Mt Meru (known by the Maasai as “OldoinyoOrok” – The Black Mountain) is an active stratovolcano nestled in the expansive Arusha National Park, 45 km from Arusha town and 80 kilometres west of Mount Kilimanjaro.
At a height of 4565 metres (14977 ft) Mt. Meru is Tanzania’s second highest peak and the fifth highest on the African continent. Towering over the bustling town of Arusha, it comprises forest, heather, moorland and alpine desert zones and is considered to be one of Tanzania’s true gems.
The Eastern crater wall of Mount Meru was ruptured by a series of violent explosions a quarter of a million years ago. It is likely that these explosions were caused by the vent becoming blocked or by water from the crater lake seeping into it. This caused the whole eastern wall of the crater to be blown away sending a mass of water, mud, rocks and lava cascading down the eastern side of the mountain across the Sanya Plains almost as far as Moshi and covering parts of the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro.