Rediscovering Tanganyika

Wahoo! Two days ago I contacted Thomas
Safari (yet another Thomas and yes, that's really his name) through Jackson's blog [1] to be my guide for a hike on the summit of Mout Hanang. It's Tanzania's 4th highest mountain and obviously a retired volcano. My demands: Overnighting on top and descending through a different route than ascending. No problemo!

I team up with Thomas at 8:30 in the morning. Right from the beginning it's clear that this is the guy to go with! I can park my car at his home where we have a coffee and small breakfast. At 11:00 we start the uphike from the nature reserve's gate at 2000 m. Sun with some clouds, around 20 °C, perfect! It's rainy season though and thus very hazy. In dry season you should be able to see Ngorongoro, Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro. This destination is not (yet) overrun by tourists, the path still pretty natural and honest. I love it!! You basically hike up the eroded and steep crater rim. We skip the official campsite at 3100 m. After two thirds of the way the slope decreases but it gets rocky and stony. Using four limbs is recommended. I also start feeling the thinner air, hahaha. We have no stress and do "pole pole" with many breaks and mapping activities 😋.

I learn a lot about the surroundings. At 18:00 we reach the summit at 3423 m which is "just a naked summit" and of course very windy. The topography north of Hanang is interesting with the first rift escarpment at salt lake Balangida and the next higher escarpment at lake Eyasi.

We descend some 100 m northwards and Thomas shows me his "special campsite" where I am just the third guest to spend a night within his last 12 years of guiding! It's a lovely flat spot right on the ridge for 1-2 tents, shielded from the wind and with great view towards the setting sun. Other hikers mostly stay at the previous public campsite and visit the summit for breakfast before descending the same route they came. Or they do it all within one day which is just killing and stupid. Staying on the summit directly is also not comfortable because you are subject to heavy wind and rarely find a flat area for the tent. But our spot is just perfect! We share my old but indestructible tent. Exactly at 22:00 the rain begins until exactly 06:30. I never listened to three different sounds of rain but hey, here it's possible! Sleepless night tough 😅.

In the morning it takes some time until the sun burns through the clouds and warms our asses. Coffee with few hands full of cashews, almonds, walnuts and mandazi and we begin descending to the northeast. This path is steeeeeeeeeep like hell and slippery after the rain. Especially the juicy tunnel through the dripping cloud forest gets tricky. Luckily each of us has a handy stick. Parts of the forest are overrun by ants and there is no escape in getting very intimate with some of them 😋.

Back down we break out of the forest into farmland. The reserve's border is very hard and not well controlled. Let's see how much of this wonderful forest is left in 10 years 😉.
The way back takes a good amount of our afternoon time with a motorbike ride to the main road in Endask, from there with a crappy minibus to Katesh and then again with motorbikes. Interestingly my body seems not to be much impressed by this steep hike. Probably thanks to my previous training in Usambara mountains and Thomas's considerate pace 😁.

For imitators and copycats of this hike: just remember to pack sufficient water supplies! There is no water source along the whole track except for a waterfall in the lower altitudes when starting from Katesh. I carried around 4-5 litres including morning coffee/tee which was not overestimated.

[1] https://www.journeyera.com/mount-hanang-hike-ta…Read more