The trek begins at about 1am, through scrubby bushes, and becomes increasingly steep as we trek through the night. By dawn, you should reach the steep rocks at the edge of the crater rim, to step into a world of lava chimneys (cornitos) venting sulphuric gases into the air. Lengai is a classic stratovolcano, and is the only active volcano known to erupt carbonatite lava which is a low temperature lava – “only” about 600°C (opposed to hot lava over 1,000/1,500°C). The sights here will forever enchant you.

The 30 minutes climb to the summit affords you panoramic views towards Ngorongoro, Empakai and the Highlands to Lake Natron, and even you can see the sun rises over Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. The descent (which tales 2.5-4 hours) is the most grueling portion of the trek, and can be quite dangerous due to the excessively steep terrain. The temperatures soar by mi-morning, and there are no trees to protect you from the hot sun. A vehicle will take you back to camp where you can rest. The total trekking time is about 8 to 11 hours.