Trekking in the Rwenzoris is an African mountain adventure unlike any other. Kilimanjaro may be the highest peak in Africa. And Mount Kenya’s twin summits may only be reached via a grade III rock climb. Which affords these two mountains special status among African mountains. But what Mount Stanley, the highest peak in the Rwenzoris lacks in ‘status’, it more than makes up for in atmosphere and unique character. With vegetation that looks like it predates Jurassic Park and bogs that cover hundreds of square kilometres, you’ll sometimes feel you should be looking over your shoulder for dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.
The trek
Day 1: Nyakalengija (1,646m) to Nyabitaba Hut (2,651m)
Days one and two are the two days that you trek through the thickest forest imaginable. Our trek starts at the village below the Nyakalengija gate, where we have to sign in the park. Surrounded by farmland. Crops. Livestock. Village shops. Schools. Everything you would expect in a typical rural African village. Including cold beers and loud music.
Once inside the park, the banana trees give way to tree ferns and numerous flowering plants. Then, as you go higher, the tall trees start dominating. Various species of Podocarpus, Erythrina abbysinica, Hagenia abbysinica, and the brilliantly red-flowered Symphonia globulifera (boarwood) among others. Somewhere nearby, I heard monkeys foraging. And on a previous trip, I saw black-and-white colobuses in these parts. Then for a short while you traverse the bamboo region. Home to chimpanzees.
A four-hour hike from the gate to Nyabithaba hut on day one sees you gaining more than a 1000m. Towering above the magnificently situated Nyabithaba hut is the 4,391 metre high Portal Peak (aka Kihuma Peak). Surrounded by thick forest, and majestic African yellowwoods (Podocarpus
latifolius) casting huge shadows across the hut.
Day 2: Nyabitaba Hut to John Matte Hut (3,414m)
Six hours of uphill trekking on day two, in cooler, but more boggy and wet conditions, brings you to John Matte hut at 3,414 metres. And your first glimpse of the 5,109 metre high Margherita Peak, the highest point on Africa’s third highest mountain. Sitting on the borders of both Uganda and the DRC. On steeper, slippery parts, wooden and metal bridges and ladders are used. But not always… On our last trip here, Barbara got into her Wellington boots (gumboots) on day two. I was happy with the mud squelching between my toes and kept going in my sandals…
Day 3: John Matte Hut to Bujuku Hut (3,962m)
On the morning of day three, we caught our first glimpse of Margherita Peak and her glaciers. Breakfast on the lawn, consisting of oats porridge, eggs, pancakes. A feast. And that view…
The terrain now changes to heather. Erica, helichrysum, groundsels, lobelia, and various grasses replacing the trees, shrubs and bamboo from previous days. We cross the lower and upper Bigo bogs on boardwalks, stretching a few hundred metres each. We also come across disa and orchids. And saw a rare red duiker. Just before we got to the hut, after a delightful stroll on the boardwalks next to the Bujuku lake, we were back in the bogs. Stuck knee-deep in sludge at times. Perhaps the most difficult bogs we crossed all day.
On the plus side, the hut, situated at the head of the valley at almost 4000 metre, had a charcoal stove in it, providing much needed heat in an otherwise cold environment. From the Bujuku hut we could see peaks of Mt Baker, Vittorio Emanuele, and Mt Stanley. Also, the steep looking Scott Elliott pass, which we have to cross on day four…
Day 4: Bujuku Hut to Kitandara Hut (4,023m)
Today we crossed the Scott Elliott pass. The terrain became more alpine as we gained height from Bujuku hut. The ericas are of a hardier type, some with furry leaves, which had Barbara remark that it looked like edelweiss. Our trail took us through dense groundsel forests. Some of them 3 to 5 metres tall. Barbara particularly enjoyed today’s hiking. Scott Elliott pass, at 4338 metres, was our highest point.
Last time I was here, my route took me up to Elena hut, from where we ascended the beautiful Margherita Peak (5109m), the summit of Mount Stanley, and the highest point in the Rwenzori.
From Scott Elliott pass, we dropped to the beautiful twin Kitandara lakes. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…
Day 5: Kitandara Hut to Guy Yeoman Hut (3,261m)
Our morning started on the shore of the lower Kitandara lake at just over 4000 metres. The highest hut on our route, and the coldest night we had on the mountain. We climbed back up to nearly 4300 metres to cross the Freshfield pass before we started dropping down to Guy Yeoman hut at 3500 metres for our last night on the mountain. The terrain constantly changed on our ascent and descent as we traversed through the various zones. Ericas, groundsels, and lobelia dominated the landscape. Sunbirds chattered away, with an occasional glint from their malachite green feathers catching the sun.
A section of the descent was particularly tough. Wet, steep, muddy, and slippery. Dangerous even. In some places, it was close to grade 3 climbing. In the past, wooden ladders were in place to get down these sections. Most of them have been destroyed through wear and tear and are waiting to be replaced. I queried whether there had been serious injuries in this section and got the response that at least one porter had a broken leg, and various other people had had ‘minor’ injuries. Would definitely have liked to have seen more use of ropes in these sections… And next time I do this, I will be carrying a rope. To make sure the members of my party are kept safe.
This aside, the beautiful scenery more than made up for the tough going!
