Semiliki hot springs, is commonly known by locals as Sempaya ,this word if originated from a Kiswahil phrase Sehemu Mbaya meaning difficult side, this owes to steep rocks these were terrain during the construction of Fort Portal Bundibugyo road along the ridges of the Rwenzori Mountains.
The scientists have technical explanation to the origins of the hot springs, the Bamaga clan which neighbors the tourist attraction in Semuliki National park they have their own story from the flok lore.
According to the leader of Bamaga clan, the site has amazing steams commonly reoffered to us the female and male .whenever the Bamaga women could go to fetch firewood from the forests they would sight a hairy man dressed in black cloths wielding a spear moving zig zag.
The women would run back home and tell their husbands who later on got him a wife from the same village.
The man was later on known as Biteete, who continued to hunt however one day he never returned home.
After three days, some men tried to search for him, they later found a spear with no traces of man and his dog, to this present day the area is called the male hot spring. This was assumed he had disappeared from the same spot they told the wife Nyansimbi about everything, she also ran back to the forest and never returned back to the village.
During the search of the woman her clothes were found at the female hot springs. This how the two hot springs came up and commonly known as the female and male hot springs .That’s why the Bamaga clan always perform rituals at the hot springs to appease their ancestors .
