We slept like babies that night. That was a lot of freaking hiking and the most I've ever done in one stretch. We were all ready to get back and have a nice HOT shower (And we really needed it). But before we departed that day, the crew sang us a song about our climb to the summit (I've got video). And in the song, they mention each of our names. It was quite a catchy tune, I must say.
We took a few pictures, and then started our decent down (19km) to the main gate of Kibo. On our way down, I gave Msafiri my iPod and played some Thievery Corporation for him. He was really getting into it as the crew seemed to like a lot of reggae. (You can see him in one of the photos with an orange iPod). I felt awesome this morning and wanted to descend quickly. I noticed that when I'm in a groove hiking, I can't slow down. I like to move; especially when I’ve got tunes. So, I kind of took off and got into my zone for a while. I descended down through the clouds, hopping from rock to rock until I got to the jungle section. (This would be the cool part!) Msafiri and A. Minja caught up to me and it was Minja's duty to stay with me as they are responsible for not losing us.
So, I decided to have some fun (and Minja was all for it as he wanted to get home and shower as badly as I did). I took off and started running down the trail. I felt so good, which was probably due to having more oxygen. It's amazing what you can do when you have plenty of air to breathe. :) So for the next 10 miles or so, Minja and I ran. I tried to lose him on several occasions but each time, I would look back and there he was - smiling. It was so cool, running through this African jungle with U2 cranking on my iPod. I'll never forget it (and so will my feet -- altitude makes your feet swell! On the way down, my toes got pummeled and are bruised black and blue now. I know, but it so was worth it :)).
At the main gate, I said goodbye to Mr. Minja, hung out at the main entry, made some new friends and drank a couple of ginger ales (that tasted awesome)! The rest of the team finally arrive an hour and a half later and Team Kilimanjaro treated us to some burgers on the way back to our hotels. We listened to Ziggy Marley with full bellies and eventually said our goodbyes. What a great experience! Our group throughout this trek ended up hiking 55 miles throughout the 7 day adventure. As such, I was so tired, but this Tanzania trip was only half over for me and there is no time to rest. I have a safari starting tomorrow and then Amani after that. I would soon realize that I packed in a lot into this trip during a short period of time. That being said, I will need a vacation when I return. :)
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