Day 6: Guy Yeoman Hut to Nyabitaba Hut (2,652m)
And so, the last day of our trek arrives. We’re combining the last two days’ nearly 2000 metres of downhill into one day! We get going at about 7.30. On other mornings we only got going at about 9.00. After the sun had dried the dew-covered grass. Or in higher areas, melted the frost… The first part is easy, then we enter a boggy valley, and change into gumboots. Even me, after I made a mess of my feet on the previous day’s wet descent in sandals.
Soon after we clear the bogs, we enter the bamboo zone, then we’re back in the afro-montane zone with its huge podocarpuses and other tall trees. Not too long after lunch at Nyabithaba hut, we’re signing out at the Nyakalengija gate. A couple of kilometres later, our car is waiting for us. Ice-cold drinks and loud music at the small, busy community bar!
We thank each of the porters individually and hand over a tip to top up their meagre salaries. I told Soci, one of the two female porters we had, that we’ll miss her laugh, hugged my old friend Amon who climbed the mountain with me in 2016, and said a few words to the others.
A special thank you to Gideon, who made us delicious meals. Brought us hot water to wash ourselves. Made sure that we always had a flask of hot water for tea or coffee at hand. And even washed my sandals, without me asking, after each day’s trudging through the sludge.
Next thank you to our assistant trainee guide, Winnie. Eighteen, shy, learning to be a guide. And then Abram. Chief guide with his wealth of knowledge which he shared with us.
Each one contributing to our being able to trek on what is without doubt one of the most beautiful, but also the toughest, treks on African mountains.
Finally, it was time to set off for our hotel room with its hot showers, soft bed, and large terrace where we could sit in short sleeves, sipping drinks with ice cubes floating in them, listening to the cavorting of the hippos in the lake, and complaining about the mosquitos rather than the cold for a change…
After six days trekking in the Rwenzori, and total cellphone silence, we are back in so-called civilisation… and yes… the shower was nice! and, so was the bed… and, it wasn’t as cold as sleeping at 4000 metres… and,… but, but, but…
Map of The route
Distance: 41km | Lowest point: 1767m | Highest point: 4542m
Geology
Straddling the equator, the Rwenzori extends for about a hundred-and-ten kilometres from south to north along the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for about fifty kilometres east to west. It rises gradually from the Uganda side, but drops away dramatically and steeply on the western side to the Semliki or Semuliki River. The hundred-and-forty kilometre long river, which forms the border between Uganda and DRC, is the outflow of Lake Edward and empties into Lake Albert, one of the sources of the White Nile.
Though there are many crater-lakes found in the surrounding area, the mountain itself is not volcanic in origin, being the result of an upthrust that arose from within the western rift and which also divided paleolake Obweruka into the present-day Lakes of Albert and Edward.
Formed about three million years ago in the late Pliocene epoch, it consists of crystalline rocks: mainly gneiss, amphibolite, granite, and quartzite.
One of the first things you’ll notice on the Rwenzori is the constant rush of water streams and rivers and the damp underfoot conditions. Wetter than her nearby East African cousins, the heaviest rainfall occurs on the eastern slopes facing the prevailing winds, and ranges from 2000 to 3000 mm depending on altitude.
The wettest periods are from mid-March to May and again from mid-September to mid-December – the one feature that she has in common with her nearby cousins. André and I planned to be here in July, during one of the two dry periods of the year. Thanks to her position on the equator, the seasonal maximum daytime temperature does not change much. In the Alpine and Nival zones, daily air temperatures range between a minimum of -5°C and a maximum of 20°C. In the boundary zone between the Bamboo and Ericaceous or heather zones, ranging from 3000m to 4000m, occasional night-
time freezing may occur. Above 4000m freezing can be expected on 80-90% of nights.
First ascent of Mount Stanley
Ancient Greeks told tales of mountains consisting of snow and ice being the source of the Nile. Aristotle referenced the ‘Mountains of Silver’ as the source of the Nile. Claudius Ptolemy, a geographer, labelled the Rwenzori as “Lunae Montes” (The Mountains of the Moon), on his map published in c. 150. Despite these references, the mountains remained the stuff of legends. Sir Henry Morton Stanley had his first glimpse of the mountain in 1876. Confirming their existence. Later, in 1888, he saw the slopes of the mountain covered in snow.
Mount Stanley is the highest of six massifs that make up the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda. The third-highest mountain in Africa. Mount Stanley consists of three peaks, the highest of which is Margherita Peak (5109m). It is the fifth-highest peak in Africa after Kibo (on Kilimanjaro), Batian and Nelion (on Mount Kenya), and Mawenzi (also on Kilimanjaro). The next highest peak after Margherita Peak is Mount Kenya’s Point Lenana and the next six highest peaks are all located in the Rwenzori Mountains.
Various parties made attempts to climb the mountain. They all failed thanks to the thick vegetation on its flanks, bad weather, disease, or lack of time. It wouldn’t be until 1906 that the Duke of Abruzzi would stand on top of Margherita Peak. The party consisted of six scientists, four alpine guides and more than three hundred porters, led by the Duke. They reached the summits of each of the six massifs. On 18 June 1906, the Duke, accompanied by J. Petigax, C. Ollier and J. Brocherel, reached the top of Margherita Peak, the highest point on Mount Stanley. He named the peak after his aunt, the Queen of Italy.
He’s aliiiiive! Good to see you back. A beautifully written and illustrated post, I thoroughly enjoyed the climb. As always, fulsome recognition of the people who guided and assisted. Good stuff.