Entry and Exit point: Parish of Kyangyenyi Subcounty, Kibingo District
Elevation: 1,555 MASL (5,102 feet)
Days required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 2 hours
Specs: Minor climb, 2/9 Difficulty, Cardiac assault trails
Distinctive feature: The lower side is grown with Prunu African as part of their agricultural community project and some grazing area. The trails in the middle part is grown with Pinus Oocarpa and leading to the summit are grown with few Eucalyptus and low-growing bushes. The summit is rocky and grown with low-growing bushes.
I reached the Parish of Kyangyenyi Subcounty in a a number of monthly market day. It the time where farm produce and other trading items are being sold in one open area. When some elders knew that my hobby is mountain climbing, they pointed out to me that Mount Kyangyenyi is a good mountain to climb. The mountain is the backdrop of Kyangyenyi subcounty.
The October 19, 2002 Mt. Kyangyenyi Climb. This is the highest mountain of Bushenyi District located in Kyangyenyi sub-county, Sheema county in my VSO Uganda Placement. Our entry point or better known as the jump-off point was the Rweibaare Village just four kilometers of Kakindo Trading Center. It was Ugandan Nelson Twebaze who drove me from my Nyakashaka residence to the jump-off point of 45 minutes who served to be my guide. Such drive has given me an opportunity to see such an amazing scenery of rolling hills and valleys and the locals where we passed by has given me such a warm welcome being a “muzunggo” (foreigner) along our way in the Nyakitoko Parish, Ryamasa Village, Muzira Parish, Kakindo Trading Center and Rweibaare Village. In fact, some locals voluntarily accompanied us to the summit and back to the jump-off point. It was headed by a teenager named Lawrence Sajja together with some kids, namely: Turyahabwe Julius, Ahimbisibwe Innocent, Kansiime Richard, Twinamasiko Isaac, Ndebesa Didas and some other unidentified kids.
Based on the reading of the altimeter, the elevation at the jump-off point was 1,122 MASL (3,681 feet). Thus, measuring its summit at 1,555 MASL, I had an actual climb of 433 MASL or 1,421 feet above sea level.
Honestly, I really suffered with this climb for it has such an almost endless cardiac assaults and there was no gradual trekking up to its summit. I never had any physical or body conditioning like jogging and exercises before the climb. But the trail was well-defined and like Mt. Nyakarangara, it was generally grown with bushes, ordinary grazing grasses and Eucalyptus trees. The summit was absolutely amazing and beautiful and the cold breeze was just soothingly therapeutic. I treated the local volunteer guides with lunch when we were at the summit. In the jump-off point, in Lawrence’s house, Nelson and I were invited for refreshments and ample rest and a crowd of locals came just to see me. Obviously, they were greatly amazed by my presence most especially when I spoke their Runyankole language.
