Two weeks ago, I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo waking up at the edge of the crater of a 11,385 foot active volcano. After a five hour hike literally straight up the Nyiragongo Volcano (switchback trails haven't found their way to Africa yet) through first jungles then volcanic pumice covering about 5000 feet of vertical climb, I reached the top of the volcano and its active lava lake. Tents were set up right on the edge of the crater and I settled in for the night to watch the lave lake spew sulfurous gas, gurgle explosive lava, and emit enough heat to warm me from less than half a mile away. I don't know of any other place in the world where you can do this and the picture below pretty much sums up the experience.
The town of Goma in the DRC is directly over the border from Giseyni, the largest city in northwestern Rwanda, and on the northern shores of Lake Kivu. Congo and Goma itself receive a lot of attention from the international press for a variety of reasons including the countries rich mineral deposits and the seemingly unchecked rebels that exploit these minerals while raping and pillaging everyone and everything that stands in their way. Eastern Congo also has many refugees from the Rwandan genocide more than 15 years ago that occasionally add fuel to the rebels fire. For this reason the park that contains Nyiragongo has been closed for nearly two years and only reopened in March 2010 for tourists to visit (See picture below for bullet holes in national park sign).
Another concerning factor is that Nyiragongo is in fact an active volcano and has had two major eruptions in the last 30 years or so. In January 2002, the volcano erupted, essentially repaved the entire city of Goma and furthering the despair of its 400,000 inhabitants (
NYTimes: Volcano's Lava Engulfs a Congo Town &
NYTimes: Warily, Residents Return to Lava-Scarred Congo City). While the picture below may look staged, it in fact was not as the child in the picture just happened to be rummaging around in the lava flow that wiped out the Catholic Church in Goma.
So as you can tell, Congo is a pretty exciting place and climbing the volcano truly was the experience of a lifetime. I will run through some picture highlights below but also uploaded a bunch of
pictures from the trip.
Outskirts of Goma town with Nyiragongo in the background. Note people on the right carrying bags of lava rocks to be used for building houses and fences. It is pretty much the only building material available locally. The right side of the picture is sharp lava rocks from the lava flow that have never been smoothed over (like on the left side of the picture.
About halfway up the mountain...
This type of volcanic surface is pretty much what you find the entire way. My hiking boots were purchased in Nashville when I was in 8th grade.
A break with my porter...
About halfway up...
See the steam vents in the background at one of the rest stops...also note our guards...
Peak covered in clouds...
Getting higher...
Landscape is changing...
That is my porter on the last stretch...
Moonscape...
Summit...
Lava lake...
Sunset blocked by sulphuric gas...
My tent with my porter on the edge of the crater...
Lava lake at night...
Full moon and clear night...
Next morning...
On the way back down...
Other links on the volcano that may be of interest:
Other links on Congo that may be of interest:
. A gift of Roundup makes him ever so happy. While my father's love of Roundup is a result of his desire to keep our gardens free of weeds, this article (.jpg)
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