Mt Meru, Tanzania

Tanzania is an amazing country full of fantastic locations and wonderful people.

I spent 3 weeks there in September 2002 and would love to go back someday. I think it is fair to say that most people choose to go to Tanzania for a safari. There are many stunning locations where you are guaranteed to see magnificent creatures in glorious settings however the highlight of my trip was a trek up Mount Meru.

Mt Meru is a volcano overlooking the town of Arusha in northern Tanzania. At 4566m (14,967ft) it is the second highest mountain in the country after Kilimanjaro. Despite its spectacular setting in the middle of the Arusha National Park the mountain attracts considerably fewer visitors than its more illustrious neighbour. The lack of tourists, the lower altitude and the shorter duration (4 days instead of 6) convinced us to choose to climb Meru rather than Kilimanjaro. It was an experience I shan’t forget, mostly for the right reasons!

As a location for photography it has everything – stunning mountain scenery, cascading waterfalls and exotic flora and fauna. One thing to bear in mind though is that we couldn’t have been more wrong in our assessment that it was the easy alternative to Kili. The climb is steep and relentless and you gain altitude quickly, giving you no time to acclimatise. If, like us, you are unlucky with the weather then things can get somewhat harrowing. Some places advertise a 3-day version of the trek. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this, partly because it would make for an extremely tough final day but mostly because you would have to rush through the beautiful lower slopes of the national park where most of the animals and plants are found.

The dry season runs from late June to October. We went in early September and found that even in the dry season it rains occasionally. I was travelling in a group of 3 people and there were two other groups leaving on the same day as us making a total of 8 climbers. We had all hired porters to carry most of our equipment – optional but I do recommend it. The porters climbed separately to us (and considerably faster). Each group also had an armed ranger to act
as a guide and protect us in case we came across any rampaging Elephants.

The first day consisted of a leisurely walk through the lower slopes of mountain. Over the course of the day we climbed 1000m but it was a very gentle climb. The path travelled through grassland where we saw herds of grazing giraffe and buffalo. It was amazing to be able to walk so close to these animals and was a completely different experience to seeing them from a safari vehicle. We forded several streams and passed through woodland full of brightly coloured birds and chattering monkeys, stopping for lunch under a huge fig tree that arched over the path. The first night was spent at Miriakamba hut, a bunkhouse situated underneath the cliffs of the crater.

The second day was considerably tougher. In the morning we climbed another 1000m up the side of the crater to our next night’s accommodation at Saddle hut. The path was very steep and wooded so there was little to see. Once we reached the top however there was a glorious view over the plain to the snowy peak of Kilimanjaro. In the afternoon we climbed Little Meru peak which was fairly easy after the morning’s slog. Sadly the clouds descended before we got to the top and there was nothing to see.

The third day was by far the toughest. We started our journey to the summit at 2am, lighting the path with torches, with the aim of arriving in time for sunrise. It took 5 hours to climb the 1000m to the summit and another 3 to get back down again. During that time it never stopped raining except near the top where it turned to sleet and then snow. The darkness, cold, rain and altitude combined to make the whole experience tortuous. Even when the sun was up the cloud meant that we could barely see more than 10 yards and I was too wet and cold to even get my camera out. If we hadn’t been so unlucky with the weather then I’m sure there would have been some stunning photo opportunities.

In the afternoon we made our way back down the steep and now muddy path to Mirakamba hut.

Miraculously the bad weather disappeared just as fast as it had arrived and on the morning of the fourth day we found ourselves strolling back towards the park gate in glorious sunshine. After the exertions of the day before we revelled in the chance to take it easy and spend time looking at our surroundings. We took a different route back and again were amazed at the abundance and variety of plants and animals and just how close we were to them. We made a short detour to a spectacular waterfall before making our way back to the park gate to complete a memorable experience.

Mt Meru, Tanzania Images

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