Climbing Nyiragongo Volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo this past weekend was a combination of crazy, exhilarating, exhausting, and well, kind of stupid (but totally worth it).
As most people know, the DRC is not really a safe place to go. Norah and I debated this trip for a while but in the end we went with it. DRC has just had presidential elections and the results were to be released on December 6th. Little did we know that in fact, they'd be delayed and released on December 9th (the night before our journey to Goma). We had contacts in Goma and the situation seemed stable so we went with it. It all worked out great in the end but yes, I know it may not have been the wisest choice!
But anyways, the night before the climb, we enjoyed some tasty seafood and burgers at the Serena Hotel in Gisenyi (border town, on the Rwandese side). We watched some fabulous traditional Rwandese dancing as we ate....
Beautiful Rwandese Dancers
The next morning, we woke up early and got ready for the big day. From what we knew, things were still quiet in Goma and so the trip was a go. We got to the border, crossed, and everything went smoothly - well except for the roads. It's pretty incredible but as soon as you cross the border from Rwanda into Congo, everything changes. In Rwanda, roads are smooth and paved. In Goma, they were bumpy dirt roads. The lack of development here is scary....and the UN presence was huge. I couldn't believe that in a matter of a few kilometers, I had entered a whole different Africa.
UN Troops
Although I didn't spend much time in the actual city of Goma, I could still sense the level of poverty. It's tough...these are some houses in Goma. In Rwanda, you rarely see houses made of wood but in Goma, they seem to be very common.
As we got closer to Virunga National Park, we also got closer to the ominous Nyiragongo volcano. It didn't look so high from here but believe me, it was one tough climb.
One of the most active volcanoes in Africa
As we drove towards the park and the volcano, we could see the lava left over from the most recent eruption in Goma in 2002. A lot of Goma was destroyed by this eruption and the black volcanic rock is everywhere in the city. When we arrived to the park, we were greeted by this sign....
Comforting, isn'it it?
But we didn't let those bullet holes get the best of us! We had two armed guards with us the whole time and tourists regularly visit this national park so we comfortable everything would go well.
We started the climb in the jungle. It was lush, beautiful, and green. The home of many monkey species, birds and gorillas. As we got higher, the landscape changed dramatically and so did the trail. We went from mud to volcanic rocks, which were very difficult to climb. They crumble and are very unsteady. It was a challenging climb.
We could see the lava flow (in the form of solidified volcanic rock) and evidence of the most recent eruption. In the picture below, the lava engulfed a tree and left behind this rock. You can actually see an imprint of the tree bark in the volcanic rock.
As we got higher, the climb got tougher. Both steeper, less steady terrain, and lower air pressure. I was breathing pretty heavily at times. It felt like we'd never reach the top....
5 hours and 8km later, we made it - 3400m above sea level. We stared into a link to the core of the Earth...
Nyiragongo Lava Lake - one of the largest lava lakes in the world
The view was even more spectacular at night:
Me - super excited!
The lava lake was unbelievable. It was so bright and powerful. The gases coming off it were pretty potent though - sulfurous gases. The summit was SO cold and gusty. We managed to catch some heat off of the lava but certainly not enough to stay warm. The sound of the lava bubbling was pretty incredible too. It sounds like a very fast moving river.
We had a bright full moon above us, and a thunderstorm below us. Sometimes, some clouds above would descend and if you looked up, it appeared like the cloud was coming down to eat you alive. It was all very surreal.
The next morning, I woke up before sunrise to get a few more shots. The lava seemed angrier and more radiant than the night before!
Giant Lava Lake
As the sun rose, we got a clear glimpse of two neighbouring volcanoes that border with Rwanda and I believe Uganda (not totally sure). The clouds looked like little hats on these volcanoes.
We were literally above the clouds. The night before, we could see lightning flashes below us. It was wild. Here I am, trying my best not to blow away:
Our guide Roger brewed some warm tea and Norah and I stayed close and drank it to stay warm. We were both exhausted - it's tough to sleep at altitude. My ears were ringing the night before and my heart was beating a little faster than normal. But we were both so excited and happy to be on top of Nyiragongo!
The sunrise was unbelievable. So beautiful. I felt like I was on a plane...
We began our descent at around 6:30AM. The climb down was very very tough. It felt like a vertical drop with volcanic rocks sliding everywhere. One of the most physically challenging things I've ever done. The way up is tough because you are breathless and your muscles are working hard. The way down for me was tougher because you have to think about every step you take so as to prevent falling and sliding on some very sharp volcanic rock. The view was glorious though!!!
We were all so happy to make it to the final part of the descent - the jungle. Took us three hours to get down. It was really hot and our quads and knees were exhausted at this point.
We decided to end our time in the DRC at a local restaurant called Snack Food Zenith.
We enjoyed cold Fantas and some traditional Congolese food - Foufou made with corn, chicken, and some vegetables. It was pretty tasty!
Overall, the wildest thing I've ever done. It was challenging, scary, and amazing. Good practice for Mt. Kilimanjaro. An experience I'll never, ever forget.
