Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano is situated in one of the beautiful places of North Tanzania, near Lake Natron where hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos fly every year. Ol Doinyo Lengai is unique among active volcanoes in the East Africa and unique in the world which produces natrocarbonatite lava or “cold lava”. It has a dark-brown or black color in liquid state and a fluidity as water. This temperature is much lower than other lavas but, however, not so cool because it is approximately 510-600°C. In a hundred years Lengai has erupted about 15 times, the last time was in 2013. Fortunately, eruptions happen without victims because the volcano has relatively small size and it is situated rather far from nearest Maasai villages.
The power of Ol Doinyo Lengai captures every safari visitor on a Great Rift Valley safari in Lake Natron. Since it was first described by German explorers at the end of the 19th century, the mountain has drawn thousands of climbers, geologists and photographers during their safari expeditions in Africa. Your trekking tour of Ol Doinyo Lengai with us takes you to the base of the 7650-foot summit that rises above the arid Rift Valley.
Every rugged trip to Ol Doinyo Lengai offers an once-in-a-lifetime geological journey through nature’s own volcanic sculptures. When you include the Mountain of God in your adventure holidays to Tanzania, you should bring some essential items for your comfort and safety.
The climb is quite challenging, though not compared to Mount Kilimanjaro and Meru, with the ascent on some parts crawling on hands and feet taking at least six hours and the descent taking at least four hours. Climbs up the mountain begin at night, so you should have a headlamp and wear layered clothing as the temperature rises during the day.
Take the time during your climb to gaze at the stunning star-filled sky! Other items that you should bring for your climbing vacation to Tanzania are energy bars, climbing stick, gloves and hiking shoes that have a good grip.