We head out at 7:30, saying farewell to Horombo, where we had stayed for three nights in total. The weather was again beautiful, as we walked through the moorland with groves of groundsels. I could feel my legs. They were starting to feel sore.
As we descended, we encountered a trekkers and porters heading up. The trekkers all still looked so fresh! As is customary anywhere else in the mountains, you greet each other when crossing, but the greetings in Swahili are particularly elaborate. This is how a typical exchange may go:
Mambo! -- Hey!
Poa! -- Cool!
Vipi? -- What's up?
Safi -- Clean
Habari? -- What's the news?
Nzuri -- Good
The porters appreciated Marc's Swahili. I'm impressed how much he learned in the short amount of time he stayed here.
Slowly the moorland gives way to the tropical rainforest. Trees reappear, first a few, then more and more. The humidity increases and so does the lushness of the vegetation.
After three and a half hours, we reached Mandara huts, our first night's refuge. We stopped for a brief snack, then resumed our walk through the rainforest. Less than two hours to go now.
At Kisambioni, a group of blue monkeys is playing in the trees and two mongoose approach us, curious if we are bringing some food.
A little farther down our map shows an "alternative" path down. Neither Frederick nor Hesbon have ever taken it. After holding the map in all possible orientations, we decide to give it a try.
The path is appropriately called a "Nature trail" -- it is barely a path, overgrown in part, and occasionally we have to work our way around fallen trees. We are rewarded, however, by the most beautiful bushes -- bushes! -- of wild orchids and other beautiful flowers.
After an hour I start to worry that the path is heading the wrong direction. It keeps forking, and a couple of landmarks we should have encountered according to the map never materialized. Just as I become convinced that we had gotten our guides into trouble, we hit upon a major path that lead us back to the main trail. A few minutes later we are signing ourselves out at Marangu gate.
Frederick and Hesbon got our certificates. The porters had already loaded up the bus, which was waiting at the gate. We were welcomed by the whole crew with a traditional Tanzanian song. Everyone was clapping and dancing next to the bus.
We boarded the bus and drove down the mountain to Moshi, where we had a late lunch in the center of town. A cheeseburger never tasted this good! Marc and I were suddenly ravenous.
After lunch, they were kind enough to drive us to the place where Marc had volunteered before our trek. For more on Marc's job in Moshi, see his blog -- a must see. Regretfully no one was there on a Sunday afternoon, so we took a few pictures and left for Arusha.
As we drove, I watched the African landscape roll by. The lush vegetation on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The flowers, the women, dressed in colorful dresses, selling bananas along the road. The cattle, the people sitting at simple little bars along the road, a Masai in traditional dress on a bicycle. A feast for the eyes.
As Mt. Kilimanjaro receded, the landscape dried out and the lush vegetation gave way to dry plains with cattle grazing. Heading West toward Mt. Meru and Arusha, the plains turned back into lush vegetation. Each volcano is surrounded by a large circular swath of fertile soil. Before long we were back at the Arumeru River Lodge.
We got our final farewell song with lots of Hakuna Matatas, and then an award ceremony, during which Frederick handed us our official certificates. We all said our goodbyes and suddenly we were back in the world of hot showers, sit-down toilets, and beds. Oh how you can take these luxuries for granted!
After a hot shower, we went for a swim in the pool, and then treated ourselves to a nice dinner. It was a satisfying feeling to realize what we had accomplished: climbed to an elevation of almost 6 km (20,000 ft) starting from about 1900 m, and walked a distance of almost 90 km.
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