Mount Cameroon

And the next challenge was trekking up West Africa's highest mountain, Mount Cameroon with its peak at 4,095m...and we would be starting at 1,010m so it is quite a challenge. My three trekking companions, our guide, Brandan on the right and three of our porters.

We started out walking through fields and this is a picture of a cucumber growing on a three.

This is a mystical mountain and in Tolkein style, this is a hobbits doorway.

This is an eyesore, thrown away bottles and plastic wrapping. The day before was the Race for Hope, a mountain race up to the summit and back, sponsored by Tanqui mineral waters, a local subsidiary of  Vichy International but unfortunately they had not organised any clear up and there was debris scattered cross the mountain as we trekked up and it would be blown around until someone organised a clear up.

The four of us under the entrance to the National Park.

The first hut, a former ranger station.

One of the giant trees that grow in the jungle slopes of the mountain.

Just above the tree line, a view down to the jungle and the start of the savannah.

This is why the trail is so gruelling as it is a relentless steep incline.

New `Hut, one of the stops on the trek upwards.

A view of the surrounding scenery.

 A surprise for us, the main building at Hut No2 which was a restaurant and bar although the beer was three times the price of the hotel that we had left on the coast.

One of the chalets that were available.

A quirky design...

...the dormitory building where our porters would be sleeping...

...and despite the opulence and luxury around us, we were camping.

An opening to a lava tunnel, a cave within the lava field formed when the surface of the lave has solidified and the liquid lava underneath finds another route and flows out leaving a tunnel. These are favourite places for bats but there were none in this particular tunnel.

Another hut, Hut No3 just 5oom underneath the summit.

A cinder field through which we had to trudge to reach the summit. Its a bit like walking through sand, very tiring, a strain on the legs and every step slips back as you try to climb up.

At last, the summit.

This volcano is unusual as the summit is not on the edge of the caldera and in fact there is no main caldera but eruptions come from a number of separate vents and fissures. One of the vents near the summit.

 A fissure near the summit.

One of the many vents around the top of the mountain.

 A view back towards the summit overlooking a lava field from a fissure in the middle distance.

The vents from the last eruption in 2000 and in the foreground the vent from the 1982 eruption which are all above the same line of weakness so form a neat straight line. 

 Our next hut campsite and again quite a surprise as we had not been told that there were hot showers, toilets and a bar.

 The cooking hut with our guide, Brandan in the mauve teeshirt.

The lava field that we crossed first thing in the morning.

The lava field from the 2000 eruption just colonised by moss.

The lave field from the 1982 eruption which being a couple of decades earlier has more grasses growing on it.

And then as we descended, we got back to jungle which gave us shade from the sun but it was airless and humid.

 And some giant elephant ear palms.

And you know when you are getting back to civilisation as there are clearings in the forest ready for planting a crop.

 A chameleon.

And a colourful bird whose name I forget but Mike Brandon will name it in two seconds.