Trekking
The Maasai Mountain of God, still active.
Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only active volcano on earth that erupts natrocarbonatite lava — cool enough to run black and weather to white within hours. The climb is short, steep and done overnight, and it is one of the hardest things on our list for its length.
You start around midnight from the base near Lake Natron and climb roughly 1,600 m in about six hours on loose ash and rock, on gradients that reach 40 degrees near the top. There is no technical climbing, but it is relentless. Reaching the rim at sunrise, with the Rift Valley and Lake Natron below, is the reward.
The mountain sits above Lake Natron, a caustic soda lake that is the single most important breeding site for East Africa's lesser flamingo. Most people combine the climb with a day at the lake and the Engare Sero waterfalls.
In pictures
2 journeys
Rift Valley at its rawest: a soda lake full of flamingo, a waterfall gorge, and an overnight climb of an active carbonatite volcano.
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A midnight ascent of the only active carbonatite volcano on earth. Short, brutally steep, and finished by breakfast.
Pricing on request View itinerary
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