Lake Manyara Hot Spring - Maji Moto Ndogo
Lake Manyara National Park is a protected area in Tanzania's Arusha and Manyara Regions, situated between Lake Manyara and the Great Rift Valley. It is administered by the Tanzania National Parks Authority, and covers an area of 325 km² including about 230 km² lake surface. More than 350 bird species have been observed on the lake.
History
Since the 1920s, Lake Manyara area was used for sports hunting. In 1957, a game reserve was established. In 1960, it was given National Park status and in 1974 about 550 ha were added to the southern end. The majority of the land area of the park is a narrow strip running between the Gregory Rift wall to the west and Lake Manyara, an alkaline lake, to the east. The national park only includes the northwest quadrant of the lake, about 200 km². It is part of the much larger Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve, established in 1981 by UNESCO as part of its Man and the Biosphere Programme.
Topography
Lake Manyara is a shallow alkaline lake at an altitude of 960 m, formed in a depression in the Rift Valley System. When full, the lake is a maximum of 3.0m deep and covers two-thirds of the park. The lake has no outflow, but is fed by underground springs and by several permanent streams that drain surrounding Ngorongoro Highlands. The lake's depth and the area it covers fluctuates significantly. In extreme dry periods the surface area of the lake shrinks as the waters evaporate and at times the lake has dried up completely. In 2010, a bathymetry survey showed the lake to have an average depth 0.81 m, and a maximum depth of about 1.18 m. At its maximum during the wet season, the lake is 40 km wide by 15 km with a maximum depth of 3.7 m.
Beside the lake are extensive marshlands, saline flats (that expand in the dry season as the surface area of the lake shrinks) and a grassy floodplain. At the area near the park gate there is a tall forest, sustained by groundwater, dominated by evergreen fig and mahogany trees. On the west side of the park, the rocky escarpment of the rift valley wall rises steeply to 1,219–1,829 m. Large African baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) are scattered on the slopes. A narrow zone of dense acacia woodland grows at the base of the rift wall, on materials washed down the face.
Other features include a hippopotamus pool at the northern end of the lake and two hot springs, one near the centre of the park and the other near the southern edge. There is a hot water spring on the western shores of lake Manyara called Maji Moto hot water springs. This 60° C geothermal feature is formed by underground water that passes through hot volcanic magma rocks of the great rift valley.
[source: Wikipedia]
Hot Springs and the Rift Valley in Lake Manyara National Park
The rift valley is a linear depression or through created by sinking of intermediate crusty rocks between two or more parallel strike-slip faults.
Hot springs are found in the rift valley and are defined as springs where the temperature is significantly above that of the mean animal air temperature.
Maji Moto Ndogo - Hot Springs
According to a local belief, the hot water can be used to wash off pitch.
There's no harm in trying. 
But be careful!
The spring water becomes hot up to 75° C
(There are different sources with different specifications).
Tasks
Please send me the answer to the following questions:
- What is the origin of the water that comes from the spring and what heats up the water?
- Look at the water outflow.
What colors could you find in the water outlet to the lake?
How do you think they are created and what minerals do the colors suggest?
- Optional extra task
Bring a thermometer and determine the actual temperature at your visit.
I would be very happy to see a photo of you at the spring.
Optionally, please post a photo with a personal item, as proof that you have been on site.