The Rwenzori Mountains are a phantastic mountain chain, which is seldom visited due to the neigbouring and political unstable DC Congo. Moreover it is not as famous (and developed) as Africas highest mountain the Kilimanjaro. The hard, wet and cold climate, a true climb with a long glacier passage to Mt. Stanley (not just the high altitude hike of Kilimanjaro) guarantees a true unspoilt trekking experience.
It is the probably most fascinating central African mountain!
What is the Rwenzori?
The Rwenzori Mountains or short Rwenzoris is a large mountain group about 100 km long and 60 km wide, peaking in Mt. Stanley with an altitude of 5109m. It maybe located right on the equator however the Rwenzoris are famous for the cold and wet climate inlcuding regular snowfalls down to 4000m. It is not a volcano like the other two big mountains in Africa, Mt. Kenia and Mt. Kilimanjaro and was very likely created by geotectonic processes associated with the Albertine Rift Valley.
The Rwenzoris is not a single peak or mountain but consists of several massifs or ranges, which are seperated by deep and steep valleys and canyons. The most important ranges in the central part are Mt. Stanley, Mt. Speke, Mt. Baker, Mt. Gessi, Mt. Emin und Mt. Savoia.
Until the mid of the 20th century the central part of the Rwenzori was heavily glaciated, nowadays however the glaciated area shrinked dramatically and all with the exception of the icefields of Mt. Stanley will be vanished very soon.
the Rwenzoris are famous for the lush and gigantic vegetation, which is unique in the whole world. Tree Heather, Giant Senecias and Giant Lobelias are only some examples.
The Rwenzori is a national park in Uganda and the DR Congo, therefor all visits have to be in agreement with the local guidelines.
Trekking in the Ruwenzori
The Rwenzori is a demanding but worth while trekking area, which will grant access to truly unique scenery and vegetation.
If you expects steep rock faces or glaciers like in Patagonia, high mountain peoples like in Tibet and Nepal or comfortable hotels and wide signposted paths should stop reading and look for another region.
The central Rwenzori is accessible through a trekking trail, the central circuit, with simple, rustic, not heated (snowfall!) mountain huts. Since 2009 there is another trail leading to the central mountain range, the Kilembe trail, which is completely without huts.
It is not possible, to go to the Rwenzori (Ugandan side) comletely on your own. In any case you need the trekking permit issued from the national park and guides as well as porters from the local organizations. This can be done through an american or european trekking organizer or directly in Uganda through a ground agent or the Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS). Ic you want to cantact local agents or the RMS, english is very recommended!
A Rwenzori Trek is due to the monopoly of the RMS quite expensive. For a 8 day central circuit trekking without peaks (they go extra) including guide, porter, cook and food it will be per person about 1000 EUR.
The porters will not get much for their hard work (a few EUR per day). Anybody thinking of saving money by hiring no or few porters should think twice. The money goes directly to the families in the valley. There are not much options for the inhabitants of the valleys to earn money and it is the best investment in a developing country you probably ever made.
Is it worth the money, that is up to you to decide! The pictures in my online stories and in my book and free pdf for download can help you to decide.
The Central Circuit
The Rwenzori Central Circuit is a serious high altitude trek of about 8 days with up to 8 walking hours and more than 1000 m up/down per day. After the first day you will hardly find nearly only true wilderness paths. from Bujuku hut (third day) to Nyabitaba hut it is true high altitude and alpine trekking, some parts without any paths, with steep, slippery, wet and mossy rocks . Due to the swamps you will hike through, there is not any relaxing walking for days. Swamps in Rwenzori can be flat be also very steep terrain!
In short words, it is serious, physically demanding and sure footedness is a must. Moreover a good humor can help with the wet paths and the cold and wet weather. Everybody who completes the central circuit has my respect!
For the nights simple, rustic huts have been built many years ago. They protect you from wind and rain, but thats it. Sometimes tables, chairs or matresses are missing, the windows habe been closed with wooden planks as the pane was broken. Especially Kitandara and Bujuka hut are in a poor shape. Of course you can say "thats Africa", the 1000 EUR per person are not justified considering the condition of the huts.
We have always slept in our tent (that will not change the cost of the trek...)
