Done, off the list!

We woke around 600 am, ate porridge (surprise), and hit the extremely muddy (rainy season was over?) trail.  Day 7 was a short easy hike off the mountain.  Getting closer to the gate we passed the stretcher/wheelbarrow that had been used earlier in the week for the individual with a broken back.  We also saw our first real wildlife (not counting the ever present white neck raven) of the hike, black and white colobus monkeys in the magnificent eucalyptus trees.

We got to the gate and signed the final log.  We then sat down in a gazebo and drank warm cokes feeling ever so civilized.  After a few minutes we received our official certificates stating we had made it to the summit.  Next was a short hike down a dirt road flanked by banana and coffee farms to our van.

Back in Moshi we had one of the best shower/clothes washings ever.  It is amazing what one-week in the woods does for ones appreciation of the finer things.  After cleaning and resting up we had something other than soup for dinner!  It was interesting to listen to the conversations at dinner.  Almost all concerned the upcoming hike and recommended medications for altitude (diamox!) or the satisfaction of having been on the mountain.  About 1/2 of the people who had completed the climb seemed to be plotting the next and bigger climb while the other 1/2 had sworn off high elevation camping for the foreseeable future,  we are firmly in the second group.  All in all the hike was not terrible and rewarding.  Each of us had a few days when the elevation was an issue, be it head or stomach ache but it was never enough to stop up us from the final goal.  The use of blood thinner and adding an extra day to the climb were likely key in being able to acclimate to the extremely high elevations.  According to Wikipedia around 15,000 people attempt Kilimanjaro every year with about 40% succeeding.    According to our guide around 15 year people expire on the mountain.  We were humbled to have made it up and down the mountain with no problems, thanks go to our guides and porters for making this possible.

After dinner we had a briefing with the hotel staff about the Safari beginning the next day.  During the briefing we learned we had been upgraded to lodging from tents as per our conversation with our new and favorite friend Macon, thanks again.  We also met Ben, ½ of our Australian company for the 5-day safari; things are looking pretty good at this point.  We also got to reflect on what we’d just done as we finally saw Kili through the clouds from our hotel.