And then after a few minutes on top of Africa, it was time to come back down. Maybe I'm still coming back down to reality as I write this. But with the goal achieved, our willingness to handle the lack of comfort seemed to vanish. We longed for showers and civilization. That became our focus. Also, we were sure the Giants had been eliminated, but at least I was very eager to check the NLDS results.
Descent to Horombo (Oct 14)
After taking pictures at the sign and chatting with other trekkers, reality sunk in that we were all pretty cold, had mild headaches, and still had 10 miles left to trek for the day. Also, unfortunately, Julius's back had become really sore from the reserve emergency Oxygen tank he was carrying that weighed 35 pounds. Yitzhak had mentioned this to us and wanted to make sure we tipped him well. We had already planned to because he was incredibly enthusiastic and took us on a lot of neat side routes. We traced our steps back to Gilman's Point while getting congratulations from approaching trekkers and wishing them good luck in return.
When we reached Gilman's we rested again and Yitzhak tended to Julius. We offered him our extra water, snacks, and ibuprofen, which he politely refused. Pat gave him a few heating pads which he accepted to help with the soreness. Julius and Yitzhak then guided us down a shorter route back to Kibo. This route was more difficult for our tired legs, but we were all glad to drop the altitude so quickly. Julius had started to feel a little better. Also it was a great chance to chat some more with Yitzhak about politics and try to explain the electoral college system. He also asked us what we had been doing to train and said we were strong hikers. Suhhhweet! Upon arrival back at Kibo, we were greated with celebration and some special fruit juice by the porters. This was a great feeling. That lastest a whole 5 minutes until we completely conked out back in our tents for about an hour!
I awoke groggily to one Pat Lu defending our trail mix supply from a bird. We then handled our final packing and started the road down to Horombu. Those last 6 miles of trekking took forever, but finally we reached the camp. It was a bit of a stark contrast to see our tents next to the nicer huts trekkers on the Marangu route stayed in, but our tents were still more luxurious than the porters' sleeping conditions. We gladly slept the rest of the day only getting up for dinner.
Return to Moshi (Oct 15)
It was really hard to get up in the morning of Day 7, but we managed to make breakfast. Afterwards, we tipped our porters, and gave an extra $10 to the head porter who made sure we made all our meals and were doing okay. I decided to also give him my TNT captain's jersey. Since Matt was an idiot and left his $US back in Moshi, we made arrangements with Julius and Yitzhak to tip them and the cook back in town. After some celebration, it was time to begin the 12 miles downhill to Marangu Gate.
I was definitely anticipating being back in town, but the last stage of the trek was quite enjoyable. We passed through rainforest, saw a few waterfalls, our last glimpses of Mawenzi and Kibo which were "starkly different from the other side of the mountain," and were reintroduced to wildlife. Our Swahili for the day was "Muzungu" meaning "white person" and "China" meaning "Chinese person." From then on I was known to Yitzhak as Muzungu.
We reached the Marangu gate not too long after lunch and checked out of the log books. Yitzhak gave us our summit certificates. I took advantage of the gift store to buy my remaining essentials of a trip: a shot glass and a T-shirt. Then, after a "post-hike" photo requested by Calvin, we were off back to Moshi by van. We stopped on the way back to buy some bananas at which time Yitzhak, Pat, and Calvin had a laugh at how red the Muzungu's face had turned from the sun. I decided to call them all "Jingas" (roughly "idiot") but had to admit it was pretty funny.
On the way back to the Keys Motel, we swung by the Spoonbill office in order for our porters to receive their salary from Pius. At this time we tipped Julius, Yitzhak, and our cook after visiting the bank. I can't say the porters seemed really happy with their salaries. And this has bothered me some. Generally it sounded like their lives had involved living in a village in the outskirts of Moshi, Machame, or another nearby town. Pat learned from Yitzhak that at a very early age they were required to carry large amounts of food or other materials on their heads, so becoming a porter was often a natural transition. That certainly did not make it an easy living by any means. As Westerners, we were able to trek up Kili comfortably in our $1000 worth of North Face/REI gear. The porters often had to wear hand me downs or clothes donated from previous trekkers. I decided to make a donation to the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project at KPAP.
We did celebrate when we returned to the Keys Motel, and it felt GREAT. We cleaned up for the first time in a week and got back in touch with reality. And by that I mean the internet. I returned to 20 texts from our friend Cliff (who may have forgotten we were in Africa?) about how the Stanford football games had gone. Calvin received a VERY interesting message from our friend Alli. Apparently her office was going crazy because Buster Posey had hit a grand slam. Excitedly he pounded on my door and told me... this meant.... Game 5???? The Giants were .... still in it? And WINNING game 5??? It was a sweet day.
