Stage 6
Thursday 24th June:
The Descent
I had gone to bed the previous evening wondering whether I would be able to walk at all today. There was no need to worry. We were all up and ready to go with little or no negative side effects from our adventures of twenty-four hours earlier. Our goal today was to get all the way back to the gates of the park, by my reckoning about fourteen miles worth of walking. I had always wanted to say "It's all down hill from here" and mean it. Now was my chance. Today we would walk in two stints, the first to Mandara Huts where we would have lunch and then on to the gates of the park where we had started in a down pour just six days earlier.
Before we left there were a few things to clear up; some last pictures to take of our new found friends and of course the mountain and then there was the handing over of the collection to our saviours the porters.
There had been a collection within the group where everyone was encouraged to contribute about $50 to the fund to be split between our porters. As far as I could gather the sum was upped to £50, giving the porters aver £2000 to split between them. I don't know exactly how many there were with us but my reckoning was that it would almost double their salary for the week they had been with us and as far as I was concerned, it was still way short of what they had been worth to us.
We were then treated to a wonderful rendition of "Kilimanjaroooooooooooooooooo", a local song about the mountain, before we set off on what was to be a most enjoyable and relaxing climax to the walking part of our adventure.
Again the group split into at least two groups. However, we were all armed with a little more information about our hotel rooms this time. It was well known that the first bus passengers to arrive back at the hotel would have dibs on the warm water. With that in mind a lead pack soon formed.
After a short stop for lunch at Mandara Huts, the lead pack set off at a pace brisk enough to give me my very first blisters of the trip. The last stretch to the park gates was done in a little under two hours and here we were, back where we started six days ago; all a little wiser and, certainly in my case, a little heavier. You would think that an adventure like this would help with the weight loss wouldn't you but, given the food we were treated to, the general opinion was a resounding 'NO'! Who the hell cares though?
We signed out of the park and made our way to the hotel on the first bus. Once there we figured that it would be some time before the second bus arrived so we should celebrate our achievements with a beer...or two! You've guessed it! By the time we had made a mess of more than one crate of the local brew, the second bus arrived so the battle for the hot water did indeed materialise and yes, there were winners and losers.
That evening we were to be 'treated' to the England game in the European championships [the least said about that the better!] and eventually everyone went to bed ready for our journey back to the airport tomorrow.
Friday 25th June 2004:
Return to civilisation
We got up, we had breakfast and we went to the airport. That was about the height of the day. Barring one moment when the air conditioning broke down on one of the buses, our journey was uneventful. We all arrived at the airport, checked in, boarded the plane, swapped seats so that we could sit with someone we wanted to sit with and we came home...and that, my friends, is that! Our adventure to Kilimanjaro was concluded...but the memories will live forever.
What did we learn?
So what did we learn about ourselves and life in general? We learned that life is an adventure that should be lived.
We learned that although some of our goals look unachievable from a distance, if we break them down to one step at a time they will be all the more achievable.
I personally learned what I thought I already knew and that was that you [I] cannot set goals for other people and have them share my enthusiasm.
We learned that if you split big goals into small zigs and zags they become much easier to achieve.
But the biggest lesson of all is that although with effort, perseverance and tenacity you can reach the top, the journey down will be much MUCH quicker...and it is always better to meet friends on the way down.
