July 23
10000 feet – 5400 feet
3.7 miles, 4 hours
38.9 miles altogether,
minus the two miles or so we missed on the night of the summit attempt.
We woke up a little
earlier today, 6:00 AM, to get an early start on the way down. It was hard to leave camp this last time – it
had become home for us. We got a great
picture with all the porters and guides which I will treasure forever, and we
bid farewell to the tent. Marc was
certainly not sorry to see the tent go and I think all of us were a little
lighter on our feet with the promise of a shower in the future.
 |
| Takes 24 people for 5 to hike the mountain - all our porters, guides, and us! |
The trail down through the
rainforest was very wet (go figure) and it rained lightly on us the entire
way. The dark red dirt was muddy and
well-traveled and I had to be careful where I put my feet. Anderson, of course, helped in the questionable
spots, but otherwise we were allowed to walk at our leisure. Our pace didn’t matter anymore, since now we
weren’t acclimatizing anymore. It is
really hard to go downhill – our legs are really sore and each step becomes a
curse unless you’re thinking of something else.
 |
| The rainforest was fantastic and it actually RAINED! |
Our other three walked
much faster than I did. James went ahead
with them and Max and Anderson stayed back with us. We mosied, though I did learn that Marc was
stifled following me this entire time.
For the morning, he would stop and take a picture, then run to catch up
with me to stretch his legs. Going at my
pace must have been killing him for the past eight days. I wish he would have told me sooner – he
didn’t have to follow me the whole time…
Max picked a beautiful
flower for a picture, then gave it to me: Impatiens kilimanjari. The flower looks sort of like an elephant
face and only grows on the rainforest slopes of Kilimanjaro. I tucked the flower into my pack strap and
they promised to tell me when to hide it so I wouldn’t get in trouble for
having it. Now it is pressed in the back
of my journal and I will treasure it.
 |
| Impatiens kilimanjari |
The others waited for us
about twenty minutes from the gate so we could all walk in together,
victorious. It was quite a rush to
finish as we started, as a group, through a gate. And what a great surprise was waiting for
us!!
 |
| The celebratory beer - I actually drank a Fanta, but this was a good picture opportunity! |
A fabulous celebratory
lunch was waiting, with Fanta and Kilimanjaro beer, which was great! Jen and I sang for the porters (Thank You)
and then we ate, serenaded by a Swahili guy with a guitar who sang all his
songs in Spanish. I kid you not, it was
very unreal. La Bamba, La Cucharacha,
etc…he was very good, though.
 |
| Amazing Lunch! |
We ate our lunch on
someone’s front porch and there was a small child nearby. I gave him a chocolate bar and Marc paid his
father to wash our boots for us, which is how a lot of people around the bottom
seem to make their money – I think we got asked twenty times to have our boots
washed.
There were FLUSH TOILETS
in the bathrooms – completely awesome.
We did a potty dance in the bathroom in thanks.
 |
| Jafar, the young man who carried Marc and my bags all over the mountain This was his first time being a porter! I gave him my fleecy when we left. |
When lunch was finished,
we loaded up into the truck for our drive back to Arusha. We had prepared with chocolate and pens for
the small children who came up to the road in the banana fields on the way out
so we had treats to throw to them. It
felt very good to pass on these small things.
Said goodbye to Tim at his
hotel and it was very hard. Much harder
than I thought it would be. He’s family,
always will be. So we’ll just have to
meet again somewhere else.
We went to the hotel and
showered, got fresh water, and felt a million times better. Lillian was there to debrief us at 4 and gave
us our safari itinerary for the next few days, which was exciting. The adventure was not quite over, though we
would have to say goodbye in another few hours.
Jen, Sandi, and Tim were going on a different safari than we were, which
was sad.
We asked for a driver to
take us to the Masai Market for one last shopping trip and Lillian said he was
on his way with another client and in walks Emmanuel with Brian a few minutes
later!! It was great to see Brian, to
tell him all about what we had done, and to realize that he was going to get to
do it, too, in just a few days.
We all went to the Masai
Market as a group and I bought the sandals and the masks I had been looking at
before the climb. They were still there, so it was meant to be! Emmanuel took us to Pepe’s for dinner, saying
that it was very good, even though it wasn’t the Indian place we were hoping
for (they were closed on Tuesdays).
Pepe’s was aweasome!! I had a
mushroom ravioli that was to die for, Marc and Brian had excellent pizzas, and
we all walked away feeling very satisfied.
Once back at the hotel, we
had to say our goodbyes. We managed not
to cry, though I did later. After
spending 24 hours a day with peeps for 8 days, you get to know them very well,
especially in the circumstances we were in.
They were my mountain family and I love them so much. I will never forget the moments that filled
my heart while we were on the slopes together.
They were a huge part of my life-changing experience and I hope they
remain in my life for years to come.
Once goodbyes were over,
we had some organizing to do! The hotel
agreed to keep some of our stuff while we were o safari so we wouldn’t have to
take it all with us, so we had to pack things up and get ready to leave the
next morning. We put all our dirty
clothes into one suitcase and zipped it, not to reopen it until we were home. We called this bag “Stinky Bag” and made jokes
that if anyone had to examine it at airport security, they were NEVER going to
forget that smell…
 |
| The hotel room - the shower was behind the sliding glass doors. I think we each took at least two!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment