Hiking Mount Longonot
Hiking mount longonot day trip starts from Nairobi, where by you are transferred to mt longonot park gate accompanied by your guide. Mt. Longonot is a 9,111 ft volcanic mountain with a crater 600 ft deep, almost 4 Km in diameter and there are steam jets shooting out of the bottom of the crater.
It is at least a 1hr walk to the crater rim and allow 2-3 hours for a circuit of the almost perfectly circular crater. The path is quite steep at times, so be prepared for many breaks and make sure you carry plenty of water. Lunch at hotel after descend then transfer back to Nairobi.
Mount Longonot hiking safari package departs daily from Nairobi after breakfast and the drive takes approximately an hour. You start the assent at 6000 ft. Like all good uphill hikes it will lure you in to a sense of false security with a slow gentle rise to the first peak.
This gives you a chance to get your lungs and limbs freed up for the second section, which is the most awesome. At the end of each section there is a rest point where you can prepare yourself for the next part of your journey.
Hiking Mount Longonot Itinerary
We will start early to avoid the heat of the Sun but by the time you reach the end of the second section you would have generated your own heat. Hiking mount longonot is not an easy hike but is achievable by people of average fitness.
An indication of the fitness required is that most school of the age 14 and 15 take this climb while attending school in Nairobi. Once you have finished the second section there is another rest bite of slightly less demanding terrain, before making the final climb on the fourth section. This again is a demanding section, though not as demanding as the second section.
As you heave yourself over the rim of the crater your reward is the awesome sight of Naivasha and the Great Rift Valley and you know that it was all worthwhile. Before making this climb you will need to acclimatize at 6000 feet. A ranger accompanies you on the hike. He will act as a guide.
As there are wild animals in the area he is armed. The whole tour is only about 8-9 km long but very steep, so that the round trip of park gate – Logonot Peak – park gate takes around 5 hours hiking. The gate is around 2150 metres and the peak at 2780 metres but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 metres vertical difference.
- Transport in a custom 4×4 land rover with pop up roof.
- All park entrance fees.
- Fullboard Accommodation.
- Game drives and other activities as described in the itinerary
- Services of an English speaking driver guide.
- Complimentary Bottled water 1 Litre per person per day.
- All government taxes.
- International airfares.
- All expenditure of personal nature such as telephone calls, hard drinks, soft drinks and laundry.
- Tips.
- Visas
- Travel Insurance.
Mount Longonot National Park
Mount Longonot is a stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s. Its name is derived from the Masai word oloonong’ot, meaning “mountains of many spurs” or “steep ridges”.
Mount Logonot is protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Logonot National Park. A trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a loop encircling the crater.
The whole tour is only about 8-9 km long but very steep, so that the round trip of park gate – Logonot Peak – park gate takes around 5 hrs hiking. The gate is around 2150 m asl and the peak at 2780 m asl but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 m vertical difference.
A forest of small trees covers the crater floor, and small steam vents are found spaced around the walls of the crater. The mountain is home to various species of wildlife, notably zebra and giraffe and buffaloes (droppings on the rim) and hartebeest. Leopards have also been reported but are extremely difficult to spot.
Mount Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of Nairobi and may be reached from there by a tarmac road. The road was re-done by the EU and is now excellent, reducing travel time from Nairobi to around an hour. A nearby town is also named Longonot. The Logonot satellite earth station is located south of the mountain.
Logonot is a stratovolcano which contains a large 8 x 12 km caldera formed by vast eruptions of trachytic lava some 21,000 years ago. The current summit cone was developed within the earlier caldera. This cone itself is capped by an 1.8 km crater. Satellite cones and effusive lava eruptions occur on the flanks and within the caldera floor. Periodic geodetic activity recorded at Logonot in 2004-2006 demonstrated the presence of active magmatic systems beneath this volcano.
- Do not Litter the reserve/park.
- Do not feed the animals, i.e. monkeys or baboons.
- Do give the animals the right of way and do not disturb wildlife.
- Do not take any plant or animals remains, dead or alive.
- Do not start fires or throw cigarettes in the reserve.
- Do stay in your vehicle except at designated viewing points.
- Do not shout, laugh loudly, play radio or cassettes as this will keep away the animals.
- Do not provoke any animals its dangerous.