MOUNTAIN NYIRAGONGO IN DRC
Mount Nyiragongo is Congo’s beauty and one of the top tourist destinations attracting thousands of travelers to come and hike the amazing active volcano to the top and just have a glimpse at the ever fuming world’s largest lava lake.
When we talk of safaris in east and central Africa, probably you think of Rwanda or Uganda’s gorilla trekking tours, which are the extreme activities that most travelers have continuously engaged in tirelessly because of the thrilling experiences they offer.
Or perhaps on the mention of safaris in Africa, the first thought goes to visiting the source of the great Nile River and maybe some famous national parks like Queen Elizabeth, Murchison falls, Bwindi and Volcanoes national parks in Uganda and Rwanda that most people have visited and told you beautiful stories.
But, for the curious travelers have gone forward to explore the virgin places in Africa that even some of the world’s greatest travelers have not yet visited.
Speaking of the unexploited destinations in Africa, first on the list comes Mountain Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is an active stratovolcano elevating to approximately 3,470 metres.
Located just inside the oldest National Park of Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mount Nyiragongo is one of the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine rift valley. It is about 20 km north of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda, making the mountain an ideal supplement on a safari in Rwanda too.
The ominous figure of mountain Nyiragongo is absolutely one of the main attractions in Virunga National Park. The smoothly sloping sides of this active stratovolcano allow hikers to reach its peak in just a day, giving them spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and forests. At the end of the hike, trekkers are rewarded with a glance at the world’s largest lava lake and shelters perched along the crater rim.
The lower slopes of the volcano are forested and habitat a variety of animals ranging from the bushbucks, the blue monkeys, colobus monkeys and baboons also including man’s closest ape the chimpanzees.
Explore the western arm of the Albertine rift that emerges up to the ascent of a 1.2 km diameter summit teeming with devoid vegetation of heathers and ferns healing from the violent volcanic eruptions that left thousands of people homeless in the nearby town of Goma in 2002.Putting aside its landscape, Mountain Nyiragongo has a 2km wide crater on its top.
This crater has two detached lava benches that cooled within the crater walls. One lava bench is about 3,175 metres and the other one is about 2,975 m. The most voluminous lava lake in today’s history with a depth of over 3200 metres, is situated on the top of mount Nyiragongo.
Trek to the top of Nyiragongo Mountain and come across the world’s largest crater cut into the side of the volcano remaining as the evident scars of Nyiragongo’s most recent act of destruction that erupted down to the people who live in its footsteps. Setting off to the summit of Nyiragongo is at the kibati patrol post very early in the morning immediately after breakfast.
The hike takes about 4 to 6 hours where experienced guides lead all trekkers through Nyiragongo’s magma rocks and the tropical forested slopes. It such a hectic but exciting activity best appropriate for the adventurers. For vigorous people, it is so possible for them to climb up and descend in one day. However in most cases travelers reach Nyiragongo’s summit after a thrilling walk through the lava rocks and viewing of the Virunga mountains National Park.
The genesis of dark hours, viewing the dim brittle outside of the lava, the merging and cracking lava rocks. Seeing rock plates separate, unbelievably creating a spider-web like pattern is only experienced by those that get a chance to stay for an overnight at Nyiragongo Cabins which were built on the edge of the lava lake.
A summation of all those and more typically make Nyiragongo Mountain a unique destination that all travelers are yearning to explore.
