On March 28 and 29(2015), the Kilimanjaro Mountain Club organized a trip to the dormant Essimingor volcano , led  by our friend Aat Vander Welt and his wife Gaby.

Dr. Ben Beeckmans and his wife Nadine, members of the club, participated and added their scientific knowledge to the trip. Ben has a vested interest in the volcano and a trip like this is an excellent component for his investigation. Members received the usual info about the volcano -how it came to be, why it is there, how it is related to the tectonics of the Northern Tanzanian Divergence and wether it can become active  again.

They did not take any samples of nephelenitic and phonolitic tuffs and agglomerates – the most common building stones of the volcano-, as the area  did not provide good quality.

Day 29/3 was reserved for the climb  of Essimingor, and our scientist team wanted  to find traces of the former crater of the volcano. Essimingor , being the oldest volcano in Northern Tanzania, is very eroded and the original crater is -according to existing literature- not visible anymore. Unfortunately the general conditions were not the expected ones and the group did not arrive at the top area of the volcano. Another trip has to be organized!

Around 40members of the club participated that weekend, and at the Pills end of the trip, plans for a future “volcano” trip with Ben and Nadine were suggested.