An amazing lesson about the Mountain of God

IF one has to be asked to give a list of African countries that possess natural geological wonders, it would surely be difficult not to include the East African state of Tanzania.

The country’s Mount Kilimanjaro has probably received more publicity as the highest mountain in Africa (8,895 m) which in September 2009 even attracted the famous Chelsea Football Club owner, Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich, for a climb.The Blues owner tried his luck to get to Uhuru but retreated after a few days of climbing after he developed breathing problems.But there is another Tanzanian wonder that is also pulling thousands of tourists and scientists to this country of other famous wildlife ecosystems, such as the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Lake Natron – the only known breeding site for lesser flamingoes in East Africa.The Maasai people who lives around this world-puzzling mountain calls it Oldoinyo Lengai (meaning the Mountain of God). Located in north Tanzania and rising about 2 000 metres above the Rift Valley (south of both Lake Natron and Kenya), Oldoinyo Lengai is the world’s only active volcano that erupts natrocarbonatite lava, making of particular interest to geologists.In addition, it is the only active volcano in this part of the East African Rift Valley and at the 9 442 feet high it is geologically one of the most famous and interesting volcanoes associated with the East African Rift Valley.Natrocarbonatite is highly fluid but has much lower temperature than regular basaltic lava. Thus, its glow can only be seen at night. Carbonatite is a rock consisting mainly of Calcite (CaCo3) or other carbon minerals.Oldoinyo Lengai’s last major eruption was in July 2008 and there has been small constant volcanic activity in the crater. A September 2008 visit to the mountain discovered that lava emission had resumed from two vents in the floor of the new crater. In 1993, the carbonatite has extruded forming the white top of Oldoinyo Lengai and this white peak in the heart of the Maasailand is thought to represent the beard of the Maasai God, which is why the Maasai people call it the Mountain of God.David Maige, a senior warden at Tanzania Lake Manyara, told The Namibian this week that apart from contributing to the country’s tourism sector by drawing a lot of tourists, Oldoinyo Lengai is also a holy mountain for the Maasai people, just like Namibia’s Ovahimba people believe in their holy fire.He said the Maasai people use the mountain as a site to conduct rituals such as sacrifices and prayers.’There are many American and European scientists studying and monitoring the activity of the mountain,’ said Maige. He said the mountain also offers wonderful view of Lake Natron.He said when the mountain erupts the Maasai people believe that their God is angry and they have to go to the mountain to placate him with prayers.Maige said the lower slopes of the mountain are used by the Maasai people for grazing cattle as the volcanic soil is very fertile for growing grass.While there is some form of protection of Oldoinyo Lengai, said the Tanzanian conservationist, ‘it is an open area.’Visiting the area in the spring of 2009, Travel Africa magazine contributor Matthew Covarr wrote ‘while Lake Natron itself is enough of a natural drawcard to the area, the backdrop of East Africa’s most recently erupted volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai, makes the area even more attractive.’David Sherrod, who was one of the three scientists who travelled to Tanzania in early 2009 to do a hazard risk assessment of the volcano for the government of Tanzania, said Oldoinyo Lengai ‘is the only volcano in the world that has erupted carbonatite live in the last 100 years.’