Guide, Porters, Cook and the food
A typical Rwenzori trekking group has a guide, a cook and several porters.
The (Mountain)Guide is responsible for the climbers or hikers. He knows the path through the swamps and forests, will help you with tricky or dangerous parts of the path and manages the porters. Of course you cannot a qualitfied european mountain guide. Our guides however, have been very helpful, friendly and knew the central circuit very well.Questions like "how far is it", what mountain is that" have been answered very "african". Bottom line: Very helpful and without their guiding the paths through the swamps and forests or across foggy passes with no visibility would be very, very difficult to find. Climbing experience and technical knowledge for abseiling or something like that, may not be expected from the guides. You must know it yourself. This is NOT necessary for the Central Circuit, only for the peaks!
The cook takes care of the food and, how surprising, is resposible for the cooking. In theory a cook is not really necessary and you could start a trek without him/her, however a cook makes live much easier. Please do not forget, that nights are coming early in the tropics, starting with 18:30 it will be dark, and that especially in the Rwenzoris the walking through the forests and the unique lush vegetation should be in the focus of the group. Coming early to the huts, especially, if the weather is fine, does not make much sense and this would be necessary if you want to cook on your own. Also consider, that there is no electricity, that cooking takes place in special "cooking huts", which you do not know (and are VERY smokey), that you probably have never cooked matoke and other local foodstuff and so on. Life with a cook gives a group much freedom for the Rwenzoris and the experience to trek in such a remote and exotic location.
The quality of the cooks is of course different. The best advice we can give is as following. Tell the cooks exactly and very clear what you like and what you do not like. Influence already the shopping of the food before the trek starts and tell them during the trek exactly when and what you want to eat. Very often, the cooks makes a detailed plan what to cook on a day and is happy to discuss it with you. Make sure that you have enough food for the day, very often the food for the lunch was not sufficient for our hunger, especially if you stay the whole day on a trek. Tipp: groundnuts. Let the cook roast groundnuts (local term for peanuts) and you will always have something to eat. Moreover the local groundnuts are really delicious....
By now the cooking takes place on a simple, but robust gas cooker not any longer on charcoal. Only the porters use the traditional charcoal burners for preparing their food.
Food is easily available in all bigger towns in the valley, like Fort Portal. Potatoes, pasta, rice, vegetables, if you like chicken, eggs, matoke (bananas for cooking) and so on. If you have a good ground agent he will happily accept, that you do the shopping together with him the day before all starts. Unfortunately this is no guarantee that everything you buy will be on the trek. During our last trek somethink was "lost" and other groups are telling the same story. You will never know where and why these things are happening. A reliable ground agent will minimize the risk.
If you do the trek with a shrinkwrapped tour organized from Europe or America, you do not have to take care of anything, but you also miss some interesting shopping experienes in the local markets.
By the way all cooks we have met and of course our cook Arthur have been very carefull and very dedicated to work as clean as possible. It is no easy job to do the cooking in a muddy, smokey environment, in small huts with no light and soaked cardboardboxes containing the food. They do a really great job in such an environment!
The Porters will carry the luggage and the food of the "clients", the guide, the cook and of course for themselves. Unitl know we have not met a single unfriendly or grumpy porter!
There are strict rules how much weight a Porter can (and will) carry. Therefore all your luggage and all your food will be weighed before you start. If necessary additional porters will be hired, which must be payed on top of the standard fee for the trek, which inludes a "standard allowence" of luggage. This is normally sufficent, however if you have lots of climbing equipment it is very likely that you will need additional Porters. Porters will always walk on their own, and you will hardly meet them during the day. Therefore everything you need during the day has to be put in your own day pack including food. You pack everything in the morning and put the bags for the porters in front of the huts. They will pick it up, when they start. We never missed anything of our equipment after a day, you really can trust the porters!
I want to emphasize again, the costs for the porters is minimal, it is hard work but they can earn good money which is used very often for schooling and education for themselves or their children!
More information about necessary equipment for the Rwenzoris on the next page: Trekking Equipment - my personal tipps for the Rwenzoris I
If you do not like rain so much, you might choose instead a trek in the Bale Mts. NP in Ethiopia: Trekking in the Bale Mountains National Park in southern Ethiopia
