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Chappal Waddi (Mountain of Death) – 21-30 March 2008

“The Mountain of Death”

 

The Nigerian Field Society sponsored a trip in March to the highest mountain in Nigeria known to the Nigerians as “Gangirwal”, Chappal Waddi—or “Mountain of Death”.  The mountain is located in Taraba State in Gashaka-Gumti National Park, the most remote park in Nigeria.  It was a long 11½ hour drive to the national park, then another 2+ hour drive to the base camp at the Gashaka Primate project site at Kwano.  Nine trekkers, three park guides, and thirteen hearty porters set out on this physically challenging 6-day hike which covered almost 50 miles, traversing through varied terrain ranging from flat, unremarkable ground, to hiking 10 hours in a rocky riverbed with spectacular water fall views, to our guide’s having to chop through the thick forest with a machete.  Availability of water determined where we would camp each night.  The trek down was just as exciting, as we hiked through a remote village on the Cameroon/Nigeria border as well as a village in remote section of Nigeria where we were welcomed warmly with offers of food and drink. 

 

Day #1:  12 hr drive to Serti Tourist camp where we stayed in spacious bungalows.

 

    

 

 

Good Friday Parade

 

 

Day #2:  picked up by park rangers and driven to Gashaka Gumpti National Park.  Took a nice hike (enroute to Gashaka Primate project site at Kwano) along the river Mayo Kam to hippo pool.  Didn’t see any hippos, though… confirmed trek agenda and did some exploring.

 

    

 

 

 

 

Day #3:  hiked 11 miles / 8.5 hrs through relatively flat, unremarkable fields.  This was a long, hot hike.  I was definitely worn out and considered turning around.  We came upon a poacher’s camp.  The park rangers set it afire, and within about 2 minutes it was burnt to the ground.

 

    

 

 

 

 

Day #4:  Most of the day was spent hiking through rocky river beds, which was very difficult.  We saw spectacular rock formations, waterfalls, and butterflies.

 

    

 

 

Day #5:  Quest for the summit!  In contrast to yesterday’s trek, today was an uphill climb, with the guide hacking through jungle with a machete, navigating around the hillside--clinging to the side at one point.  The final jungle gave way to the summit and spectacular views!  We reached the summit at about 5:30 PM, exhausted, yet proud of our accomplishment—knowing that we were the only people at the highest point of Nigeria.  Needless to say, it was a cold night… 

 

 

    

 

 

Day #6:  We got an early start and headed down the mountain, via a cattle trail, through two traditional villages:  a village in Cameroon (Jaura Hammaselbe), where we spent a couple of delightful hours and were given bananas & honeycomb, then passed through the village of Mayo Sebere.  We bought a couple of chickens at the first village; so, guess what we had for dinner that night?

 

    

 

    

 

 

Day #7:  We hiked a long 11½ hours today.  Final push knowing that tomorrow’s final leg of the long, tiring journey will be about 4 hours.

 

    

 

 

 

Day #8:   Back at Kwano!  Tired, blistered feet, but proud of our accomplishment, and the guides/porters; as we would not have been able to do it without their help.  We drove back to Serti Tourist Camp to prepare for our long drive back to Abuja.

 

    

 

 

Day #9:   We were all very happy to ride in the van for the next 11½ hours back to Abuja which concluded an experience of a lifetime.

 

    

 

 

 

Over the past several years, only a handful of tourists have attempted this trip.  As one of the “lucky few”, this will definitely be a trip I will always cherish.  Another reason to get out and enjoy the natural beauty that Nigeria has to offer.

 

Three links on Chappal Waddi / Gashaka Gumpti (the first is the most directly informative with some amazing photographs):

 

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gashaka/mountain/

http://www.bushnigeria.com/gashaka.htm

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gashaka/highlands/

 

The flora, fauna and landscape in this region are superb, as you will see from the link above.

Co-organising the trip were Jeremy Weate and Olly Owen.  

