Oldoinyo Lengai, the mountain of God

I have plans to climb Oldoinyo Lengai, plans which have been on hold for the past several years. It took me close to a decade between the time I decided to climb until I eventually climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008. So, Oldoinyo Lengai might have to wait for a while.

It is an active volcano and the last eruption was in 2010 - the first in 1883 - and the eruption is still described as "on going." Which provides me an excuse for postponing my climb. The temperature of its lava is said to be only 520 degrees Centigrade. I interpret this to mean there are far more hotter volcanoes on this planet.

The highest point on Oldoinyo Lengai is only 2,980m above sea level; Kilimanjaro's summit is 5,895m above sea level. And yet I have heard from those who have been on this volcano that its steep slopes create a formidable challenge to the climber. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro involves continuous instances of going up and down, particularly during the initial few days on the Lemosho route. I am told Oldoinyo Lengai constitutes a continuous upward movement, all the way to the top.

Some of the information in this post accessed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Doinyo_Lengai.

The challenge

In late January I was in Morogoro to attend a non-title professional boxing match between Francis Cheka and Karama Nyilawila. Cheka won the match on points.

As I waited for the preliminary bouts to begin, the challenge in my mind was focused on the Uluguru Mountains in the background.

My interest in climbing mountains is not restricted to Mt. Kilimanjaro only. I kept mentally charting routes on the mountains and wondering how a climber could get to the peak. And where was the peak?

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