Mount Meru

At 4,566 meters, Mount Meru is the second-highest mountain in Tanzania and the fifth-highest in Africa. Around 250,000 years ago a huge eruption blew away its eastern side, leaving the horseshoe-shaped crater and ash cone you see today. Its last small eruption was in 1910.

The climb passes through several zones: montane forest at the base, then heath and moorland, and finally bare alpine desert near the top. Buffalo, giraffe and even elephants live on the lower slopes, so an armed park ranger walks with every group.

Most climbs take three or four days, sleeping at Miriakamba Hut and Saddle Hut, with an optional walk up Little Meru for views of Kilimanjaro. The summit push to Socialist Peak starts before dawn and follows a dramatic ridge along the crater rim. Many climbers use Meru to acclimatize before Kilimanjaro.