PJSChallenges | Rwenzori Mountains

Rwenzori Mountains
Uganda

Altitude - 5,109m (16,762ft)

Grading Level - T6 (click HERE to find out more about our grading)

Best months to go: June - August / December - February

The Rwenzori Mountains offer some of the most challenging hikes in Africa. It’s advised to have prior hiking experience and be in good health before attempting to climb. This is categorized as high-altitude and difficult for non-hikers, you will need to be physically fit.

Rwenzori is a mountain of 6 different massifs each with numerous peaks (16 in total). Although Margherita on Mt. Stanley remains the most popular owing to its altitude at 5,109m, mountains Speke and Baker, peaks Portal and Alexander are also major attractions for seasoned hikers.

The Rwenzori range is a true mountain range with many climbs and descents and making it a tough climb.

The high rainfall of more than three metres per year, the moss covered rocks, the dense vegetation, the tall peaks and cliffs towering above to the moss covered valleys and meandering streams create a ‘Alice in Wonderland atmosphere’ which changes through several biospheres as you climb making the “Rwenzori Mountains” a truly unique experience.

70 animal species and 177 bird species live in the vegetation zones. Among the creatures are elephants, chimpanzees, Rwenzori otters, and leopards. Despite their prevalence, they are rarely seen because of the dense vegetation. Primate species like colobus (Angola and black-and-white varieties are thought to exist), blue monkeys, and small antelope like bushbucks are easier to spot, as are rare reptiles like the three-horned chameleon.

Because several of the bird species here are Albertine Rift endemics, the Rwenzoris is designated as an Important Birding Area (IBA). The greatest diversity is found in the montane forest where you may see the Rwenzori Turaco, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Long-eared Owl, Handsome Francolin, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Archers’ Robin-chat, White-starred Robin, Rwenzori Batis, Montane Sooty Boubou, Lagden’s Bush Shrike, Slender-billed Starling, Blue-headed Sunbird, Golden-winged Sunbird, Strange Weaver and several varieties of Barbets, Greenbuls, Apalises, IIladopsis, Flycatchers and Crimson wings.

The Rwenzori Mountains, also known as the Mountains of the Moon, are located in western Uganda, near the Uganda-Congo border. The tropical snow peaks include Africa’s third highest point, and the lower slopes are covered in moorland, bamboo, and lush, damp montane forest. enormous lobelias and “everlasting flowers” are strewn across the slope with enormous tree heathers and multicolored mosses, creating an exquisite, fairy-tale landscape.

Trekking the mystic Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda is a truly fantastic and unique experience, the wonder of the high glaciers, the beauty of the valley of nine lakes, the bearded lichen hanging from giant heathers with a backdrop of rocky cliffs, crags and snow capped peaks. The Rwenzori Mountains is a World Heritage Site and offers the opportunity to see nature at its best.

Climbing to Margherita Peak is a technical climb and knowledge of ropes and use of crampons, ascenders and descenders to belay. Knowledge of how to use an ice axe is advisable with ice sections of 60% steepness that are changing rapidly due to climate change and melting of the glacier.

All our guides are trained in ice climbing and rescue and can guide you up with little experience, however you must be prepared to learn on the way up and to be able to fit your own crampons and use of ascenders and descenders,