How to get there:
Starting from Luanda, the capital of Angola, it is a full day of driving to
reach the trailhead.
Route description:
From the local football field, take the trail that heads gently
downslope, heading for the valley that separates the peak from where this trail starts..
Keep a bit towards hiker left as you descend, but you should always keep descending except
when crossing a few local gullys that runs sort of perpendicular to your direction
of travel. Always stay on trails.
Keep a direction towards location
S12.4465. E15.1508, this location is near the creek where the trail
crosses. The trail becomes more unique as you gradually approach the steeper
part of the slope going down into the valley.
After crossing the creek, ascend directly up on the opposite side following the trail. Next,
pass by some local dwellings (huts), continue (slightly downhill)
across farm land until you reach the crest of
a broad ridge coming from your left. Turn left here on a smaller trail in order
to connect with higher ground (left) without loosing elevation.
The trail gets somewhat better defined as it starts climbing the ridge towards the mountain.
Higher up, you enter a shallow valley, the peak is now straight ahead. Near the
end of more gentle (almost flat) slopes there is a trail fork. Keep right, it is pretty obvious
if you want to climb the highest peak. Follow this trail to the summit.
The summit is marked with a cairn, a flag pole as well as a summit sign.
Comments:
We flew in to Luanda on three different flights. I arrived last, Wednesday evening
around 2130. Immigration was smooth, and Paul from Eco-tur was there to meet me.
A short drive and I had a good rest in our hotel. Departure was agreed to be at 0600
the next morning.
Our driver was on time and we started driving around 0630.
Interesting landscape and
pretty good roads. We made a short stop for lunch at
a rather scenic spot. After many
hours we arrived at the gas-station located in the main intersection between
Hwy. A and Hwy. B. They even sold Coke Zero! Another xx kilometer and we got to our
turn-off at location S12.34755. E15.1137. We noted that a road actually signed for
Moro Do Moco forked left a short while before we turned off the highway. The time was
1530. The 4WD road that serves
the small village of XX, is quite rough, so slow
driving. We arrived at
the local football field at 1700.
This was a good spot to camp, we did not interfere with the children playing. A small
pasta dinner, then relaxing with the sunset
before going to the tent for sleep.
The next morning, alarms were set for 0500, with a planned departure at 0530.
This worked well, we left shortly after 0530. From satellite, it looked like a trail
to the mountain would first climb across the lower part of the distinct hill, then descend
across the separating valley fairly high before climbing the peak along a ridge.
However, as described above, the best route descends gently directly from the village,
crossing the valley just below 1800 meter of elevation.
I pulled a bit ahead of the team somewhere when crossing the farmed fields after the main
valley crossing. The route was obvious and I arrived at the summit at 0800, 2.5 hours up was
quite a bit faster than anticipated. My team arrived at 0830. Good views all around. We rested,
took pictures and enjoyed being on the highest mountain in Angola.
At 0910, it was time to head back down. David charged ahead and arrived back in the village after
about 2 hours. I walked with our group, no need to hurry. We were back about 2:30 hours
after leaving the summit, well before noon.
In this way, we had part of the afternoon to travel back to the main (paved) road, returning (right)
to the main highway intersection, then onwards to the city of Hxxx. Here, we checked into a hotel
in order to prepare for a long drive to Lumbango the following day.
