The Climb

This trip was entirely organized by Mr Mechanic: transportation, tents, food, cook, and guide. He also brought a few friends who had experience climbing other major peaks in Tanzania (Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro) to make it a group climb.
Thanks, Love! I had a great time because you thought of everything.

Visibility

I knew it was a night climb, but I did not expect it to be such a trust exercise!
Climbing up a steep path and only able to see as far as your headlamp can illuminate was a new experience.
Whenever we took a pause, our whole group would turn off all sources of light and stand in awe of the complete black. It was a moonless night, making the stars incredible but everything on the volcano absolutely dark.

Because it was pitch black, we couldn’t tell how far we had climbed or how much further we had to go – again, a mental push for all the climbers.

About 40 minutes before we reached the summit I could start to make out the top of the volcano, a dark rock against an increasingly lighter grey sky. Seeing the end in sight gave me motivation to push even harder and I was the first in our group to reach the top!

Okay, in all honesty, the guide was RIGHT next to me, but hung back the last few steps so I could say I was the first. He’s climbed it countless times and I wanted the bragging rights!

It was very cloudy on top, and while we reached in time for sunrise, we couldn’t see anything but white clouds. Even the crater was just a mysterious shrouded void.
But I believed the guide when he told me there was hot magma inside. I told myself “that’s faith” because I was NOT going to try and get a closer look.

We spent a short while walking around part of the crater, but it was very cold and windy on top (and we couldn’t see past the clouds), so we didn’t stay for long.
Also, keep in mind that we had been awake since midnight and it was now 7 am. Time to head back and get some sleep!

Fitness/Physical side

I loved the climb up. It was challenging and invigorating, without wiping me out. The last portion of the climb is so steep that I had to use my hands and hold on to the edges of previously melted rock and pull myself up – as a rock climber, this was awesome!
It felt like ‘scrambling’ at the end of a (rock climbing) climb.

The way down? Oh… this was the biggest challenge. Not because it was exactly hard or physically straining, but because of how steep the volcano is.
After walking UP for 6-7 hours, now you have to walk DOWN, and it uses a different set of leg muscles. And, you need to be very slow and careful, using fine balancing muscles much more than on an ordinary day.
Have you ever gone down a great deal of stairs or a descent and your legs/calves began to shake a little involuntarily?
That’s exactly it – the balancing muscles are getting a work out.
But this is a 6 hour climb down.
And you couldn’t rush it – that would mean sliding on the ash, slipping on some of the steep rock and sliding down the side of the volcano. There are a few deep gorges and huge lava-carved caverns to the sides of the trail. You do NOT want to fall down there.

At the steepest parts, I simply sat down and scooted on my butt. Safety first, people, safety first.

If you want to prepare for Ol Doinyo Lengai, do a LOT of stairs, or workout on a StairMaster to train the specific muscles used. Also, try some yoga/balancing exercises to prepare your legs for the descent.

I only felt the altitude at the very end; this is not a climb that you need intensive cardio training to prepare for high altitudes. Stairs and steep hills are your best bet to get your legs strong and get you to the top.

Advice

• Hiking shoes with GREAT tread
  The poor guy who walked in front of me wore basketball shoes. He made it up the volcano, but he did double the work because every three steps he would slip one step back and have to repeat that lost step.
• Rain jacket
  We were inside a cloud the entire way down. I couldn’t tell if it was just the moisture of the cloud or actual drizzling, but either way, we all got wet, and you do not want to be soaking wet for hours, that’s not comfortable.
  Someone in our group brought an umbrella – that’s just not practical, folks; you are hiking a volcano, not walking to the market.
• Gloves – x2
  I just brought a pair of simple gardening gloves with rubberized grips along the palms. They were perfect for the end of the climb when I needed to grip rocks or solidified ash to make my way up.
  These gloves got very dirty and wet, which was fine because I packed a second pair of simple warm cotton gloves, so when we were shivering in the wind and cold on top, I put on my second pair of gloves and my hands felt nice and warm.
• Double-layer your pants.
  I had been warned about the climb down, so I prepared with a pair of exercise leggings underneath my hiking pants. Scooting down was much, much easier with the extra layer!
• Walking sticks
  This is a personal preference thing, do you like hiking with sticks? go for it! I personally did not like hiking up with them and after the first few minutes collapsed them and strapped them to my pack.
  However, on the way down, I used one walking stick like a little cane and boy did that ‘third leg’ effect help! It really made balancing on the way down easier. I didn’t see anyone in our group climbing down with two sticks, though, we all used the method of just one walking stick for balance.
• Aim for a group of 5 or less.
  We went with a group of 7, and it felt too big for my taste. The guide had to ask us to stop several times for the rest of our group to catch up. On the way down, with the dense clouds, we also had to pause a few times to ensure everyone was present and safe.
  I think 4 people or less, plus a guide is a great number.
• Bring Snacks!
  I did this. I packed banana chips, an apple, and some cookies. But no one else in our group did. Except, the guide, who pulled out a foil-wrapped roast goat leg and started hacking off bits of it with his machete.
  YIKES!!!
  He offered to share with me, but roasted goat is not my idea of a midnight snack.
  But get this: the rest of our group just expected to wait until we returned to the campsite at MIDDAY.
  I couldn’t just eat in front of everybody, so I shared my little snack. Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t multiply it to feed the whole group and have leftovers remaining, so I was ravenous by the time we returned to camp. That whole hangry thing, you should avoid that.
  Next time, I am bringing snacks for everybody. And everyone in the group helps to carry them up, and then there will be enough for us all to have a little picnic up top.

Ol Doinyo Lengai is a fascinating volcano and has been under research for years. It is the only volcano in the world that spews natro-carbonatite lava, and recently discovered sites around Lake Natron have revealed more information about volcanoes, lava and the life of early man, but that’s for another post, another day!
See more photos of our climb here.

Read more information about Ol Doinyo Lengai at the links below:
Al Jazeera Video
Smithsonian Institute Volcanism Progam’s Report
Volcano Discovery Page