Safety precautions for Hiking the Rwenzori Mountains

Whether you have all the necessary gear for hiking the Rwenzori Mountains, you still need a few safety precautions for hiking the Rwenzori Mountains for a safe hike in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park.

Trusted tour operators will provide all the recommended equipment at hand  for a successful Rwenzori hike. They can also make regular follow ups just to enure you are safe within the park.

Take Your Time

Summiting Rwenzori mountains is not a race but a marathon. Don’t rush, as this can leave you weary, sore, and oxygen-deficient. Pace yourself by keeping it slow & steady along the trail can help you keep, off fatigue. Work closely with your guides so that you don’t exceed your capabilities.

Take frequent breaks:

Get Appropriate Acclimatization

It is advised your take short brakes more often so as to relax and keep you away from burning out. This becomes most important as you draw closer to the Margherita peak, where the air becomes thinner and there are chances for altitude sickness.

Acclimatize:

If you can acclimatize to higher altitudes before setting off for your trek, you will feel more comfortable and ready to face whatever comes your way as you as you summit.  The best way to acclimatize is to reach your destination a few days earlier and condition yourself with some day hikes.

Drink Plenty of Water

Make sure to drink plenty of water while trekking along the trail and always move handy with enough extra water.  Rwenzori mountains has many rivers, from which porters can help draw water. It is always advisable you carry your bottles you trek through the trails. For those who prefer it treated, you can come handy with the purifying tablets so that you can easily treat your water, whenever it is collected into your bottles.

Eat Enough Food To gain enough Energy

Three meals are provided each day, alongside half day breakfast. You can always  come with lots of energy giving snacks on the mountain, so that after along day trek, you’ll definitely crave for some of your favorite snacks. Bringing your own snacks will ensure you have the snack you crave—and at a reasonable cost.

Bring a Travel Thermos & Tea

If you like hot beverages in cold weather, you may opt to bring a thermos. This will help keep your drinks as hot as possible even in the cold. You may also consider bringing your own teabags. While hot water is provided, the tea can get pricey in the tea houses!

Get a Good Night’s Rest

You will be surprised by how comfortable the huts in Rwenzori Mountains National Park are. So if you are a light sleeper, we recommend, you bring some foam earplugs for a good night’s sleep. Whereas during trekking, it might be warm, it is  definitely cold at night so make sure you have warm sleeping bag and thermals..

Prepare for Cold and Rain

The weather is always cold  all year round, which calls for warm hat and thermals while sleeping and take a Nalgene bottle filled with hot water to keep it in your sleeping bag to stay warm. Even if it looks like a sunny day, enshure  that to carry a poncho in your day pack. The weather on the mountain can change quickly.

Bring Handi-Wipes

While bucket showers are available at the tea houses, it’s often not worth braving the cold to use them. Most guests opt to use handi-wipes for a quick freshen-up at the end of the day.

 Remember Sun Protection

Since your skin and eyes need enough protection, you can carry along sunglasses, and sunscreen to protect your eyes and skin. So ensure that you apply sunscreen, or wear glasses and sun protected lip balm so that you can often so as to protect yourself from the sun burn. While sunglasses are a must have, sunburns happen so fast at high elevations, so ensure you apply sunscreen and sun-protective lip balm a few times a day as well as a hat.

Don’t Carry too Much

Don’t overload your daypack., keep it light & filled with only essentials that will be easier & more enjoyable to carry. When you arrive at the base, we will provide you with porters who will carry for you your luggage on the mountain. All you need is to carry a day pack with the things you need during the day trek as you won’t have access to your luggage until you reach the camps in the evening where you will have dinner & spend an overnight.

Make sure to carry your valuables, prescriptions, extra layers, rain gear, water, camera, snacks, and sunblock in your daypack as well as moleskin or duct tape in case of blisters.

Don’t overpack your daypack. Keeping your daypack light and filled only with essentials will help your trekking be easier and more enjoyable.

Read the Terms of Service

You can find a lot about how an Everest Base Camp trekking company handles emergency situations by their terms of service. A well-established company will have Terms of Service that cover in-detail what can go wrong in Nepal and how the company manages those situations. This is good to know in advance.

One thing you can be assured of with Himalayan Wonders is that no matter what happens, we will do our best to make sure you have a great trek and that you can be assured the full support of our team. We have been running treks for almost a decade now and experience is definitely something that counts!

Wear Layers

Wearing layers regulates body temperature and helps stay comfortable while trekking. It’s much better if your layers have zippers so that you have have more control of your body temperature.

Conclusion

If you are interested in Rwenzori Trekking in Uganda, you will be more glad to hear that the experience is open to everyone. You just have to be prepared and by following the Rwenzori Mountains Safety Precautions offered above, you’ll be ready to cross climbing Mount Rwenzori off your bucket list in no time!