Night Hike on an active Volcano

To measure a volcano

The driver picked us up at our accommodation just after midnight on a beautiful star lit night. 7 year old Kimana lay awake in excitement for a while 5 year old Fire slept the whole 2 hour drive. Both children had been excited at the prospect of a night hike on a geothermally active volcano. We had measured the 500m ascent in terms of apartment buildings and Eiffel Towers or various skyscrapers. Yes, they could do this, they assured, as Joelle pointed to her 7 month pregnant tummy and explained she would not be able to carry either of them.

At the foot of the volcano, we met our guide, an upbeat girl in her mid-teens greeted us and clarified what we all wished for breakfast at the summit and grabbed the corresponding ingredients for what sounded like an ample delicious and filling cooked breakfast. She packed everything in her backpack and off we went on our ascent.

The Ascent

The path started of as a forest road on sandy soil. The trees around us were low and crooked, giving off shapes that intimidated the kids a little. The sandy soil was difficult for good progress and so that part of the hike, although, technically easy seemed to drag on and we weren't getting any higher!  Finally, the landscape changed and we abruptly started to climb on a rocky path that would clock altitude rapidly. About every 20 m there were boulders that were just a little too high for Fire to climb over easily, so Joelle stashed her hiking poles and set to the task of helping him over each of them while trying to maintain a good pace. Kimana was just that little bit taller and also very driven by the desire to arrive at the summit before the first colors of sunrise would show themselves. So she gritted her teeth and off she went, on ahead at the guide's heels.

A tricky part of the ascent was the very fact, that the volcano was geothermally active, meaning that deep down steam was being produced and sent up. The steam would permeate through small cracks and since it was nighttime and by now cloudy and we were actually standing in the cloud, the steam would surprise you as you would put down your hand to pull yourself up.

After 3.5 hours our little group had ascended the 500m elevation difference and reached the refuge and best place to view the summit. It was still dark. We had made it in time.