Climbing Mt Hanang

For those interested in climbing Mt Hanang, it’s a technically easy but strenuous climb. Hanang can be seen as a poor man’s version of climbing Kilimanjaro. The Kilimanjaro is of course also much higher (5896 m whereas Hanang is 3400 m). While climbing Kilimanjaro costs 1100 dollar or more, climbing Hanang costs less than 10% of that. Most people that climb Mt Hanang are budget-minded Europeans (70% is Dutch).

Roeland and me arrange the trip starting in Katesh because we have our own transport (if bicycles can be called such), most people arrange the climb in Babati or Arusha.

In Katesh we ask the lady of Pick n Pay Guesthouse if she can help us find the Forest cachement office in the municipality building (Idara ya Mkuu wa Wilaya), where the park fee needs to be paid. She calls Beru Kehha (contact through Facebook or 0684811212, plus the Tanzanian calling code). He is a considerate and positive guide that helps us with all stages of arranging the climb.

He walks with us to the municipality building to get a nota of the park fee, then to Mpesa shed on the bus station to pay the bill, and later he walks to the village office to pay the village tax by himself. We had read online that the park fee is 45 dollar, this is not true, it’s only a fraction of that amount. The receipt needs to be shown at the entrance of the park. We could have figured out this whole process by ourselves, but honestly we were happy to have someone with us that knows how these things go.

The next day we meet Beru at 6:00. It takes around an hour before we’re at the park entrance. First we have breakfast (maandasi and chai with milk) at some hotel, then he arranges boda-boda’s (motorcycle taxi’s) to take us to the park entrance. It’s only 4 km to the park entrance, 20 minutes by motorcycle because the road is rocky. One boda-boda driver takes the guide, the other driver takes Roeland and me. Roeland is very excited at riding the boda-boda.

The climb starts easy, with trails almost flat. A small but relatively well kept path leads up to the mountain. The first part is covered by the forest canopy and doesn’t provide any views. Soon the path gets a bit more steep. We keep a steady pace that causes us to be almost out of breath. When I need to slow down, I sneakily ask the guide questions about all sorts of things; animals, tribes, plants etc. The guide is from the Iraqw tribe and it’s nice to hear about the Iraqw, also he’s very knowledgeable about plants and their medicinal uses.

After a couple hours, there’s less vegetation surrounding us and the path becomes more steep. Most people don’t get altitude sickness on this climb, but I do, only a little bit of dizzyness and feeling weak in my legs. We stop at a grassy lookout point to have some food. From there it’s 10 minutes to the campsite and 40-50 minutes to the top. I consider quitting, but after food and cola I feel a bit better and we continue.

The campsite consists of an empty space of grass, looking out over the valleys. Some people do this hike in two days instead of one, they need to camp here. The campsite doesn’t have facilities (no toilet or water) but it is a great lookout point. Of the people that decide to climb Mt Hanang, around 20% quits before reaching the top, most people quit when reaching the campsite.

We push on. The last bit is rocky, with rocks sometimes as big as my lower leg. I have thick cycling gloves with me and am happy to have brought then. I use my hands and feet to climb. The last part is the steepest but doable.

Suddenly we reach the top. It takes 4 hours of climbing. It is a magnificent view and a nice feeling. In our case, there’s not too many clouds blocking the view. I think June to August provides the clearest views. I wouldn’t climb the mountain in March or April, when the rains and clouds are worst. In other months, it’s good to check how rainy it is in the morning, mostly it will be okay.

However, from the other side of the mountain a dark-grey thunderstorm is approaching, and we need to get down the mountain fast. Going down is tricky in parts, due to the big rocks. It takes 3 hours to get down.

Some people take 10 hours in total to hike Hanang, we take 7 hours. Sure, the hike is quite an exercise, but the views are totally worth it.