree of radiation.

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