Virunga region has the greatest chain of volcanoes in Central and East Africa. These ranges extend to the Eastern frontier of Africa in Uganda and Rwanda. Mountain Karisimbi is part of these ranges and it comfortably sits at the border between D.R Congo and Rwanda. It is the highest of all Virunga volcanoes.
It’s also the 11th highest on the African continent. Mountain Karisimbi is an inactive volcano and its elevation is 4,507 meters. Its immediate neighboring volcanoes are Nyiragongo, Mt. Mikeno, and Mt. Bisoke. The name Karisimbi originates from the Kinyarwanda word Amasimbi”, which means ‘White Shell’ when translated into English. It gets some snow on its cape during dry season and it’s therefore of no wonder that it’s regarded as White Shell.
Mountain Karisimbi was formed as a result of intrinsic geochemical reactions in the Earth’s crust. The molten rocks and hot gases gave off great force in the Earth’s crust in that any slight crack or opening would cause violent eruption activities. With the continuous process, it was a matter of time, until violent eruptions occurred. This eruption was composed of dangerous gas fumes, hot rocks, and magma which later came to be regarded as lava. Flowing on the Earth’s surface, a lot of green life and fauna was destroyed, but with the cooling and solidification of the lava, Mountain Karisimbi was formed.
Location of Mount. Karisimbi.
Karisimbi mountain astrides the D.R Congo – Rwanda border, situated within the Albertine rift. It’s part of the 8 Volcanoes that make up the Virunga massif.
Uniqueness.
The first major unique fact about this mountain is that it has the highest peak of the Volcanoes in the Virunga region. Different from other hiking points across East Africa, the hikers are able to view golden monkeys on a lucky day. These rare primates are common sightings along the mountain slopes.
The difficulty in climbing the mountain slopes also adds fun to the hiking experience especially for first time hikers. The lower hiking trails have access to the gravesite of Dian Fossey who was murdered while she carried out mountain gorilla conservation and research in the entire Virunga conservation area.
Hiking mountain Karisimbi.
In order for one to hike Karisimbi volcano, they have to be fit enough. It’s accessible through Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. The hike is a lifetime experience at the slopes of the highest Virunga volcano. The hike on the Karisimbi slopes is fun because of the additional attractions that can be encountered. Among those are the hundreds of the bird species that fly over the forest vegetation on the mountain’s slopes. There’s also a great presence of flora with similarly hundreds of plant species.
While hiking, the hikers have an opportunity to spot the golden monkeys, a rare species that can only be viewed in Central Africa. Along the hike trail, the hikers also encounter Dian Fossey grave and pay their respects to the lady that dedicated her life to mountain gorilla conservation, at a time when the odds seemed against her. Hikers also have an additional activity of trekking mountain gorillas after hiking Mount Karisimbi.
It takes averagely 7 hours to reach Karisimbi’s summit since hikers tend to rest at an elevation of about 3,700 meters to spend the night before they can embark on finally ascending to the highest point. Tourists are therefore advised to have proper stamina before embarking on the hiking. Hiking this mountain costs $400 per individual.
Best time to visit Mountain Karisimbi.
The months between January to March, and July to October. Since it’s a mountain, it has messy and dangerous rainy seasons because that may have rainstorms. Also, the rainy seasons makes the hiking trails slippery hence causing hardships to the hikers. The dry season brings with it the required brightness and sunshine that are important to the hiking’s success.
