Mount Nyiragongo Volcano Congo

Mount Nyiragongo Volcano is an active strato volcanic mountain with 3,470 metres height above sea level in the Virunga Mountains and is part of the Albertine Rift. Found in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mount Nyiragongo is among the active volcanoes on the African continent.

The volcano is found in the Virunga National Park about 20 kms north of Goma town and Lake Kivu near the western border of Rwanda with Congo. The main Nyiragongo crater is roughly two kilometres wide and typically has a lava lake. Currently, the crater has two separate cooled lava benches inside the crater walls. one is around 3,175 m (10,417 feet) plus a lower one at about 2,975 m (9,760 feet). The lava lake of Nyiragongo has sometimes been acknowledged as the largest lava lake in the modern times with significant differing depths. The highest lava lake elevation was documented at nearly 3,250 m (10,660 feet) preceding to the eruption of January 1977. The latest very low lava lake altitude was recorded at about 2,700 m (8,900 feet). Nyiragongo Volcano together with neighbouring Nyamuragira are jointly responsible for 40% of  historical volcanic eruptions in Africa.

To climb mount Nyiragongo, you need to identify other activities that you can do before or after it. These include mountain gorilla trekking in the Virunga National Park plus the Eastern Lowland gorilla tracking in Kahuzi Biega National Park. It is recommended that you book like a 5 or 6 day holiday safari to be able to cover other safari activities in Eastern Congo. Alternatively, you may do gorilla trekking and Lake Kivu tour in Rwanda and then go for Nyiragongo Volcano hike afterwards. But in case you need to do only hiking of Nyiragongo, you can book a 3 day adventure tour that usually starts from Kigali.