Off we set for our 2 night, 3 day hike to summit Mnt Cameroon, and to experience the vastly contrasting countryside from humid jungle to savannah to black volcanic rock, craters, and of course shale and scrub as you get higher.
like land coral
Porters and a guide are obligatory but thank-goodness as you need to take plenty of water, food, sleeping bags, tents etc and it would be impossible to manage all of that for most. What an amazing experience and thank-you Dawn!!! for inviting us and the SA Woolworths stopover and all the catering, we ate like kings! And so glad we could join you – was clearly supposed to work out.
waiting for our guide and porters - African time!
Mount Cameroon last erupted in 2001, and the craters in the photos are from 1999 so very much still considered an active volcano, the eruptions kept at bay by the villagers appeasing the mountain God with sacrifices and dances. It is apparently said that the Mountain God lives in a cave on the mountain with a sugar cane plantation at the entrance to the cave and anyone is allowed to eat as much sugar cane as they can whilst there, but cannot take any away with them. From this the principle of take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints has been borne.
and we're off!
But it is NOT easy! If you don’t have much info on climbing the mountain (as we didn’t from Lonely Planet - Africa), and without any briefing before, be warned that it is difficult terrain over 3 days, and you climb from near sea level to 4085m by lunchtime day 2.
up, up and away!
are we nearly there??
No windy path, it’s just straight up, or straight down. In fact you can see the same village you leave from all the way up. Once you reach the summit, you then take a slightly more meandering path down and through some of the most fascinating scenery we’ve ever seen to Man Springs, but it’s a 17km walk on day 2 which includes summiting so it is challenging, and a 14km walk on day 3 all the way down on sore legs! But we really loved it and would definitely recommend it – you just need to turn a blind eye to the litter around the resting huts and take a tent rather, instead of sleeping in the huts which are past due a shake up. (so much for the Mountain God principle J)
like land coral
is that slippery path really on the edge of the crater?
"Queen Caterer" Dawn
horses on the back volcanic beach at Seme Beach Resort, Limbe
Dusk on the black beach sand
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