UKC

My wife and I will be based in Dar Es Salaam for most of next year. From cursory research it seems there is very very little developed climbing in Tanzania, but a fair bit close to Nairobi, which we could easily visit for the odd weekend. Wondering if anyone has climbed in the region and can recommend us anything in particular. Near Nairobi, Hells Gate looks very cool, and Lukenya looks interesting too. 

Sadly it appears there are no climbing gyms in Dar Es Salaam. But perhaps some lonely climber with a home wall/board?

At some point we'd like to tackle one of the high peaks in the region. Kilimanjaro would be the obvious destination but I'm kind of put off by the crowds — are there quieter routes? I'm probably more intrigued by Mt. Meru just because it looks less frequented and perhaps more technical in places. Also intrigued by Nelion Peak on Mount Kenya though I don't think we'd be able to go in Jan or Feb, which according to Mountain Project is the best time to go. (Presumably you need a guide for most/all of these?)

I myself know nothing about the area, but while researching a possible trip I found a Kenyan climber called Peter Naituli who has a pretty good youtube channel. He'd probably be happy to hear from visitors.

It's a long time since I lived in Kenya, but I'm sure you would find the Mountain Club of Kenya as helpful as we did.  They are based in Nairobi.

https://www.mck.or.ke/

I can recommend this for something a little bit different. Combine with a walk up Karisimbi (2days) to make the trip worth your while.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/bigogwe-24318/crack_on_the_mossy_b... 

Fly to Kigali. John

I climbed at Leukenya one Sunday whilst on a work trip to Nairobi a few years ago. It was really easy to organise meeting up with some local climbers (via the Mountain Club of Kenya) and getting out to the crag wasn't a problem at all. I thought the crag was pretty good.

Not having ever visited Dar Es Salaam I can't comment on whether anyone has a board, but I worked a couple of times in Juba, South Sudan, and someone there had a home wall - so you never know!

My information is well out of date. I was based in Nairobi in 1970!

However, I did climb Mt Meru. We did the standard route I think, with just one overnight camp as I remember. A little easy scrambling and some loose scree near the top, but otherwise a walk. We were alone on the mountain and I wouldn't think it would be crowded now. We had no guide or porters for that. We also did Kilimanjaro without guide or porters which was possible then, but hard work.

Mt Kenya is altogether more interesting I would say, though we didn't manage Nelion or Bation - we went at the wrong season to try those. 

I climbed at Lukenya and Hell's Gate. Both worthwhile. I remember riding down to Lukenya from Nairobi on my Vespa motor scooter. It took forever, with Lukenya in plain view most of the way, but never getting any closer.

Good to hear from others that the Mountain Club is still going strong.

Martin

I had a day at Lukenya in 2000; 45 min from Nairobi and well worth while. Plenty of info if you Google Lukenya climbing. 

Strongly recommend you read No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi. Amazing book, think it's had a review on here recently-ish. That'll set you up!

Enjoy,

Cheers, 

Lex

Thanks for the tips, all! 

Hi there,

I lived in Kenya for a while back in the mid 2000s and have returned a number of times since then. The MCK Mountain Club of Kenya is pretty active and it's the place where you can get to meet people and make arrangements out there.

There are a number of guidebooks (imagine old school 90s guides) to the crags out there at Hell's Gate and Lukenya. There are also quite a few random crags/ mountains which are quite exciting to climb- check out Mt Poi for example.

Kili is a great mountain to climb and there are some interesting routes up it, but to be honest, I would head up via a standard route. If you want the place to yourself and don't mind a bit of rain and snow then go in one of the off-seasons e.g. November. If you want a big mountain ascent, then Mt Kenya should be on your bucket list and I would thoroughly recommend traversing the mountain by heading up Batian and across the gates of the mist, descending Nelion (I seem to remember about 14 abseils) and then out of the park. One of the best mountain expeditions ever.

Have fun!

We didn't need a guide for the actual rock climbing up Nelion - I seem to remember it being about Severe to start with then getting harder and harder as we got higher. Also we were wearing rucksacks with sleeping bags to sleep on the summit before all the multiple abseils the next day so its quite tiring climbing at altitude. 

However we did use a local outfit for portering of tents, food and general logistics. I couldn't imagine carrying it in alone . 

Fabulous route though. 

I used to visit Dar anually for some years, staying 2-3 weeks at a time, and have wondered the same thing. The only wall I ever saw was one in a children's school, but too easy to be of any interest. We always stayed on the Peninsula, where many of the expats tend to live, and met other climbers socially from time to time. Perhaps you could get some locals interested in putting a training wall together somewhere? I know some people who might well offer advice and perhaps help with sourcing timber and marine ply for panels. You'd have to bring holds from here, of course. Let me know if of interest.

.... alternatively, get into the locals' technique of getting up coconut palms

Whilst local it would be a shame to avoid Kili because of the crowds. It's a great kind of postcolonial experience and puts money into the local economy. Anyone with an interest in mountaineering is curious to see how they will perform at altitude, it certainly made me aware I wasn't up to bivouacing at 28,000ft. We acclimatised on Meru where I was sick as a dog.