 

From the bushnigeria link, we find this:

“Chappal Waddi, the ‘Mountain of Death’ at 2,400m, Nigeria’s highest mountain.  Situated on the Cameroon border, it can be reached either by driving from Serti to Njawai on the Mambilla Plateau and then walking from Njawai (round trip 5 days from Serti), or walking through the park from Gashaka village (round trip 8-10 days from Gashaka).”

The link immediately below gives more details on how we might visit the research project at Kwano:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gashaka/visiting/

Background

Nigeria's highest mountain, Gangirwal (aka Chappal Waddi), stands at 7,963 ft

(2,419 m) and lies in the Adamawa mountains in a remote corner of Gashaka-

Gumti National Park (GGNP). The Mambila Plateau, where the mountain is

found, is the centre of Nigeria’s tea plantation industry. The park covers 6,600 sq

km (roughly 3 times the size of Greater London) and is Nigeria's largest National

Park.

 

The name Gangirwal translates as “The Mountain of Death”. There is certainly an

ominous and overbearing feeling when viewing the bulk of the mountain from

below at the small village of Jauro Hammasale. However, as long as you do not

disturb the keeper of the mountain, the only danger that exists when you climb is

that you will suffer from a seriously good walk that will afford a unique insight into

the culture, scenery and natural biodiversity of the region.

 

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1 Taken from The Gashaka Primate Project website, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gashaka/mountain/

 

 

 

The Mountain of Death on Google Earth. Cameroon is on the right (east) of the mountain’s edge.

 

3D Model of the Mountain of Death from Sabere

 

 

 

 

    

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Rating (easy, moderate, difficult, impossible)

Extremely Difficult

 

Security

?

 

Gear:

-       Spacious and comfortable minibus for the round trip (hired in Abuja) – to seat 10.

-       Two-way walkie-talkie (in case the group needs to split in two) – Olly will bring

-       Satellite phone [sponsorship from Thuraya currently being sought]

-       GPS unit – Simon will bring

-       Adequate number of tents for the trip

-       Back-pack (for clothes, snacks and toiletries etc.)

-       Blankets/mats

-       Walking boots

-       Gifts – for the local chiefs etc.

-       Torches

-       Food – trekking snacks, rice etc. The camp at Kwano will help arrange food stuff to take along with us

-       Cooking equipment (knives, plastic plates, cups etc)

-       Water purification tablets (although the water on the mountain is fresh and does not need purification)

-       Detailed contour/route maps – being produced by Simon Gusah (one of the participants)

-       First-aid kit (including anti-malarial tablets, anti-bihlarzia etc.) There are no mosquitoes on the mountain however.

 

Park-visitor form: please download the one-page form and fill in and bring along

– this will save us time on arrival

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gashaka/pdfs/2_5_Visitor%20Form.pdf

 

Food

For those wishing to eat fresh fish: we will need to buy a fishing licence in Serti,

then we can also catch fish and eat it, during 2-3 of the camp nights.

The staple food on the trip will not only be rice with beans, but also noodles and

garri (yam-based flour, I believe), and in the two villages we should be able to

get Irish potatoes.

 

 

Costs:

1. Minibus hire – Abuja – Kwano – Abuja:

(15 seater Toyota Hiace Minibus): N170,000.

2. Park fees: N2000 (per person)

3. Porters/guides/cooks costs:

 

The following is a summary of costs from Prof Sommer – leader of the UCL team

based at Kwano. His team will be helping us to organise porters/guides/cooks:

 

It works out to about £142 per person, which is less than £20 per day which

includes all food, accommodation, porters, fuel etc.  Assuming we have 9 participants (i.e. two people drop out of the list below) Minibus hire: N19,000 each (includes contribution of just over N100 for a tip for the driver)

 

Park fee: N2,000 each

Porter/guide/cook: N35,500 each

 

Total: N56,500 each.

 

 

Itinerary:

See description above

 

 

Contact:

Event Coordinator

 

 

 

Directions:

Directions and other details upon registration.