Day 0 - Arrival
Day 1 - Arusha
Day 2 - Lake Manyara
Day 3 - Ngorongoro Crtr
Day 4 - Tarangire NP
Day 5 - Arusha
Day 6 - Kilimanjaro, d1
Day 7 - Kilimanjaro, d2
Day 8 - Kilimanjaro, d3
Day 9 - Kilimanjaro, d4
Day 10 - Kilimanjaro, d5
Day 11 - Kilimanjaro, d6
Day 12 - Arusha
Day 13 - Departure
Tanzania
The porters, guides, and cooks put together their most impressive song and dance yet for the last day, as we did the staff recognition in the morning and then started on the trek down from High Camp (12,449 feet) to Mweka Gate (4,920 feet). We were all very impressed by the great job the staff had done-- and even moreso at the end of the day when they all beat us down the mountain and sang for us yet again at the finish!
As we descended, we were very glad they'd moved the last night's camp from Mweka Camp to High Camp. It added more than 90 minutes to the hike today, but many of us were clearly in no condition to handle the extra distance the night before!
Dropping down 7,500 feet meant we crossed from barren ground back into rainforest again, had to deal with a bit of slippery mud and other lovely things, but we made it in good order and to quite a little celebration at the finish. Medals and certificates marked the end of the day (100% success rate to Stella Point or higher for the group!), a little champagne, and a long smelly bus ride back to Arusha!
After very welcome showers and changes of clothes, it was time for the celebratory dinner at Ilboru Safari Lodge and then, also very predictably, time for some of us to pass out...