I decided to dedicate my climb to my Grandmother. I didn't plan the trip for our summit day to coincide with the same day she passed away, it just happened. Some things in life are strange? She had spent time in Northern Africa during her duties for World War II. She also always made sure I wasn't studying too hard and enjoying life during my high school years.
Descent to Horombo (Oct 14)
After taking pictures at the sign and chatting with other trekkers, reality sunk in that we were all pretty cold, had mild headaches, and still had 10 miles left to trek for the day. Also, unfortunately, Julius's back had become really sore from the reserve emergency Oxygen tank he was carrying that weighed 35 pounds. Yitzhak had mentioned this to us and wanted to make sure we tipped him well. We had already planned to because he was incredibly enthusiastic and took us on a lot of neat side routes. We traced our steps back to Gilman's Point while getting congratulations from approaching trekkers and wishing them good luck in return.
When we reached Gilman's we rested again and Yitzhak tended to Julius. We offered him our extra water, snacks, and ibuprofen, which he politely refused. Pat gave him a few heating pads which he accepted to help with the soreness. Julius and Yitzhak then guided us down a shorter route back to Kibo. This route was more difficult for our tired legs, but we were all glad to drop the altitude so quickly. Julius had started to feel a little better. Also it was a great chance to chat some more with Yitzhak about politics and try to explain the electoral college system. He also asked us what we had been doing to train and said we were strong hikers. Suhhhweet! Upon arrival back at Kibo, we were greated with celebration and some special fruit juice by the porters. This was a great feeling. That lastest a whole 5 minutes until we completely conked out back in our tents for about an hour!
 |
| Back to Kibo |
I awoke groggily to one Pat Lu defending our trail mix supply from a bird. We then handled our final packing and started the road down to Horombu. Those last 6 miles of trekking took forever, but finally we reached the camp. It was a bit of a stark contrast to see our tents next to the nicer huts trekkers on the Marangu route stayed in, but our tents were still more luxurious than the porters' sleeping conditions. We gladly slept the rest of the day only getting up for dinner.Return to Moshi (Oct 15)
It was really hard to get up in the morning of Day 7, but we managed to make breakfast. Afterwards, we tipped our porters, and gave an extra $10 to the head porter who made sure we made all our meals and were doing okay. I decided to also give him my TNT captain's jersey. Since Matt was an idiot and left his $US back in Moshi, we made arrangements with Julius and Yitzhak to tip them and the cook back in town. After some celebration, it was time to begin the 12 miles downhill to Marangu Gate.
I was definitely anticipating being back in town, but the last stage of the trek was quite enjoyable. We passed through rainforest, saw a few waterfalls, our last glimpses of Mawenzi and Kibo which were "starkly different from the other side of the mountain," and were reintroduced to wildlife. Our Swahili for the day was "Muzungu" meaning "white person" and "China" meaning "Chinese person." From then on I was known to Yitzhak as Muzungu.
We reached the Marangu gate not too long after lunch and checked out of the log books. Yitzhak gave us our summit certificates. I took advantage of the gift store to buy my remaining essentials of a trip: a shot glass and a T-shirt. Then, after a "post-hike" photo requested by Calvin, we were off back to Moshi by van. We stopped on the way back to buy some bananas at which time Yitzhak, Pat, and Calvin had a laugh at how red the Muzungu's face had turned from the sun. I decided to call them all "Jingas" (roughly "idiot") but had to admit it was pretty funny.
 |
| Calvin, Pat, Yitzhak, Matt post-hike |
We did celebrate when we returned to the Keys Motel, and it felt GREAT. We cleaned up for the first time in a week and got back in touch with reality. And by that I mean the internet. I returned to 20 texts from our friend Cliff (who may have forgotten we were in Africa?) about how the Stanford football games had gone. Calvin received a VERY interesting message from our friend Alli. Apparently her office was going crazy because Buster Posey had hit a grand slam. Excitedly he pounded on my door and told me... this meant.... Game 5???? The Giants were .... still in it? And WINNING game 5??? It was a sweet day.
I decided to dedicate my climb to my Grandmother. I didn't plan the trip for our summit day to coincide with the same day she passed away, it just happened. Some things in life are strange? She had spent time in Northern Africa during her duties for World War II. She also always made sure I wasn't studying too hard and enjoying life during my high school years.
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