Mount Meru

Overview

At 4,566 metres, Meru is Tanzania's second-highest mountain and, for many trekkers, the more memorable climb — a knife-edge walk along the rim of a volcano that blew its own side open.

The Momella route climbs through giant fig forest and heather moorland to Rhino Point, then follows a spectacular ash-cone ridge to the summit. You start the final push at midnight and arrive as the sun comes up directly behind Kilimanjaro, floating on cloud fifty kilometres away.

Because the mountain sits inside Arusha National Park, an armed ranger accompanies every group and wildlife is part of the walk — buffalo and colobus on day one, before the vegetation thins. Most climbers use Meru as acclimatisation before Kilimanjaro; a good number end up preferring it.

The landscape

A horseshoe caldera open to the east, with a perfect ash cone at its centre and a rim ridge that narrows to a metre in places.