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

UPDATE FROM THE TEAM

It is hard to put into words what it is waking up in the morning thinking you have just climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Our two guides John and Gabriel have been incredible. They are upbeat, knowledgeable and looking after every detail. It is hard to refrain from talking about yesterday, but I will try to keep my comments just about today. We were, of course, exhausted after what is one of the biggest days of everyone’s life. Certainly of mine. When we got up, we were thankful that our bodies had once again rejuvenated. it did not rain all night long, for which we were thankful because yesterday there was rain in the rain forest upon our arrival to the camp. Like every other morning, the wonderful porters and staff greeted us with coffee in the morning as we got up at 6:30. we had breakfast after we packed our things. Before we left for the final leg, we gathered around and the team, and I mean by team everyone, porters guides our team from beyond adventure, who were climbing the mountain, circled around and shared some thoughts. It was so special as those who had served us so wonderfully all week long sang to us. It was moving. John Simon is an incredible leader along with Gabriel and you can see the respect that their team have for them. Although we don’t understand Swahili, we could see respect. They took the time to explain to us in front of the staff who would get extra tip money for the jobs that they had done. It was beautiful in many ways. One of the things that I really appreciated was that some of the largest tips went to the people who were behind the scenes, such as the cooks, and especially gratifying, was to see the great big smile on the guy who was responsible for the toilet! He had the biggest smile that you can imagine. We all had the opportunity to say to them what this meant to us. It was especially beautiful to see Pete Hiskey bless the feet of those who have served us so well.  To see the gratitude on their faces, and in their eyes was amazing.

They were informed that they would all get a new pair of boots! They were so excited because the cost of those boots could cost some of them many many days wages after the special time of being together, we packed up our bags, or should I say more accurately, they packed up our bags and we took our day pack! We had about a four hour trip back to the camp where the bus would meet us. It was still a little difficult as we were highly anticipating some good rest. One of my favorite memories of this trip is Gabriel’s leader ship throughout. When we would take a break whether it was a few minutes or even leaving after a lunch all throughout the week, he would say to us OK, let’s go home what he meant by that was let’s move forward. I love that! I heard someone say one time that life is about each of us helping each other get home. Gabriel gave us a great sense of hope in looking forward to something better, as we each want to be home in one way or another. I will never forget that. As we took this journey to the last camp, it began to rain as we were in the rainforest! How appropriate. It was beautiful. One of my most special moments was walking by myself for a stretch, and just getting soaked by the rain and hearing it against the leaves of the trees. it was special. And on the way back on that journey today, our last hike, we were able to see about five or six calabash monkeys, swinging from limb to limb high in the trees. Those monkeys, John Simon, told us, are facing extinction sadly. They are in endangered species. I love the little anecdotes that John and Gabriel would share with us about animals and plants and special trees and customs from their tribe. It really added a lot of color to our experience. Thankfully, we all made it to the mountaintop and we all made it to the base camp! We are all grateful to have been able to get back to the Mount Meru hotel and take a hot shower and we shared a wonderful dinner together. We were joined today by Cliff and his wife Pat, who were responsible for putting the process in gear and funding the shoes for the staff. Cliff came on the trip last year and it was wonderful meeting both of them and they were at dinner with us tonight. at dinner, we shared the tough moments. We laughed a lot and enjoyed food. We enjoyed food all week long actually, and it was incredible how we were served so well. There was a lot of gratitude around the table.

When we arrived at the base camp, we were certainly thrilled to be able to sit down and realize that soon we would be able to have that first coveted hot shower. We were all drenched. We were led to go in one of the buildings.  There, government officials had us sign out the same document that we signed in upon arrival to the Kilimanjaro National Park. It was exhilarating, knowing that together we accomplished something significant. After signing the document, we loaded into the bus for one of the most meaningful events I’ve had the privilege of participating in. We went to a restaurant at the foot of the mountain just a few minutes after leaving the gates of the park, and after having a few minutes to browse around and look at beautiful artwork and things for sale in the impressive shop, much of which we were told supported local schools, we had a meal with the guides John and Gabriel. We were also able to meet and have lunch here with Gabriel’s wife!  After lunch, it was so very moving to gather around and be joined by all of the porters in the restaurant. It was semi-outdoors in that, although the table space was covered by a thatched roof covering, the inner courtyard was open air.  It was here, surrounded by so many beautiful pieces of Tanzanian artifacts and sheltered by a grass hut-style roof overhead, that John Simon in his characteristic upbeat smile, emcee’ed a time when the new shoes given by Cliff and Pat were given out to each person in the front line of service. These shoes were of such value to them given their very difficult circumstances. Cliff said some beautiful words about Christ challenging all believers to give freely in His name out of our abundance. John would translate in Swahili.  The beaming, smiling faces expressing joy and thankfulness were priceless. John named each person’s name and their role. They each knew that they were significant to us, and most importantly to God in the service they had provided. What a beautiful moment to witness. There were hugs and tears. They would respond to John’s Swahili with huge smiles, heads nodding and an occasional high pitched “yelping” by one of the female porters. We all laughed together!  Afterwards some other shoes brought from the United States were given out. Finally, those of us who came for the trek up the mountain had opportunity to lay out our personal belongings to give away to those who had served us. We all opened our duffel bags and laid on the floor those things, ranging from down jackets, shirts, pants, socks…a little of everything…. Hand warmers, snacks…and even another pair of boots!  The largest to the smallest gift was so appreciated by them!  It’s hard the express how moving it was to see such gratitude on the faces of those who have so little materially. Yet, they were so full of joy and appreciation. We who came from the United States and such plenty learned a great lesson in regard to what really matters!  John closed our time with prayer. We loaded the bus and took the journey home back to the Mt. Meru hotel for that coveted shower. On the way, the remarkable poverty of the Tanzanian people was so starkly apparent to us.  Little wooden fruit stands, shops with all manner of wares being sold. Yet, we also were able to see many smiles as we passed by. Particularly noteworthy to me were the smiles on the faces of uniformed schoolchildren being released from school and walking along the roads.  On the way, John Simon regaled us with his considerable and wide-ranging musical playlist which included everything from the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” to Amzaing Grace to Don McLean’s “American Pie” to which we all had fun singing along together. Joy. So much fun. We arrived at the hotel by mid afternoon. We closed in a prayer of thanks to God led by John, and disembarked to the front lobby where we were greeted by a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and checked back into the hotel where our stored belongings were waiting for us. The week flew. We rested. Took that long awaited hot shower. And gathered for dinner at 7:30 pm. Such a beautiful day.

~ Gary Hibbs