Day 10: Mweka Camp to Moshi

It only took us until the last morning, but we finally beat Ari in getting our bags on the tarp. Since we are back down in the jungle/monkey zone, the weather was warm again and we all spent most of the morning hanging around outside of the dining tent rather than bundled up in it.

Morning at Mweka

Last camp breakfast

After breakfast was the tipping ceremony. While we don’t actually provide the tips then and there, the guides sang Jambo Gwana (again) as well as a couple of other Tanzanian songs. One of the songs seemed to have freestyle/improve sections and, according to James, they were singing about how they were excited to not have to carry our bags anymore (fair). We thanked all our four guides and 27 porters for making this trip possible.

The whole operation

Once the tipping ceremony was done, we started to make our way out of the camp and down the mountain. The campsite is pretty big and we heard some other groups sining Jambo Gwana along the way. The hike was all downhill, which was surprisingly hard. Our bodies were a bit sore and tired still from the previous seven days.

Day 8 hike map

Day 8 hike (detail)

Day eight hair, don’t care

Can you ride that down?

Masters of the group shot

We were still incredibly lucky with the weather. Although it rained for an about five minutes, we were under the cover of the trees and didn’t really get wet. The trail was slightly muddy which meant we had to step carefully, but overall, it was not too bad. While no longer nighttime antagonists, we even saw some capuchin monkeys in the trees.

Canopy Shyness

After about three and a half hours, we reached the final sign. We had successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (and back down safely). It wouldn’t be reaching our destination if we didn’t have to check in – or rather out! This time, Jo couldn’t forge everyone’s names and we all had to sign the register individually. Now that we were officially off the mountain, we were right back in Moshi Time. We rested and waited around as our guides finished up all the paperwork they had to do as well as print our completion diplomas that we will receive later.

“Should we wait for Bill? Nah…”

It rained for five minutes in eight days, what the hell?

It’s in the books

The fellowship of the temu rings made it back

Finally everything was done and we were ready to head out. We jumped in the bus for a very short drive to our picnic lunch spot. Of course, there was a gift shop for us to peruse as we waited for lunch to be ready. The Blue Zebra had a few good trinkets that we picked for Christmas ornaments as well as a ton of local art, but the real draw was the tanzanite section. Tanzanite is aptly named as it is only found in the Mererani hills at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. After some deliberation, Jo ended up with a pair of round earrings and a trilliant cut (or mountain shaped) necklace.

Shopping for Tanzanite

With perfect timing, as soon as we were done, we were told that lunch is ready. We went to the picnic area in the back where we enjoyed one last James cooked and Nelson served meal. It was great to see them and have a mountain meal one more time.

is this Ponderosa?

Our favorite drinks

From there, we drove back to the Parkview Inn. Since we left from the Mweka gate on the southern side of Kilimanjaro, we were much closer to Moshi than when we drove to the start at Lemosho gate. Along the way we passed coffee farms and jammed out to Dismas’ selection of Swahili christian rock videos.

The arrival at the hotel triggered organized chaos. We first checked in to the hotel and got our keys. We then all got our money and passports out of the safe, so there will be no need to start a new life here in Tanzania. We also had to identify the luggage that we left in the hotel storage as well as our duffles from the hike so the hotel porters could bring them to our room. Then, we collected and counted everyone’s tip money and presented one envelope to the representatives for the guides (August and Barraka) and the other envelope to the representative for the porters. August then presented us with our Mt. Kilimanjaro diplomas.

I swear we’re not drug dealers

Officially graduated Kilimanjaro with our diplomas

Finally, we were ready to shower! But another group arrived when we did, and with so many people trying to use the water at once we didn’t quite have water for a couple of hours. No matter! More time to re-pack and hang by the pool. At 5:00 pm we met with Emmanuel who briefed us (and that one couple who thought they were in our group?) on our safari logistics for tomorrow. We leave at 7:00 am in order to get to the first location and have time for a game drive.

We’re spending the rest of the day at the pool

With an early departure ahead of us and Stoney Tangawizi available at the hotel restaurant, we opted to just keep chilling at the pool for dinner rather than go out into Moshi. Emily had arrived the day before and was recovering from jet lag, then joined us for dinner. We regaled her with stories from our epic adventure before heading to sleep in a bed that’s off the ground and won’t deflate.