Jun 22, 2012
Day 14: Millenium Camp to Mweka Gate
Waking up on Day 8 of our climb was really hard for me because I was so sad that the trek would be over soon. Stanley came to our tent with hot coffee and a high-pitched “good morning!” John and I sipped at our cups before starting our last packing process. It was hard to believe we would not be sleeping in a tent again that night. Coffee cups down, we started organizing our gear into piles. We were giving a good bit of it away to the porters.
In addition, Larry, Cindy, John and I had brought with us on the plane from Phoenix a 50 pound duffle full of camping gear. We were looking forward to donating the gear to our group. Kapanya had arranged to have it carried to Millennium camp so that we could use it as part of our tipping ceremony.
We had our last breakfast in the mess tent, and after that we all gathered in a clearing where Manase formally presented the birthday cake to Larry, and the whole crew sang to him. I caught this on video.
Larry then cut the cake and shared it with as many porters as he could. After that party broke up, Kapanya laid some tarps on the ground and we emptied the contents of our duffle onto it. We added some items we had used on the trek, and we also carefully sorted out some individual gifts to give to guides. Kapanya had told us it was best for us to hand gifts to the people who influenced us most.
I had spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to give each guide. To Neema, I gave boots. To Nuru, I gave sunglasses. To Nile, I gave gloves. And to Nicksoni, I gave the iPod that had kept me company each night on the mountain. I loved handing the gifts to each guide, and they enjoyed taking pictures with us after they received the presents. After that, John gave Kapanya the gift of our sleeping bags and Thermarests. Others in our group distributed all of their gifts too, then we moved on to the next part of the gifting ceremony.
Kapanya had an ordered list in his hand: he had made decisions about who would get to choose from the presents first, based on their performance on the trek. The first person to pick was Manase, the cook. Manase wanted a pair of sunglasses, and there were about 6 pairs on the tarp, but half of them were mine & Cindy’s, so every time he put them on his big face we all laughed at how little they were! He finally found a pair that fit. And the picking went on person by person. It was fun to see who got what items. It was also fun to see the porters take off what they had on so they could wear the gifts we brought. It made me feel very happy.
Next, Kapanya lined everyone up so that we could hand out tips. I was glad that this was so organized because it ensured that nothing got lost in the shuffle, and we were able to say thank you personally to all 71 people who supported us. After the tipping was over, the group sent up for a photo, and as you can see from the video, it inspired some song!
After the festivities wound down, it was time to head off the mountain. John, Nicksoni and I started walking and soon ran into Jerry, the 85-year-old hiker we had met the day before. He was looking a little tired, but not deterred from the task ahead of him.
As John and I first started hiking we were still above the clouds, but soon we dropped into the rainforest where it started to get very muddy. This made us a move a little slower than we would have, but I didn’t mind it so much since it seemed to buffer a little of the pounding of our 7,000 foot descent.
At one point Nicksoni said to me, “Thank you for the iPod. Does it have music on it?” I had to tell him that it was full of podcasts! He asked me why I had podcasts on it instead of music, and I told him it was because I wanted to hear someone’s voice when I was afraid. He smiled, nodded, and gave me the sweetest look ever. What a kind soul Nicksoni has. How will I ever hike without him?
John, Nicksoni, and I were having so much fun motoring through the mud—chuckling at each other whenever someone slipped, and taking lots of pictures of the plants. But soon came my favorite Nicksoni moment of the whole trip.
Our trail met up with a Jeep road, and after a while walking on it Nicksoni asked, “How long have we been hiking?” John told him almost 4 hours.” Nicksoni got a sly look on his face and said, “Hey John, if you run you can make it sub-four.”
Can you picture John’s face? He latched on to that idea like it was his life’s goal. He yelled, “See you!” and started running. Nicksoni and I just laughed and laughed! I can still picture Nicksoni slapping his knee as we chuckled. And John did it! He made it in under 4 hours. I came in just over 4. It was not required, but it made it a fun end of day, especially since it was supposed to take 7 to 9 hours.
So, John, Nicksoni and I had some Kilimanjaro beers and sat down for a while to get cleaned up. Kapanya had told us that you haven’t summited Kilimanjaro until you’re down safely. So this was something to celebrate. When the others arrived we ate a delicious picnic lunch and said our last goodbyes. A bus took us back to the DikDik lodge, where we all piled out ready for showers and rest. I was happily startled when Welly, the manager, came running out of the lodge and hugged me like I was her own daughter! “I prayed for you every day!!” she said, and we hugged and cried and hugged some more. She said she had been very worried about me after our long conversation on departure day, and she was so hoping that I would make it to the top of the mountain. We took pictures together and I just felt so lucky to have someone show me that great kindness.
The hotel staff had all come out to congratulate us, and they gave us orange juice as they carried our bags back to our rooms. John was kind enough to give me the first shower, and I was just about to enter the hot water when I heard a knock at my door. It was Welly! She let herself in with her key, which was so adorable I had to just laugh even though I was half naked. “I have gifts for you,” she said. “I wanted to give them to you here.” The packages were beautifully wrapped. The first one contained a carved wooden love bird. The second was a colorful sarong with some Swahili writing. “This says you will have a very long life,” Welly said. And she hugged me ten more times before she headed back to the lobby and I hopped in for my first shower in 8 days.
Here are some pics from the day.
Here are the specs on the day’s hike, though, to be honest, the real story here is how wonderful people are all over the world. What a humbling, lovely experience.
Here’s what our hike info said:
Day 8 of the Hike
Millennium Camp to Mweka Gate
6 Miles
7 to 9 Hours
Start 10,300
Finish 5578
Loss of 4722
And here’s what my GPS said:
7 Miles
4 Hours
Start 12,492
Finish 5364
Loss of 7103
