Route:
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

Time:
3 hours

Outfit:
Head: hat
Top: t shirt
Bottom: light Mountain Hardwear pants
Feet: Monotrail Masachists

Today was our last day on the mountain. We woke up again at 7:30am. Breakfast was more eggs. We definitely took our time getting ready to leave to hike down to the base. I think we finally left around 8:30am or so. the entire hike was in junglish habitat we hiked up through on our first day from
Machame Gate. We listened to the Beatles out of one of our charged iPhones and actually saw little monkeys jumping from tree to tree over the trail.

Getting to the bottom gate was such a relief. We were escorted to a counter outdoors where we had to check out in a very large notebook like we had the previous five days. Then we were notified that we had to walk another 15 minutes down the road to the village where Pasian, a final lunch, and the rest of our group would be waiting for us. Saidi prepared us a pot roast, but I think the crowning moment was when I had a “cold” Kilimanjaro beer.

We had to tip our group of 7. Each person had different roles and responsibilities. We ended up tipping the following over 6 days:

Head guide: $110
Assistant guide: $60
Cook: $60
Assistant cook: $40
Waiter: $40
Porters x 2: $35

This may sound like a lot, but when these people base their week upon the pleasures of the likes of us, this is nothing.

The drive back was warm and enjoyable. We drove through many banana and coffee fields on the way to our hotel. When we got there Temu presented T and I with signed Kilimanjaro diplomas verifying that we had made it to the top. We had one last group hug that I will remember forever. Temu really seemed to appreciate our company and you could tell at this moment that out tip went a long way with him.

Kilimanjaro kicked ass and kicked my ass. Maybe I’ll think about climbing it again in the future. For now, once is more than enough.