Travel Guide Nyiragongo

It is this morning when we leave Goma in the old VW minibus with six other tourists. As soon as the city exits, we see the volcanic chain that borders on the road and rises above a high plain to black land and fertile land, and covered by abundant vegetation, on-the-floor crops where banana, cassava, corn, peanuts… children greet us and run by laughing, women leave the fields, the hoe on the shoulder, and the hommes. Set to the city, some with the "tchikudu", this robust wooden scooter typical of the region, loaded with large packages, fruit and magnificent vegetables. There are hundreds of craters of every size, but eight major volcanoes, emerge: Nyamulagira (3 058 m.), Nyiragongo (3 471 m.), Mikeno (4 437 m.), Karisimbi (4 509 m.), Visoke (3 711 m.), Sabinio (3 694 m.), Gahinga (3 474 m.) and Muhavura (4 127 m.). And excursions are possible on Karisimbi, Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira. After an hour's drive, we are at the foot of the volcano, at 2 000 metres above sea level, in the Plein Park. An old, rusty and hit-up panel of bullets on which one can read again «Parc Albert», evokes this time not so distant where this immense park was arguably one of the most beautiful and best managed in Africa. After the inevitable discussions with the guide and the guards, the carrier team is setting up and loading the equipment. It's 11 o'clock when we start climbing. The forest is thick and we are surrounded by a lush vegetation. Porters, guides and guards speak and laugh, we too at the beginning but the gradient and altitude make us fast less chatterboxes… We hear only the cries of birds, sometimes a surprise monkey watching us sitting on a high branch. The smell of the humid jungle is captivating. Every 45 minutes, a stop to resume breath and enjoy the surrounding area between two showers. After approximately 1 h 30, we take a ditch of hardened lava. The pierraille is rolling under the feet, this cutting coating is a formidable one for the soles. The summit is invisible due to thick haze and fraîchit temperature. No stream, no source, and an abundance of altitude. The cordée stretched sharply in terms of the physical form of the participants, and it takes 45 minutes to climb the last 300 metres, almost vertically. It is not more than 7 degrees now, and a little drizzle when we reach the summit shortly before 18 pm. And there, at the edge of the crater, in this gigantic well, the extraordinary vision of hell, incandescent spectacle with these torrents of lava, these constant explosions and these sulfur fumes. The night falls and the reflection of the lava lake in the clouds is beautiful. The tents are hastily mounted and around midnight bursts a huge thunderstorm that mêle its backfires to the big of the volcano. A real "sounds and lights" cosmo-land-based is offered to us. Lecture, this spectacle between heaven and earth leaves us astonishing in the middle of the night. It will take us five hours the next day to regain our starting point, enriched with unique images.predictFood for 2 days, tent (rental possibility), good footwear and hot and waterproof clothing. The climb as much as descent requires a good physical condition. Possibility to turn around the crater (3 hours). Tariff: Between $ 130 and $ 160, porters, tente, included.