Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route Day 7 - Mweka Route down
There was a sharp frost on our last morning on the mountain, and as we emerged from the tents the sun was catching the snowy summit of Kibo behind us - just 24 hours after the climb to the top.
I was sorting out the money for the tips for the porters and guides, trying to make sure I had enough change for everyone to avoid difficulties. Pete had gone to the guys in the national park hut the previous evening to change a couple of large notes, but I was still short of a couple of $10 notes. I cursed the American currency for making the different denominations so similar in appearance.
There was breakfast and repacking to be done as well, and I was still trying to sort out my gear (as usual) as everyone else was gathering in the space between the tents for the speech and presentations. Dermot had taken on the task of thanking everyone and had his page of notes to make sure they were all included whilst throwing in a few jokes about Pete borrowing Nemis' boots; the porters carrying heavy weights faster than we could go with light packs; David inventing a new language (brrrr) to express the cold whilst waiting for us on the climb; Naiman taking photos of the effort involved in being a guide, to show his son the value of a good education; and me taking so many photographs! Every short statement was followed by a round of applause from the porters. Dermot finished by recognising that if these men were typical of what Tanzania had to offer then the country should have a better future ahead of it.
Then it was my job to hand out the tips. The porters were only paid $40 for the week, much of which had to be spent on travelling to the start of the route and overnight accommodation, so our tips would make quite a difference to them. It's a bit flustering when you're trying to sort out ten, twenty and fifty dollar bills for over 20 people, and I must have given someone an unexpected bonus as I had to search for a couple of extra notes at the end. No matter, these guys deserved it.
They all burst into song to celebrate the event and send us on our way, and it was quite moving. I still had to finish packing as a couple of porters were anxious to take the tent down. They all wanted to get back down off the mountain as quickly as possible and go back to their families or go for a beer or whatever they do to unwind after such a tough week.
The final packing up was still going on as we left the camp and headed down the dusty track which wound through the tall heather. It was stony in places, and we caught views from time to time over the bushes and down towards the belt of forest which we were heading towards. We could see the Mweka hut as well, amongst the trees. Looking back, the summit of Kibo was still clear.
We had a break at the Mweka hut, where work was under way to build more accommodation and toilets, and then entered the thicker forest. This would have been one of the highlights of any other walk, but at the end of a week's climb of Kilimanjaro it was overshadowed by the earlier sights and experiences. The trees seemed taller, and the forest denser, than on our climb through the Lemosho Glades. Maybe it was just a reaction to the vast open spaces high on the mountain. After half an hour we descended into the mist and really experienced the Cloud Forest. Tall treetrunks stretched high above us, almost disappearing into the mist, their lower branches festooned with hanging creepers, whilst tall tree ferns rose up between them. Some trees were just massive.
I was hanging back again taking more photos as the others pushed on, and porters went past. I caught up and they reported seeing more Colobus monkeys above them. Pushing on again we had a steeper downhill section with steps in places, and the moist air made the ground damp with a very slippery layer on the surface of the path and the steps. It was a hazardous section and we had to slow down and make good use of the walking poles to steady ourselves, even though in other respects it was a bit like a forest walk in the south of Scotland!
After a section of zig-zags down through the trees we reached the end of a vehicle trail, apparently used for emergency evacuations when someone gets injured. There was still an hour to go to the end of the descent. We caught up with a couple of American women who were struggling a bit. One of them had a leg injury that was slowing her down, but she didn't have too far to go now.
Then we met some young boys beside the trail, gathering leaves of some sort. Pete and Dan offered them spare chocolate bars from our rations, which they accepted gleefully, and then as we went on we could hear shouts continuing behind us. They must have been letting their pals know further down, as lots more kids emerged looking for sweets or money. David said the government tried to discourage begging, so we shouldn't give them any more.
After that, a most unusual thing happened. We looked back at one point, and saw 3 or 4 figures on the trail about 30 or 50 metres behind us. They stopped as soon as we looked back. And they were each carrying a mass of greenery from the trees. It was as if they were trying to approach us in camouflage and not be seen against the forest!
We moved on quickly again, and they continued to follow behind us. Very odd. Further on we saw another strange sight - a moving black trail across the surface of the roadway. On closer inspection it turned out to be a wide line made up of thousands of large ants, climbing over and around each other, going in both directions. Enough to make you shudder. Looking back I realise that it was just about the only encounter we had with insects on a tropical scale, either on the trek or during the safari which followed. No other nasty creepy crawlies to content with.
It was just a few minutes further to where the trail opened out from the forest and we could see Land Rovers and Toyotas parked. Over to the right was the registration building, the equivalent of the national park office at the Londorossi Gate where we signed in a week earlier. There was a queue of other walkers who had finished the trek, and as we waited our turn to register we faced an onslaught from hawkers with their arms full of souvenir items - mostly beads, paintings and carvings. I bought a couple of bracelets and was immediately inundated with demands for me to buy other stuff. Dermot concentrated on the important things and bought a round of fizzy drinks!
After we'd registered we still had another 15 minutes' walk down through Mweka, past little houses and banana trees and fields with coffee or maize in them. I was accompanied by a young guy in a sports top who spoke clearly in English and was trying to persuade me to buy a painting which I'd shown some interest in! He told me about life in the village and the prospects for young people there. When we reached the inn where we would have lunch I finally relented and struck a deal for the painting. $15 I think it was - obviously much more than I should have paid, and he raised his arms in triumph. He seemed like he'd survive and thrive. Minutes later he was back with many others, as we sat down to our packed lunch boxes and beers, with feedback forms to fill in, whilst black wooden statues and necklaces and chess pieces and numerous other items of craft work were thrust in front of our noses! Some resorted to pitiful stories of their poverty and the plight of the poor people of Tanzania compared to us in the West, but we couldn't buy everything! I think they must have done pretty well between them from our lunch session.
The Manchester team arrived a little while later and thankfully the focus shifted to them. As we went over to the bus parked nearby which would take us back to Arusha, some were still trying to strike deals, even through the bus windows once we were inside! Then the bus moved off and we were on our way back for the one thing on everyone's mind - a shower!
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