Ol Doinyo Lengai Height
Ol Doinyo Lengai is 2,962 metres (9,718 feet) above sea level.
That is the elevation given by the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program and by Wikipedia, for the highest point on the crater rim. The cone rises more than 1,800 metres above the surrounding rift floor south of Lake Natron. Prominence is about 1,360 metres.
Older guidebooks and some operator pages still say about 2,878–2,890 metres, or, less reliably, 3,188 metres. Those figures have not been adopted by the main volcanological sources. The summit height also shifts slightly over time because the northern crater fills and collapses with natrocarbonatite eruptions, so a round figure of about 2,960 metres is the useful one for planning.
Height ranking of Ol Doinyo lengai in Tanzania
Is it among the highest mountains inTanzania?
Tanzania’s three famous climbs do not line up in a single order. Kilimanjaro is the highest, the longest, and the one most people mean when they say they climbed in Tanzania. Mount Meru is the second summit in the country and the sensible rehearsal for Kilimanjaro. Ol Doinyo Lengai is the lowest of the three and, hour for hour, often the most punishing. Rank them by altitude and Lengai is third. Rank them by how hard a single day feels and it can be first.
The three mountains
Kilimanjaro is a dormant stratovolcano in its own national park, 5,895 metres (19,341 feet), the highest point in Africa. A normal trek takes five to nine days on paths through rainforest, moorland, alpine desert, and a glacial summit. The difficulty is altitude. Oxygen at the top is about half of sea level, and the success rate swings from roughly 30 percent on a rushed five-day route to 85–95 percent on an eight- or nine-day Lemosho or Northern Circuit. A reputable seven- to eight-day climb usually costs about $2,200 to $4,500 before tips.
Mount Meru, 4,566 metres (14,980 feet), is the country’s second-highest peak and a dormant volcano in Arusha National Park, about 70 kilometres west of Kilimanjaro. The standard Momela route is three to four days, with huts, a mandatory ranger because of buffalo and other wildlife, and a steep final ridge. It is a real altitude trek, shorter and quieter than Kilimanjaro, and a common acclimatisation climb before it. Packages often fall around $800 to $1,500, though park fees and operator style move that number.
Ol Doinyo Lengai, about 2,962 metres (9,718 feet), stands south of Lake Natron in the Gregory Rift. It is the only volcano on Earth that still erupts natrocarbonatite lava, and it is sacred to the Maasai as the Mountain of God. The usual trip is one midnight push from the lake basin, five to eight hours up on ash and scree, then a hot descent. A two-day trip from Arusha is often $350 to $700, and sometimes $650 to $1,250 for a more comfortable private version. There is no national success register; operators who run it regularly put guided attempts at about 70 to 80 percent when the crater is open.
Ol Doinyo Lengai vs Mount Kilimanjaro & Mount Meru
How they rank
By height: Kilimanjaro, then Meru, then Lengai. The gap is not cosmetic. Kilimanjaro is nearly twice Lengai’s elevation. Meru is still high enough for altitude illness to decide the summit night. Lengai sits only a few hundred metres above the usual “high altitude” line, and thin air is rarely why a party turns around.
By duration: Lengai is one night on the mountain, plus a day of driving. Meru is a long weekend. Kilimanjaro is most of a week, and the better routes use that week on purpose. If the question is how much of a holiday the climb consumes, Lengai is the smallest commitment and Kilimanjaro the largest.
By difficulty: This is where the order breaks. Kilimanjaro is the harder expedition because of height, cold, and the length of summit night. Meru is the middle: steep, wild, and high, but over before the altitude debt of Uhuru Peak. Lengai is the outlier. Slopes of 40 to 45 degrees on loose ash, a gain of roughly 1,600 to 2,300 metres in the dark, and a descent into 40 °C heat make a single Lengai night feel steeper than most days on either of the other two. It is not more dangerous in the altitude sense. It is more abrupt.
By success rate: Kilimanjaro’s odds are published and depend on days on the mountain more than on gym fitness. Meru’s are generally high for fit clients, with altitude still the main filter. Lengai’s 70 to 80 percent is a different statistic: the volcano can close the rim, and legs on scree fail people who would have been fine at 3,000 metres on a gentle path. A Kilimanjaro failure from headache at 5,000 metres does not predict a Lengai failure. A Kilimanjaro failure from exhausted legs does.
By cost: Lengai is the cheap climb, Meru the middle, Kilimanjaro the expensive one, mostly because of park fees, crew size, and nights on the hill. Lengai’s bill is a 4×4, a camp, and a local guide. Kilimanjaro’s is a regulated expedition.
By character: Kilimanjaro is the continental high point, busy and infrastructural. Meru is forest, wildlife, and a crater ridge with Kilimanjaro on the horizon. Lengai is a hot rift, a soda lake, flamingos, and an active crater that may be shut on the day you arrive. One is a trophy. One is a park trek. One is a volcano.
Which one to book
Choose Kilimanjaro if the goal is the roof of Africa and you can give it seven or eight days. Choose Meru if you want a serious summit in half the time, wildlife on the approach, or a dress rehearsal that genuinely improves a later Kilimanjaro attempt. Choose Lengai if you want the strangest mountain in the country, can handle a very steep night, and care more about a living crater than about a height ranking.
They also stack. Meru before Kilimanjaro is a known acclimatisation pattern. Lengai fits best as a side trip from Natron, not as preparation for Uhuru Peak: it does not teach the body to sleep at 4,500 metres, and it will tire the legs you need for summit night. In a pure list of Tanzanian summits, Lengai ranks third. In a list of days you will still be describing a year later, it often ranks first.