I got a really solid night of sleep last night after pushing myself so hard the past day an a half. When I woke up around 6:30 am, two of the porters were jokingly calling me “the lion.” Apparently, I was sleeping so hard I was snoring up a storm like a jungle animal. At least I’m keeping them amused!
Festivities
After breakfast, we had the tipping ceremony, which consisted of us thanking our guides, porters, and support staff for their hard work in helping us make it to the summit safely. We elected Tracy (our de facto accountant from the night before) to say a few words before presenting the gratuities.
After this was complete, we also had an opportunity to donate any items we wanted to the crew. Each of us purchased something specifically for this trip that we’d have little use for when we get back home.
Although our tour company makes sure our porters and guides have warmer clothes, these guys don’t have the same easy access to quality outdoor gear we can purchase back home at stores like REI. So we gathered together some items to donate to any of the porters who wanted them.
The porters got to pick whatever they wanted from the pile – and went one by one from the most junior one to the most senior. In the end, everyone got something, and it made us feel good to contribute a lightly used piece of gear to someone who’d appreciate and use it on future trips.
Let’s get off this mountain
With those details complete, it was time to head back down the mountain and into Moshi. We had another 5,000 foot descent like yesterday afternoon, and my knees were already throbbing before we started the trek down.
The Mweka route was actually much easier than yesterday’s rocky path, with much of the trail compacted and hard. It was probably the best maintained trail we’d seen the entire trip. Nonetheless, I still somehow managed to fall – not once, but twice!
My first fall occurred when my boot caught on a wooden stake that was holding a step in place. I caught it at a weird angle and fell over off to the side of the trail into a pile of leaves. Although I went down with little grace, the only damage done was to my pride.
I didn’t fare as well on the second fall though. It probably because I wasn’t picking my feet up enough, but I tripped right over a rock. I pitched forward with quite a lot of force, landing squarely on my right kneecap and my outstretched palm.
Honestly, I just wanted to lay there and nurse my wounds for a good five minutes. But I didn’t get the luxury. We had to keep moving. I used some wet wipes to clean the wounds on my palm, but every step down after that fall was quite painful for my knee.
I’m hoping it’s not a serious injury. I made it all the way to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and here I’m falling down like a complete klutz during the last two hours of our journey.
When we eventually made it to Mweka Gate, we signed our final guest register and loaded up into our minibus to the ride back to the city. We made a quick stop at a souvenir shop (of course), and then went back to the hotel.
It’s all over
Back at the hotel we had our first showers in over a week and it felt glorious!! After an hour to get freshened up, our complete group met downstairs to hold our gold certificate ceremony.
The gold certificate is issued to each climber who makes it to the summit of Kilimanjaro. As we sat around in the lounge, Jack Bauer called each of us up one by one (making sure to mispronounce our names to the best of his ability) and we all proudly smiled and accepted like it was a college diploma.
We spent that final evening enjoying each other’s company and a few beers, and I couldn’t help reflecting on the trip. While making it to the summit was always the goal – seeing this small sliver of Africa was the real reward. As I look back on this trip, I’ll remember the moorland most fondly.
And I’m proud that I was able to complete this entire journey (pack and all) at my age. I’m glad I didn’t procrastinate and push it off to another year – yet again. This was journey of a lifetime, and one I’ll always look back on fondly.
