Mount Nyiragongo Hike Safety
Mount Nyiragongo Hike Safety will give you a hiker and a traveler the chance to know the facts about how safe it is to hike the mountain and the precautions they should take to make their hike smooth. Mount Nyiragongo is the sixth most active volcanic mountain in the world which makes it one of the famous attractions that can be seen in virunga national park because of its activity. Virunga national park is known for housing some of the world’s remaining mountain gorilla species and hosing the three virunga mountains mount Mikeno, mount Nyamuragira and Mount Nyiragongo which is known for having the world’s largest lava lake that can be seen after hiking to the summit of the mountain.
Mount Nyiragongo has gained popularity among tourists from neighboring countries and tourists around the world because of its activity which has attracted a number of tourists to come to virunga national park and because of virunga national park safety it has enabled the tourists to participate in the Mount Nyiragongo hike.
Safety of Mount Nyiragongo Hike
Researchers
If you’re interested in carrying out the Mount Nyiragongo hike and you are afraid that the mountain will erupt on your trip, think no more because the park management has a team of researchers that work daily understanding the geological activity of the mountain and with this, it has ensured that they are able to know when the mountain’s next eruption is to take place in order to avoid any surprises that may cause death during the eruptions.
The information obtained from the research team is quite helpful to the people in the neighboring communities like Goma who are evacuated when the mountain is about to erupt and also when the mountain is going to erupt, the park is closed and no tourism activities are carried out to avoid accidents.
Briefing
Before participating in the Mount Nyiragongo Hike, tourists are expected to participate in a briefing session where they will be able to understand more about the Nyiragongo hike, the safety precautions that should be followed in order to avoid accidents during the mount Nyiragongo hike. During the briefing session, a tourist is expected to pay attention to the guide who will give you guidelines to follow in order to have a safe hike on the mountain.
Guide
During Mount Nyiragongo hike, you will be accompanied by a knowledgeable guide who is conversant about the area; the guide will take you through your entire hiking expedition where you will be guided on the different hiking trails in the park to ensure that you do not go off track while in the park. The guide will take you on the trails that are easy to hike in order to avoid exhaustion and fatigue since the hike takes two days to finish.
Ranger
An armed ranger will accompany you during your hiking adventure to ensure that you have a safe hike while in the park. The purpose of the ranger accompanying the tourists to the summit of Mount Nyiragongo is to ensure that the tourists are protected from any attacks from either poacher who are usually rebels, vicious animal attacks since the park is known for being a habitat to a number of animal species like elephants, lions, buffalos among other mammal species that can attack the tourists hence causing accidents during the hike.
The time frame of the hike
For the hike to be safe for the health of the tourists it is carried out within 2 days whereby people are able to get resting periods during the
hike and this s done to ensure that the tourists have time to catch their breath, and also get time to rest from the exhausting activity in order to regain energy to continue with the hike.
Rules and regulations
While carrying out the mount Nyiragongo hike, you should consider following the rules and regulations that are put in place to ensure that you have an amazing and safe hike. Some of the regulations that should be followed include;
- Tourists should follow the lead of the guide who will take you through your entire hike up mount Nyiragongo because they know the fastest and safest routes to take.
- They should move on the same pace in order to avoid lagging behind and because the guide, ranger and the military officer should protect the entire group, it is therefore advisable for tourists to move on the same pace so that they are protected from any harm in the group which can be difficult when they are scattered.
- At the summit, there is a viewing point where you can see the lava lake which is a very big distance from the lava lake and this is because of the need for the park management to avoid accidents therefore for any tourist interested in watching the lava lake, they should put in consideration watching it from the viewing point and nowhere else in order to avoid accidents and many other rules and regulations that are given during the briefing session at the reception area.
Health requirements
Before participating in the mount Nyiragongo hike, health requirements are considered and here people that have any health conditions that might hinder their hike, for instance, high blood pressure, heart problems among other health conditions that might inflict harm or cause any threat to the lives of the people should not be allowed to take part in the hike, therefore, it is very vital for tourists to first take part in the briefing sessions in order to avoid any accidents that may even cost the life of the tourist.
