3 days · Trekking
Ol Doinyo Lengai & Lake Natron — 3 Days
A night ascent of the only volcano on earth that erupts carbonatite lava, with two days at Lake Natron either side. Short, brutally steep, and finished by the middle of the following day.
Is this trip for you?
Trip type
Private expedition
Your own guide and crew on your own dates, on mountains that see a fraction of Kilimanjaro's traffic.
Ages
12 and over
Meru and Lengai both involve long, steep days at altitude. Younger trekkers are considered case by case.
Fitness
Good general fitness
Steeper and rougher underfoot than Kilimanjaro, over fewer days. Lengai in particular is a single continuous night climb on loose ash and rock.
Group size: Private party, with an armed ranger where the park requires one
Day by day.
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1
Drive to Lake Natron, and a Maasai family
We collect you from the airport or, after breakfast, from your hotel, and drive north to Lake Natron. It is a long but interesting drive through wide Maasai country, seven to eight hours, the last stretch mostly on dust. The lake sits at the foot of the volcano in one of the most rugged landscapes in Africa, and this corner of the country is still largely untouched by tourism. After a rest at the lodge we visit a Maasai family — herders who have kept their semi-nomadic life here — and see the houses and how the day works. Dinner at the lodge.
- Overnight
- Lodge at Lake Natron
- Where
- Lake Natron
- Driving
- 7 to 8 hours from Arusha or Moshi
- Meals
- Packed lunch and dinner
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2
Lake Natron and the Engare Sero waterfalls
Natron is one of the most alkaline lakes in the world, heavy with sodium carbonate, and the millions of crustaceans in it make it the single most important breeding ground on earth for lesser flamingo. After breakfast we walk with a local Maasai guide over the baked mud to the shore, where there are fossil human footprints around 120,000 years old, with Lengai grey and unmistakably active behind us. Then up a shaded gorge of the Engare Sero river to the waterfalls, crossing the creek several times — sandals you can get wet are the right footwear — to a deep natural pool under the cliffs where you can swim. Back at the lodge for an early dinner and a few hours of sleep.
- Overnight
- Lodge at Lake Natron
- Where
- Lake Natron and the Engare Sero gorge
- Walking
- 5 to 6 hours across the day
- Meals
- Breakfast, packed lunch and dinner
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3
Climbing Ol Doinyo Lengai, and the return
Woken around 23:00 with tea and a snack, we meet the Maasai guide and start into the night to make use of the cool. The trailhead is on the west flank at 1,196 m. The path threads a narrow line through washed-out lava channels with drops of tens of metres beside it, then steepens; long passages run at around 45 degrees in loose ash, and the last 400 m climb over badly eroded scree and through a rock arch. Five to eight hours of walking brings you to the crater rim. The air is full of sulphur, you can hear the lava moving below, and the view runs from the salt flats of Natron and the Kenyan border in the north to Kilimanjaro and the Rift in the east and the Ngorongoro highlands in the south. About an hour at the top, then down the same way — early, because the rock gets very hot very quickly and the descent is harder than the climb. From the valley we drive you on to the airport or wherever your trip continues.
- Altitude
- Trailhead 1,196 m → crater rim, 2,962 m
- Distance
- 10.5 km / 6.5 mi
- Walking
- About 12 hours, from around midnight
- Habitat
- Lava channels, then loose ash and scree
- Meals
- Breakfast and packed lunch
Where you sleep.
On the mountain
Meru's Momella route sleeps in the park huts at Miriakamba and Saddle - simple, spacious and dry, with bunks rather than tents. Lengai is climbed through the night from a lodge at Lake Natron, with no camp on the mountain at all.
Before and after
Bed and breakfast in Moshi or Arusha either side of the trek. On the Lengai trip the Lake Natron lodge is full board, because there is nowhere else to eat for a very long way.
We book against availability for your dates rather than naming a property we may not be able to get you into. Your written quotation names every lodge and camp before you pay anything.
What is included
- Park fee
- Overnight stays in a lodge, full board
- 18% VAT on tour fees and services
- Transport to and from the start of the climb
- English-speaking driver
- A Maasai mountain guide who knows the volcano
Not included
- Flights
- Visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Tips
- Items of a personal nature
- Meals outside the full-board arrangement
When to go.
June to October and January to March
The two dry windows, and the right time for Meru and Lengai both. Lengai is climbed at night year-round, but a wet ash slope is a different mountain.
April, May and November
The rains. Meru's forest section becomes slippery and Lengai's ash gullies run with water. We would rather move your dates than take you up in it.
Questions about this trip.
How hard is this climb?
It is the single hardest day we sell. Roughly 1,600 m of ascent on loose ash and rock with no formed path in places, climbed through the night, ten to fourteen hours round trip. Every step up slides back some of the way.
Why do we climb at night?
Because the ash is unbearable in daylight and there is no shade anywhere on the mountain. Starting around midnight puts you on the rim at sunrise and back down before the heat becomes dangerous.
Is the volcano active?
Yes. Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only active carbonatite volcano in the world and it erupts unpredictably. We follow the geological warnings and the park's guidance, and we will cancel the ascent rather than take you up in a restricted period.
What if I cannot finish?
You turn around with a guide. Parties routinely split on this mountain and there is no shame in it — the descent is its own long day.
On this route
Where you will be.
Compare
Other trekking journeys.
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- Armed ranger escort throughout
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