Day 9: Climb to Mweka Gate
Our climbers are waking up to their last day on the mountain. They’ll have their last breakfast in the mess tent and then start their trek. They’ll descend through the rainforest past towering trees and lush ferns to a hot lunch at Mweka Gate – where they’ll end their adventure on Mount Kilimanjaro.
MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS
Starting elevation 13,000 feet
Ending elevation 6,000 feet
Elevation gain 7,000 feet
Distance hiked 7 miles
Average hiking time 5 hours
“Thank you, Jesus. Praise you, Jesus…knees stop hurting!”
With all the excitement and anticipation climbing up the mountain, most of us forgot about the classic truth that “what comes up must come down.” I for one did!
To be honest, yesterday’s descent seemed like a dream. After we all successfully summited the mountain, took in the sights, got a couple of photos, and finally caught our breath, we “dirt skied” back to Kosovo camp hyped up on adrenaline and sleep deprivation. From there, a quick power nap and some lunch were more than enough to get us to Millennium camp where we enjoyed our “last supper” on the mountain and a long, well-deserved night of sleep.
Today, the excitement is still very real, and our hearts are filled with gratitude for the guides, porters, and prayers from friends and family like you, but the soreness is very, very real.
As we sit around packing up our tents a final time and enjoy our real last meal on the mountain, we steel our minds for the 5 hour hike downhill back to civilization. As someone who has chronic knee pain, I begin pondering whether I can barter with God to make this any easier.
Fortunately, this prayer was answered quickly as we all gathered with the porters to thank them one more time for all of their help. To our surprise, we were met with them blessing us through traditional Swahili songs. Our renewed spirits allowed us to don our packs one more time and begin the descent.
Now, arriving in Millennium camp allowed us to re-enter the heather zone where green vegetation overtook the dirt, sand, and stone that we had been staring at for the last few days. Today’s descent returned us to the fullness and vibrancy of the African jungle - filled with birds, monkeys, and other creatures brave enough to approach the trail from a safe distance. Watching that transition was like experiencing the rebirth of an environment after a natural disaster…you know?! Like a volcano erupting?!? (For those of you who may have forgotten, Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano, so this kind of regrowth used to be a very real part of this area’s life cycle.)
During this time, we couldn’t help but reflect on the last few days and what we were experiencing in those moments. We laughed about some of the hijinks and cherished other special memories. This made the throbbing of my knees and the length of time of the hike fade away as I focused on saving every iota of information I could.
Like a runner seeing the finish line of a race, we hurled ourselves at the final gate’s welcome sign.
The porters were there, again, cheering us on for accomplishing something that they do on a regular basis with twice the level of difficulty. Through my exhaustion, I couldn’t help but admire these men and thank God for the camaraderie that we all now share. In fact, none of us hesitated at the opportunity to donate gear to them after our lunch in the local town. People gave shoes, jackets, pants, socks, and anything that we could part with to show them even just a bit more gratitude for their service and the joy they gave us throughout this experience. We said our goodbyes and climbed into the bus to return to our hotel.
Now we have blurred through the cities between the national park and Mt. Meru, and it seems so strange to see signs of civilization, even a civilization so different from our own. We join for a dinner at the hotel after scrubbing away a week’s worth of grime in the hottest of showers, and when our heads hit the pillow, no one needs to count sheep.
As I write this now, I thank God for the blessings that have allowed me to participate in this journey. Climbing Kilimanjaro may be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but it is not just because of the view up top. It is because of all the things that lead up to the top and all the way back down.
“Thank you, Jesus. Praise you, Jesus.”
~ Greg Dowell